Fan Controller Speed Issue

Hello members of Grasscity. I am having a strange issue with my fan speeds, which are fluctuating during the day and night, and I am hoping to gain some insight as to what the problem may be.

I am running a 200cfm inline fan with a Titan Mercury 2 controller. This fan draws 60w at .5amps when running at full power on its own. The rest of my setup consumes about 280w at 2.35amps during running times.

I anticipate running the inline fan along with the rest of my setup when it comes time to flip, but for now I am dialing things in to make sure everything works properly. I have come to the conclusion that I only need to run the fan at 30%-50% because it is oversized for my tent, and unnecessary to run at full power.

Now herein lies the issue I am running into. During the day when my setup is running, my fan draws at 100% even when hooked up to the controller which is dialed down to 30%. However, when I run the fan at night when the rest of the setup is not running, the fan operates at the correct dialed in setting. No other appliances are running on this circuit, so I am well below my 15A breaker.

So my question is: why does my fan run at full power when my setup is running, but functions properly when it is off? Has anyone heard of or experienced this same issue?

I have two of these controllers and both give the same results, so I can confirm it seems more of an electrical issue than a defective component.

Any help or further advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Snake

 

The Titan Mercury 2 Controller does not have day/night settings with a sensor. It is more of a "set and forget" type of controller where the setting you choose will be the constant fan speed no matter what temps or time of day.

To answer the other poster, audibility does not have anything to do with the issue. The fan runs at 100% or 0% when my lights draw power, and I regain adjustability when the lights turn off.

I have taken the fan to another circuit and the controller and fan both work perfectly (this was during the day when my lights were running). This confirmed that not the fan or controller are deceive. However, when I took it back into my main room and plugged it in on that circuit, I lost the ability to control the fans speed - it simply blasts on high.

No breakers have ever been tripped, even after adding additional appliances to the room, so I know I am well under my amperage limit.

What is the problem here and how can I solve this?


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I am not an electrician, but I suppose this could be taken into consideration. The power I consume with my setup is not large - less than 300 watts at full power. I have taken reading with the controller and fan plugged in, and both read at 120v across the board.

The controller has a "fire up" feature which allows for the fan to start up at full power and then drop down to the desired set speed to ensure longevity of the fan. To my understanding, the rate of fan speed is effected by lowering amps, not volts. That is but one of the reasons I bought this controller.

I can plug a vacuum into my main room which draws about 10A at 1000+ watts with no issues while running the lights without tripping the breaker or experiencing any issues whatsoever. But a mere 2A fan/controller does not want to function properly. Hmm..



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I will give this a check. Thank you for the informative link.

What if the wires are all ran correctly? Then I'm back to square one.

I purchased Titan products because they protect my equipment and have extra amp load buffers for safety and to prevent fires in the event something should short or overdraw. I've never had an issue in the past or heard anything negative about their products. They are a little pricey, I will side with you on that. But they give me peace of mind and you can't put a price on that. Although, I bought these products a few years ago and it is possible some other brand has released something along the same lines for less.

You get what you pay for.


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Wow, I am glad nothing too serious happened to you or your setup. Thank you for sharing your story.

I will take a look at the wiring when I can safely turn off the breaker later this evening.


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After some time, I finally was able to take a look into the power outlet to investigate. From what I could see, there are indeed only two wires connected.

Though, I tested out my HPS light on this same setup and the fan worked flawlessly. So I went and plugged my MH back in, and the problem was still there - fan speed not adjustable.

Seems like the MH ballast is causing some sort of conflict?


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Thank you for your insight and input, Bryan. My home is not older than '45 but I've never really had controller problems like this in the past. Even when running two inline fans on a setup in the past I've never run into this issue, but was using different ballasts.

Adding a ground may solve my issue. Though, I am happy the fan works correctly with my HPS ballast which will be when I plan to use the fan. Otherwise I would look into adding a ground to the outlets, but for now I think I will hold off on adding any wires to my electrical system.

I really appreciate all of your input. You were the only person in two different forums to take me this far as to dig down and suggest a decent remedy.

Thank you very much!


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