I had the recommended local electricians wire up my shop while I was away for work, including 3 Westinghouse Industrial 56" Ceiling fans (#7861400), with the GW5S-U (5 speed) controller. However, they failed to read the directions which stated that they the controller must control only one fan, and wired them all up to a single controller.
After about 20 hours of use, and fortunately while I was in the shop working right beside the controller, I smelled an acrid odor, and found the controller melting. I'm not a genius, but knowing that heat dissipation for an electrical circuit is based on I2R losses (current squared times resistance) and that if you triple the current, you're increasing the heat dissipation to 9 times original, and that's not good.
Unfortunately, I did not read the manual until after this happened, as I had assumed they knew what they were doing.
They have accepted responsibility for their error and vowed to replace the controller and set them up correctly, but I am liking the idea of a single switch to control all 3 fans.
Since there are only 2 wires from the controller, I am assuming it's a step down current transformer that's controlling speed, and all I need to do is find one with sufficient current rating to control the fans. (I cannot find the controller specs for the GW5S-U controller, but I did find that each fan draws .52 amps at high speed.
I'm looking at the 5A rated speed controller here: https://www.zoro.com/fantech-speed-control-115v-5-amp-wc-15/i/G4735367/
I'm thinking this would work fine, but wanted others ideas/opinions/corrections before proceeding.
Thanks!
After about 20 hours of use, and fortunately while I was in the shop working right beside the controller, I smelled an acrid odor, and found the controller melting. I'm not a genius, but knowing that heat dissipation for an electrical circuit is based on I2R losses (current squared times resistance) and that if you triple the current, you're increasing the heat dissipation to 9 times original, and that's not good.
Unfortunately, I did not read the manual until after this happened, as I had assumed they knew what they were doing.
They have accepted responsibility for their error and vowed to replace the controller and set them up correctly, but I am liking the idea of a single switch to control all 3 fans.
Since there are only 2 wires from the controller, I am assuming it's a step down current transformer that's controlling speed, and all I need to do is find one with sufficient current rating to control the fans. (I cannot find the controller specs for the GW5S-U controller, but I did find that each fan draws .52 amps at high speed.
I'm looking at the 5A rated speed controller here: https://www.zoro.com/fantech-speed-control-115v-5-amp-wc-15/i/G4735367/
I'm thinking this would work fine, but wanted others ideas/opinions/corrections before proceeding.
Thanks!
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