Hello,

I have an AC 3 speed fan motor. The only thing written on the motor is "230V 50Hz 38W". It has six wires; black, yellow, brown, red, blue and white.

I spent a couple of ours trying to get this motor to work but can't seem to manage. The main problem I have is that I do not know what the wires represent.

I am quite positive that the yellow and black wire should be connected to the capacitor as the old capacitor that came with this motor has these two wire colors attached to it. For the rest I do not know.

At first I thought that the brown should be connected to the Live and the blue, red and white used to determine the speed. However when doing this nothing happens. If therefore experimented a little and connected the blue with neutral and red with live. The motor makes a strange loud noise but does not turn and I cannot turn it by hand (hard).

Does anyone know how the motor should be connected?

Note: I bought new capacitors so the capacitors should not be the problem.

 

Did you test the resistance of the windings to see if they are separate at all?
Traditionally the main winding would be white/blk, but not always true.
Max.

 

Do you have any pictures of the unit that you can post on here?

 

Did you test the resistance of the windings to see if they are separate at all?
Traditionally the main winding would be white/blk, but not always true.
Max.

By windings you mean the coil?

Do you have any pictures of the unit that you can post on here?

I have uploaded some photos:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27542229/motor/IMG_7934.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27542229/motor/IMG_7939.JPG

 

Winding means coil

 

If you have one main winding, this would be connected all the time to the AC, if all the rest show continuity between them then I would expect one end to be connected to one side of the ac and the Capacitor switched from the other side of the ac to a particular coil/winding for speed selection.
IOW, check if you have one winding on its own and the rest connected, or if there are three separate windings.
Max.

 

Not sure if I am understanding this correctly. I have put the multi-meter on continuity. If I touch the blue wire with the red wire I get the reading 313, the blue with the white returns 176, white with red returns 190. For all other wires, black, yellow, brown I get no reading (i.e. 1). I am not sure if this is what asked to do? Touching any of the wires and the coil returns 1 too.

If you have one main winding, this would be connected all the time to the AC, if all the rest show continuity between them then I would expect one end to be connected to one side of the ac and the Capacitor switched from the other side of the ac to a particular coil/winding for speed selection.
IOW, check if you have one winding on its own and the rest connected, or if there are three separate windings.
Max.

 

What is the 'Coil' you are referring to, and when you say no reading (i.e. 1) you mean it is essentially 0 resistance, not infinity (open)?
You either need to map the reading out a little better or draw a pic etc.
Max.

 

Maybe send a picture of the meter you are using as well. A reading on a cheap meter of "1" is the same as O.L on a Fluke meter. Infinite resistance. Take a picture of the reading with the coil connected.

 

I am not sure if we mean the same when I say coil and you say Winding. I have attached a photo with an arrow to what I call the coil.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27542229/motor/Coil.JPG

Here is a table of the readings I get when I set multi-meter to continuity and touch each wire:

+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
|        | Black | Yellow | Brown | Blue | White | Red |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
| Black  | 0     | 1      | 1     | 1    | 1     | 1   |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
| Yellow | 1     | 0      | 1     | 1    | 1     | 1   |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
| Brown  | 1     | 1      | 0     | 1    | 1     | 1   |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
| Blue   | 1     | 1      | 1     | 0    | 143   | 290 |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
| White  | 1     | 1      | 1     | 143  | 0     | 147 |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+
| Red    | 1     | 1      | 1     | 290  | 147   | 0   |
+--------+-------+--------+-------+------+-------+-----+

What is the 'Coil' you are referring to, and when you say no reading (i.e. 1) you mean it is essentially 0 resistance, not infinity (open)?
You either need to map the reading out a little better or draw a pic etc.
Max.

 

You still also need to qualify whether you intend '0' as zero resistance (shorted) or open circuit?
Max.

 

I have attached photos of multi meter.

This is when open citcuit:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27542229/motor/2014-12-11 21.39.49.jpg

This is when closed citcuit:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27542229/motor/2014-12-11 21.40.16.jpg

This is when touching blue wire and red wire:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27542229/motor/2014-12-11 21.39.39.jpg

Maybe send a picture of the meter you are using as well. A reading on a cheap meter of "1" is the same as O.L on a Fluke meter. Infinite resistance. Take a picture of the reading with the coil connected.

Zero is when it is closed circuit.

You still also need to qualify whether you intend '0' as zero resistance (shorted) or open circuit?
Max.

 

Oh Oh you are using the diode range instead of the resistance range??
That won't work for what we want!
Max.

 

Repeat all your measurements with your meter set to 2000Ω range.

 

On which position should I set the multi meter.

Oh Oh you are using the diode range instead of the resistance range??
That won't work for what we want!
Max.

When I put it on 2000Ω I get the same values as when I put it on continuity.

Repeat all your measurements with your meter set to 2000Ω range.

 

Something non-standard with your meter, the normal diode range on a fluke etc measure voltage drop, indicates a voltage value.
Max.

 

Hello,

Do I see the battery low indicator on the left bottom side of the LCD?
If so, replace the battery and repeat your measurements.

Bertus

 

Replaced battery with a new one. No longer have symbol. However I get same results!
What is wrong with my results?

What ever I try with the multi-meter I only get a value change when touching any of the red, blue or white wires.

Hello,

Do I see the battery low indicator on the left bottom side of the LCD?
If so, replace the battery and repeat your measurements.

Bertus

 

What I see is two coils or windings in series but after that, I see nothing. Bertus, Max, maybe you can get more out of this. The zeroes represent nothing in his chart. What type of fan are we talking about. Any manufacturer markings on the housing, fan housing etc.

 

What I see is two coils or windings in series but after that, I see nothing. Bertus, Max, maybe you can get more out of this. The zeroes represent nothing in his chart. What type of fan are we talking about. Any manufacturer markings on the housing, fan housing etc.

The fan was similar to this:
http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/vince/jarden/detail/fans/B001707LPY/1._SL1000_.jpg
(Not same model)

It was a small fan with two motors, the big one (this one) which rotates the main blade, and a smaller motor to deviate the wind round a room.

This is all I know about the motor. It has three speed (I always thought these are the blue, white and red wires). It had a capacitor connected to it. Unfortunatly it did not have any manufecturer details on it. Tried to search on Internet to see how it should be wired to the AC but could not find much.