Hello,
I am only vaguely knowledgeable about things electrical and am hoping you guys can offer me some advice.
I am working on a way to ventilate the interior of my sailboat and have purchased a pair ADDA 12V, 0.25 amp two-wire waterproof muffin fans from Mouser which fit perfectly under the clamshell vents in the stern. They move tons of air and should ventilate the interior of the boat nicely.
My question to the experts is twofold- How can I quiet these fans down, and can I do it without increasing the amp draw?
I intend to leave the fans running all the time and they are a bit loud. I don’t want the noise to worry the neighbors that I’ve left a pump running or something. Also, and since my 12V power is supported by a solar panel I want to keep the current draw of the fans to a minimum.
I was playing with the fans and tried running them wired in series, figuring that this would slow them down and quiet them. It did, and I like the speed the fans run when wired this way. But after searching some posts on this subject I read that doing this is a bad idea for reducing the speed on brushless DC motors. Will wiring the fans together in series cause them any damage or create other problems?
If wiring them in series is no good then what other ways might I slow them down? I’ve read that I could wire in a resistor to drop the voltage and this sound good, but I have no idea what type or rating of resistor would be appropriate. If I use a resistor will it “waste” power in the form of heat? I’ve also read of using diodes or transistors but this is totally over my head.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me on the subject.
Thanks!
Geoffrey
I am only vaguely knowledgeable about things electrical and am hoping you guys can offer me some advice.
I am working on a way to ventilate the interior of my sailboat and have purchased a pair ADDA 12V, 0.25 amp two-wire waterproof muffin fans from Mouser which fit perfectly under the clamshell vents in the stern. They move tons of air and should ventilate the interior of the boat nicely.
My question to the experts is twofold- How can I quiet these fans down, and can I do it without increasing the amp draw?
I intend to leave the fans running all the time and they are a bit loud. I don’t want the noise to worry the neighbors that I’ve left a pump running or something. Also, and since my 12V power is supported by a solar panel I want to keep the current draw of the fans to a minimum.
I was playing with the fans and tried running them wired in series, figuring that this would slow them down and quiet them. It did, and I like the speed the fans run when wired this way. But after searching some posts on this subject I read that doing this is a bad idea for reducing the speed on brushless DC motors. Will wiring the fans together in series cause them any damage or create other problems?
If wiring them in series is no good then what other ways might I slow them down? I’ve read that I could wire in a resistor to drop the voltage and this sound good, but I have no idea what type or rating of resistor would be appropriate. If I use a resistor will it “waste” power in the form of heat? I’ve also read of using diodes or transistors but this is totally over my head.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me on the subject.
Thanks!
Geoffrey
