Things, sometimes [work equipment]
Mar. 8th, 2016 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rebeccmeisterThe lab here has two nice-looking Percival incubators. Unfortunately, at some point early in their usage, they were filled too full with crickets, and this started to cause a buildup of material on the unit cooler fan motors. The buildup, in turn, wore out the fans to the point where they started making horrible fan-dying noises. Before I arrived, at least some of the fans were replaced, but of course I don't know which out of the four fans (two fans per unit). About a week ago, I turned on the second incubator, and left it running without any crickets in it whatsoever. Over the weekend, one of its fans started to make the terrible dying noises.
It sounds like we're probably out of the warranty period for the units, and in any case, the person I tried to contact at the original vendor hasn't replied to my query, so I'm strongly inclined to figure out how to fix/replace the damn things myself.
But ugh, I don't know a whole lot about fan motor specs, so it's taking some head-scratching to try and figure out what to order/stockpile as a replacement. One of the fans helpfully declares, on its side, "120 VAC 60 Hz S1 0.45 A" and it has a 1/8" shaft diameter with a 1.5" shaft. From this I gather that it's for a 120-voltage system (US standard), operates at 60 Hertz (i.e. 3600 rpm) with a current of 0.45 amps (specs from the wiring diagram indicate the cooling unit has a total current of 1.3 amps).
So, does that mean that this will work? Or will it draw too much current? The last time I thought about most of this was high school physics, argdarnit.
Another diagram describes the whole cooler unit as "RCO-001 UNIT COOLER BOHN #TA-17SF; w/TWO(2) 115 VAC/1-PHASE/60 Hz, 1.6 TOTAL FLA, 210 TOTAL CFM FANS; 1/2 SAE FLARE NUT INLET, 3/8 ODF SOLDER SUCTION-LINE CONNECTION, 1/2 ODF SOLDER DRAIN-LINE CONNECTION"
More information needed?
It sounds like we're probably out of the warranty period for the units, and in any case, the person I tried to contact at the original vendor hasn't replied to my query, so I'm strongly inclined to figure out how to fix/replace the damn things myself.
But ugh, I don't know a whole lot about fan motor specs, so it's taking some head-scratching to try and figure out what to order/stockpile as a replacement. One of the fans helpfully declares, on its side, "120 VAC 60 Hz S1 0.45 A" and it has a 1/8" shaft diameter with a 1.5" shaft. From this I gather that it's for a 120-voltage system (US standard), operates at 60 Hertz (i.e. 3600 rpm) with a current of 0.45 amps (specs from the wiring diagram indicate the cooling unit has a total current of 1.3 amps).
So, does that mean that this will work? Or will it draw too much current? The last time I thought about most of this was high school physics, argdarnit.
Another diagram describes the whole cooler unit as "RCO-001 UNIT COOLER BOHN #TA-17SF; w/TWO(2) 115 VAC/1-PHASE/60 Hz, 1.6 TOTAL FLA, 210 TOTAL CFM FANS; 1/2 SAE FLARE NUT INLET, 3/8 ODF SOLDER SUCTION-LINE CONNECTION, 1/2 ODF SOLDER DRAIN-LINE CONNECTION"
More information needed?
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no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 01:32 am (UTC)https://www.grainger.com/product/DAYTON-1-200-HP-C-Frame-Motor-4M249?functionCode=P2IDP2PCP
no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:10 am (UTC)Muffin fans like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA27C3GZ4662
are ubiquitous in electronics.
Yours is a monster: that's a 50 watt fan.
Probably the most relevant item in the latter chunk of info is 210 total cfm -- that's the cubic feet per minute it flows. I presume that's several fans, some of which are burnt out or failing?
Two of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OWRMZ6 would exceed the flow capacity of the originals. They should also last for something like five years of continuous usage.
The Packard frame motor would probably work. Generally you'd rather the replacement have the same or slightly lower max amperage, because that way the power supply/control system wouldn't be straining to run it.
no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:40 am (UTC)And yeah, these are monsters because they're doing a lot of work to ensure even airflow through an environmental chamber that's slightly larger than a refrigerator. Do you think muffin fans would do a better job of coping with dust and debris as compared to the shaded pole style?
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Date: 2016-03-09 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:52 am (UTC)(And a lot of the them can be kludged, and... then you get to decide how much your time is worth versus the ridiculous amount of money you can save. There are way too many things around the lab that it is known that I can fix - like the non user serviceable hydraulic micro manipulators, for one of the more amusing examples - but then, I had it in the back of my head that if my health didn't improve enough to really make a proper go at research, I could be the best lab manager ever.)
no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:44 am (UTC)But those are huge. The ones I was posting would give you a 130 mm wide blast of so much air they'll lift themselves off the table: a laser blast. Yours are probably more like 400mm in diameter. So, yeah, replacement of the motor is probably a better idea. Then it's a matter of trying to figure out how to bodge together a connection between the motor case and the bracket that attaches to the whole contraption. (Presuming the shaft size is the same. If you have a smaller shaft on your replacement motor I can cut a bushing that'll take up the difference, very easily.)
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Date: 2016-03-09 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 02:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-09 03:06 am (UTC)