How to control SONY DC brushless fan with Arduino Uno and shield

Thread Starter

JJthe3rd

Joined Oct 9, 2020
16
Hello,

I'm trying to make a ping ball levitator to teach students how PID works.

I have this Sony fan from spare parts and I would like to control it with an Arduino Uno with a motor shield:
IMG_0660.jpg
I found this example which looks like it uses a similar fan: https://www.hackster.io/DanDoherty/levitate-a-ping-pong-ball-using-arduino-and-simulink-c403c6

My main question is how do I determine what the three wires on this fan mean so that I can control it? (with PWM, MOSFET, or varying the output voltage)

Based on DC motor standards, I believe that the red wire is hot, black is neutral, but I don't know if the white is a PWM input or something else.

Thank you for your help!
 

Thread Starter

JJthe3rd

Joined Oct 9, 2020
16
It could possibly have one of the internal PWM IC's similar to the typical PC fan, the third wire for on/off or sensing?
Thank you for your response @MaxHeadRoom! I was able to hook it up to a 5V power supply with Red positive and Black negative and the fan was able to operate. How would you test the PWM functionality?
 

ElectricSpidey

Joined Dec 2, 2017
2,758
The white wire could be for a tachometer, then you would apply PWM to the black wire using a N-Channel MOSFET.

Most three wire fans are power and tach, and PWM fans have 4 wires. (Power, Tach and 5 volt PWM signal)

Tach output is usually from the open collector of a NPN transistor.

But, I wouldn't assume anything about an OEM part regarding what the colors represent.
 

Thread Starter

JJthe3rd

Joined Oct 9, 2020
16
They vary as to control, if the cover unscrews you may find what type of IC controller is inside.
I was only able to get this much of a view. I'll try to hook it up to a power supply and a o-scope to see what comes out. the white wire.

Thank you!
IMG_0667.jpgIMG_0669.jpg
 

Thread Starter

JJthe3rd

Joined Oct 9, 2020
16
I am getting it to run and change speed by varying a voltage.
see pictures below of the signal I get from 10V vs 12V.

C1D6C3CF-0E33-4312-B2DA-458FE0C187D4.jpeg
C76FE653-1ECC-4432-8F31-52234273FF68.jpeg
I think that monitoring the tach is going to be optional for this project but it would be fun to be able to try and get it to maintain a set RPM.
 

LowQCab

Joined Nov 6, 2012
4,029
If the Air-Flow-Volume is not randomly altered by outside influences,
the speed will remain consistent based on how much Voltage is applied to the Motor,
so a Tach is of little use.

Controlling the Speed with a Current-Sink Circuit is the simplest way.
.
.
.
Current-Sink Speed-Controller 1 FLAT .png
 

Thread Starter

JJthe3rd

Joined Oct 9, 2020
16
Controlling the Speed with a Current-Sink Circuit is the simplest way.
I'm planning to use an Arduino Uno so that I can use PID control on it. I also have a motor shield for the Arduino which should allow me to control the motor. Thank you for all your help!
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
There are many references to Arduino PID with the motor shield (Google “Arduino pid motor shield”) on the Arduino forum. Such as the link I provided. It was the first relevant link and I copied it for example.
 

LowQCab

Joined Nov 6, 2012
4,029
That seems rather odd to go all the way to the complexities of
PID-Control for a Blower-Motor ????

Are You measuring the Ball's height and providing PID feed-back to the Motor ?

The Blower is naturally very highly damped, and somewhat slow,
and with Current-Control its behavior will be very Linear.
.
.
.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
Here is what I found. The fan was originally used in Sony rear projection TV sets. While the name plate data says 10 Volts they run fine on 12 Volts. The white wire is a tach out.

I am wondering what the wiring is for this fan, there are 3 wires from what I can see, black white and red. Is one for speed control?
A: The fan can be operated with the black and red wires. The white wire sent an operation verification signal in the original application.


So I would just try PWM using a 12 volt common power supply and an N type logic level MOSFET like a FQP30N06L or similar logic level MOSFET for low side switching of the fan. I would start simple before getting into using the tach out for PID control. A Google of the fan part number Sony SFF24A will bring up plenty for sale and some information including air flow which I assume is at max speed.

Ron
 

Thread Starter

JJthe3rd

Joined Oct 9, 2020
16
So I would just try PWM using a 12 volt common power supply and an N type logic level MOSFET like a FQP30N06L or similar logic level MOSFET for low side switching of the fan. I would start simple before getting into using the tach out for PID control. A Google of the fan part number Sony SFF24A will bring up plenty for sale and some information including air flow which I assume is at max speed.

Ron
I'm planning to use a motor shield on the arduino uno which should negate the need for the MOSFET. Thank you for your help!
 
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