Fan controller for multiple 60" industrial fans

[The Lazy Destroyer]

I have x3 fans, the 60" industrial Hampton Bay units that HD sells, this unit.

Their controller included is only for 1 fan each, and I did not want 3 separate fan controllers and all the associated wiring, when a single controller would be more than enough for me.

I called Hampton Bay but their tech support was not too helpful on what else I could use as a controller. I had been looking at a Dayton unit and they said if Dayton said it was ok... that it should work "probably". As long as it is rated for the amps, obviously.

So I went ahead and picked up this Dayton unit from Grainer, 3 amp rated (the fans pull .95 on high setting). I could not find any info on Dayton but Grainers tech support said it should work in my situation. There is also an identical 6-amp unit but I will never be using more than 3 fans, so I figured it was not necessary.

I've got them wired up and it works fine. The only issue is there is some "hum" to the fans on anything less than high speed. It's not terrible but I had a few questions:

-Would another kind of controller help reduce the hum, or maybe have a wired anything wrong/abnormal that is causing it?
-Does the "hum" indicate any problems? ie, if I leave it the way it is, should I be concerned at all?

Like I said, it isn't really loud but noticeable. I can probably live with it, but if I can get the fans as super-silent as they are when on the "high" setting, I'd probably like it more.

Thoughts?

 

[Stuart in MN]

I've used that very device for controlling multiple fans on several projects and they worked fine. However, they were in industrial settings that weren't very quiet, so I couldn't tell if there was any noise or not. Having said that, the circuitry in that kind of fan control tends to create a humming or whining noise at settings less than full speed, it's just sort of the nature of the beast. Sometimes it depends on the particular combination of motors and controllers, they'll be louder in some installations and quieter in others.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

A ceiling fan is a rather continuous use device, they run for hours on end usually. Putting 2.85 amps on a device designed for 3 amps is asking for trouble. NEC says never exceed 80% of circuit capacity. In this case, the circuit's capacity is the max rating of the lowest rated device that the current passes thru.... the fan controller. (2.4 amps would be 80% of 3.0 amps)

I wired my three fans on separate controllers, the ones provided by Hampton Bay, and do not experience any noise from the fans. I ran a neutral and hot to the "Master Fan" switch and then split to the three controllers, running one neutral the length of the circuit supplying all of the fans, and three hot wires, each supplied by a controller. Its all on one 20 amp breaker.

My fan post

Fan and light controls.

 

[The Lazy Destroyer]

^I like the fan control setup you have. I'm trying to keep it to a single controller, not sure if going to the 6amp Dayton model will help with the noise though but obviously will give me more wiggle room if 80% is recommended.

I guess I can always emulate what you've got there but would really like to stay with the single controller option if available.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Stick with the controller you have. It will probably work OK, but may fail prematurely, in which case you can do something different. These controllers do generate heat, even these individual ones get warm on the lower settings.

I used a blank 5 position face plate and carved out these openings. They are not standard spacing but are a little more spread out. Only the light switch is in the correct spot as I used the light switch panel above it as a pattern to locate the fan master switch hole. Lots of filing to get the holes right.

remember, if you install separate controllers, you have to run separate hot wires to each fan. I assume you ran one hot and one neutral on one run to the three fans.

Charles

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Do all of the fans hum? You might try disconnecting two of the fans and trying it with one fan. If it still hums, try wiring in the controller provided with the fans in the place of the Dayton one, and see what it does.

Charles

 

[The Lazy Destroyer]

I think all of them hummed, or maybe just two? It was kinda hard to tell late last night when I checked it out.

I'm going to get back there tomorrow AM and see how loud it is again. I may break down and run the separate controllers, but as you mentioned I'll have to run separate hots to do so, currently I have a single run going to all three. Otherwise I'll just run what I have and maybe accept the fact that I may re-do it later when I finish the ceiling. It's 14ft ceilings so getting to the fans is somewhat tricky and time consuming.

I tried searching around both here and on Google and apparently this is a common problem. Still haven't found a good solution yet.

Do you recall if the HB controllers use a standard faceplate? Can I get a 3-gang faceplate and it will match the opening they use?