Hatari floor fan problem

[worgeordie]

I have this Hatari floor fan,that a tenant left,it was very dirty

and seized up,so i cleaned it all up ,looks like new now,it is

only about 15 months old, and i freed the fan up,it moves

freely now, BUT when i switch it on, speed 1 button,the fan

does not turn,but there is a noise,ditto 2 button,moves a

little more, No.3 button it turns very slowly,until it slowly

builds up speed,but still does not perform as well as other

fans i have, 

Could it be the capacitor ?, it's like a small box filled with

resin connected to the motor with 2 wires,well i am sure

you sparkies know what one is. thanks in anticipation.

regards worgeordie

[KhunBENQ]

29 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Could it be the capacitor ?,

Yes it could be.

I had one fan where it served well.

A new capacitor is in the 20 to 50 Baht range.

So always worth a try.

You have to look for the correct capacity (typically 1.5 µF (micro Farad) for a 16 inch fan but that can vary). Look what's printed on the housing.

 

If that does not help then maybe time to part.
Having made sure that the radion button switch is also clean and gives proper contact.

Also available as spare part.

If you know where to buy

[KhunBENQ]

One from my collection (1.5, 1.8, 2.0).

As far as I remember the 1.5 was for a 16 inch Hatari.

[Crossy]

Yup, if it spins freely it's almost certainly the capacitor. An easy and cheap fix.

 

If it still doesn't work time to break it for spares, they're not exactly expensive.

 

[stubuzz]

Spares are here

[KhunBENQ]

11 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

Spares are here

Bigger Amorn branches have misc. spares for fans of different manufacturers.

Bought capacitors and switch there.

A bit harder to find are specialized mom&pop shops that have such stuff.

 

The link to Hatari is useful to see that indeed 14 and 16 inch need 1.5 µF and 1.8 µF for 18 inch.

[stud858]

Do let us know how you get on with replacing the kickstarter cap.

Spray some wd 40 along the shaft.

Good luck. 

 

[stubuzz]

53 minutes ago, stud858 said:

Spray some wd 40 along the shaft.

WD40 will clean the gunk out but you will also need to add some light oil to the bushings. Sewing machine oil or 3in1 oil are the best.

[worgeordie]

OK I have found a spare capacitor,among my junk parts,it  has

the same numbers, 1.5uF10/5%  400WV.AC,    but it has different

coloured wires..... the spare one has  brown and white, the one

on the fan has red and like a brown/gray wire, i have big problems

with wire colours here,it seems there's no set official colours for

L N E,    it seems they just use what's at hand or cheap, I cut a

moulded plug off an extension lead to put on a different plug,

the colours were white black and brown ?.I'm thinking brown 

is live,just to make sure i cut open the plug,to find brown is E.

 

So which do you think is L N on the fan RED   BROWN/GRAY

on the spare BROWN = L   WHITE = N,  ?????, I have also seen  

WHITE used as L,  its bloody confusing.  thanks

regards worgeordie

                                P.S.looking in daylight the brown/gray is GRAY.

[bankruatsteve]

On a fan, it doesn't matter.  Well, except if it has earth.

[worgeordie]

42 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

On a fan, it doesn't matter.  Well, except if it has earth.

That's good,as been inpatient, I connected what I thought it should be 

Red to White and Brown to Grey  ,tested its working good, so soldered

the wires together and covered with shrink plastic tubes.

Thanks for everyone's help, 

 

regards Worgeordie

[worgeordie]

14 hours ago, stubuzz said:

WD40 will clean the gunk out but you will also need to add some light oil to the bushings. Sewing machine oil or 3in1 oil are the best.

Yes,that's what I do every time I clean them, have some National/Panasonic

wall fans that are over 20 years old, keep the lubricated and they will last

a long time.

regards worgeordie

[ozmeldo]

Would anyone know how i could slow the speed of a newish Hatari fan? The new replacement blows too strong on #1 at night and dries my eyes out. I've thought of restricting the wind with partial cover.

[stubuzz]

Can you move the fan further away or tilt it in the air a bit so you don't get the full blast?

[melvinmelvin]

31 minutes ago, ozmeldo said:

Would anyone know how i could slow the speed of a newish Hatari fan? The new replacement blows too strong on #1 at night and dries my eyes out. I've thought of restricting the wind with partial cover.

 

yes, please

I also find that it blows too hard

 

wish they had speeds 0.3 and 0.5

 

 

[Pattaya46]

35 minutes ago, ozmeldo said:

Would anyone know how i could slow the speed of a newish Hatari fan? //

Count me as #3 in people interesting to know how to slow a fan. 

[Crossy]

You can get fan speed controllers, Haco do them (W2716) http://hacothailand.com/product-show.php?id=1924 

 

Obviously it needs a box. They can make some fans buzz annoyingly.

 

There are also capacitor based ones which don't buzz but have fixed speeds.

 

EDIT I just tried a 1.5uF motor capacitor in series with a 16" fan, ran waaay too slow, so you're probably looking at 3uF or so.

[bankruatsteve]

Not a solution for slowing the speed, but if you can direct the fan into the ceiling or a corner, that would still move the air but not direct.

[melvinmelvin]

3 minutes ago, Crossy said:

You can get fan speed controllers, Haco do them (W2716) http://hacothailand.com/product-show.php?id=1924 

 

Obviously it needs a box. They can make some fans buzz annoyingly.

 

There are also capacitor based ones which don't buzz but have fixed speeds.

 

 

 

right

let me try another tack here, most fans I have are 3 speed

have never used speed 3

very rarely speed 2

normally find speed 1 too much

 

now, would it be possible (easily) to change the 3-Speed button into a 0.5-Speed button?

 

 

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

now, would it be possible (easily) to change the 3-Speed button into a 0.5-Speed button?

Go to your local Amorn or similar and get three 1.5uF fan capacitors.

• Connect them in parallel (giving you 4.5uF).
• Insulate the connections well.
• Connect the group in series with the live supply to your fan (inside the base unit).

It depends upon the fan but that should make speed 3 about the same as speed 1 was without the caps.

• If you need to be even slower remove a capacitor.
• If it's already too slow add another capacitor.

You could get a 4.5uF (or close) motor capacitor but then you would have no chance of fine tuning.

 

4.5uF on my Hatari 16" stand fan drops the voltage to about 160V at the fan.

 

[Crossy]

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!!

 

You MUST use motor capacitors that are rated for 250V AC.

 

If you get an assortment of capacitors, say in 2uF steps from 4-6uF up to 10-15uF, then you can mix and match for your ideal speed range.

 

Put a switch to short the capacitors and you get the original speed range.

 

[ozmeldo]

Hey, I'm very sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

Crossy, thank you so much but I'm lost.

 

I used to do the redirection of fan iny backpacker days, but I can't have it blowing all over the flat.

 

Back to the op. Thanks and sorry

 

[sometimewoodworker]

6 hours ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

right

let me try another tack here, most fans I have are 3 speed

have never used speed 3

very rarely speed 2

normally find speed 1 too much

 

now, would it be possible (easily) to change the 3-Speed button into a 0.5-Speed button?

 

 

While it isn't an answer to your question the DC fans I have are 6 speed and would be perfect though they are all ceiling fans, and not the cheapest.

[melvinmelvin]

59 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

While it isn't an answer to your question the DC fans I have are 6 speed and would be perfect though they are all ceiling fans, and not the cheapest.

yes I have also noticed that, ceiling fans are much better, the span from slow to fast is much larger

and slow is quite slow - pleasant