Could I wire two identical 110v fans in series and power them from 220v supply ?

Thanks for any help.

 

If simple shaded pole motor and identical, you most likely will get away with it, but not ideal.
Many have a thermal cut out in the winding should overheating occur.
Max.

 

It depends on the design of the fans and how their circuit works so this cannot be answered. In general I wold not recommend doing that. Get proper fans or a proper converter.

 

I would try it...if the fans were cheap and I didn't mind learning a new lesson.
After all, what is two fans on opposite voltage circuit breakers in a house, except the center is wired to zero volts?
Adding that center wire would remove all doubts.

 

Could I wire two identical 110v fans in series and power them from 220v supply ?

Thanks for any help.

Possibly, but if the loads on the two fans were not the same, then they will not divide the voltage equally. Also, consider what happens if one of them stalls for some reason.

 

If I can find a couple of identical Muffin fans in my stash, I can test the theory and get back.
Max,

 

Yes it works. I have done it before. It works well until one stalls for any reason then after that the unstalled one either overheats and shuts down for over voltage or it burns up from it.

 

If I can find a couple of identical Muffin fans in my stash, I can test the theory and get back.
Max,

Tried it with two 6" muffin fans, dissimilar makes, they each ran fine with no side effects.
But still not recommended,
Max.

 

Tried it with two 6" muffin fans, dissimilar makes, they each ran fine with no side effects.
But still not recommended,
Max.

Did you try stalling one of them to see what happened? Would be curious to know.

 

Did you try stalling one of them to see what happened? Would be curious to know.

Could try it.
Max

 

Could I wire two identical 110v fans in series and power them from 220v supply ?

Thanks for any help.

There could be unequal voltage sharing - maybe you get away with it, maybe not.

Some split reservoir (voltage doubling) SMPSUs have 150V MOVs across each capacitor - there's only the fuse if they activate, and sometimes they do! You could check the data sheet for the max allowable motor voltage and select MOVs to stop it going higher than that - the 2 in series should be pretty safe.

 

Thanks all for your great response, at least this enables me to connect them and test their cooling potential.
It would be great if I could use them as I have a batch of 8 off.

Here is the datsheet
ADDA AC AXIAL FAN
Model AA1281HB-AT
http://datasheet.elcodis.com/pdf/28/44/284427/aa1281hb-at.pdf

Many thanks

 

They are slightly smaller than the muffin fans I tested, but close.
The advantage is if all the same.
Max.

 

The 2 prong connections on the motors are not marked for polarity so I guess it`s not important ? seems odd.

Thanks for your efforts Max

 

Not important for that AC motor.
Max.

 

I have a pair of high powered 12 DC fans from a large commercial server cooling system I run in series off of a 15 volt DC power pack that have been in service for air circulation under my house most of the year. They work fine that way.

Startup is always a bit odd though. One will spool up to near full speed then the other one will take off then they balance out.