A question about A/C fans

[strokeside]

I recently acquired two A/C fans, but the wires on them, which were cut off from what conncted them to the mains, are both blue.
How do I find out which one is the Live and which one is the ground?
Can I just pick one for the live and connect it to see if the fan rotates the correct way, or will this F*** up the fan entirely??

Are A/C fans quieter then D/C fans (the ones I have are 120mm).??

 

[stool]

It won't hurt anything to attempt to find out which is the ground. As long as you know which way the blade orientation is, you can deduce what is what.

I have found that most of the AC fans I have used are a bit quieter than the same size DC version, but this is strictly anecdotal.

If you are going to use them inside a case, I recommend you get some ferrites to place on the wires to keep EMI at bay.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Quite often motors are like light bulbs, it don't matter which way round you wire them. If it did, they'd color code the wires.

 

[strokeside]

Thanks for the info. By the way, they made both wires Blue?!?

what are these ferrites you talk of to block the EMI???

And the correct direction of airflow is marked on the side.

 

[Starfoxer]

can you post a pic of your A/C fan. does A/C stand for
air condtioner??

 

[Aesik]

A/C=Alternating Current

 

[robertm]

All A/C Fans (Well everyone I have seen anyway) Turn just one direction and it doesnt matter what lead you connect to netrual (ground in DC terms is called your netrual in A/C and by most standers is color coded white.) Ground in A/C terms is realy tied to a post that is driven into the ground and should be color coded green. Even though Netrual and ground are tied together in the fuse box you dont not want to connect things to ground. This is only true for system in the US. System in other parts of the word use a differant systems.

To test these fans you should make what is called a dead mans cord. Its named that because you can kill yourself!

I make them by taking a old cord from a lamp or such and cutting and striping back the end without the A/C plug. Then I solder on two insulated clips to this wire. This will make a dead mans cord.

Always hook up the device to the cord use electical tape to cover the exposed parts of the wire where the clips are. Once you have all the exposed wires covered then can you plug in the device.

As most A/C fans tend to spin at high rates of speed you will want to have a firm hold on the fan before you plug it in.

Please be very carfull around A/C. It kills poeple everyday.