Symbol Confusion

[JohnnyBotch]

Hi all,

I'm new here but in need of some help. I have tried searching the internet, but I can't seem to find anything so I wonder if you can help.

I have a 5" ELTA Inline extraction fan. I'm pretty confident with the majority of it, so this is more for peace of mind.

Ok first off inside the fan there is no + or -. Just 2 red wires. Now i imagine that if i wire it up the wrong way the fan will spin backwards and i can just turn it off and flip them.

Is this usually the case? The instructions do say to check the direction of flow once it's wired up.

Next, there is a symbol on the lable which i can't find cuz I'm not sure what i'm lookinf for.

It looks like this:

Untitled

• JohnnyBotch
• 12 Dec 2008
• 1

Any ideas? cuz I'm really quite baffled myself.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[rebuke]

I would assume that symbol refers to a diameter somewhere - perhaps the diameter of the ducting required for it?

 

[JohnnyBotch]

Ah, quite possibly. Although the fan is 125mm and I've not heard of 120mm ducting.

 

[Adam_151]

The spigot has a diameter of 120mm then, to allow it to easily go into 125mm (5") flexable ducting (which is then secured with tye-wraps)

 

[JohnnyBotch]

Brilliant. Thank you. I was getting worried it was something technical.

Any Ideas about the wiring?? As i say i presume it will just sping backwards if not wired the correct way.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I guess so, given that they tell you to check.

Wouldn't you just love to meet the designer who decided it would be a good idea to use two wires the same colour when it did matter which way round they were connected....

 

[Adam_151]

I presume its just a standard fan (no timer, humidstat, or other controls?) then if you just have two identical wires with no polarity indication... then just connect them either way, you don't need to worry about it spinning backwards... you can't reverse the direction of any single phase AC motor by just swapping line and neutral, so don't worry about that

 

[JohnnyBotch]

Ah thank you again Adam! Yes it's just a bog standard fan, no timers, etc.. I feel a lot more confident about what I'm doing now.

It's really nice to see that even a complete fresher to the site can get help really quickly and not be mocked for their ignorance.

Thank you for making me feel welcomed.

 

[conny]

Johhny, as Adam has said you cannot reverse direction by swopping the two mains wires over. It has to be done internally to either the start winding coils or the run winding coils. Checking direction may have to be considered if the fan unit is mounted centrally in a casing with no indication to which way it will turn. However, the easiest way is to connect it up 'on the bench' so to speak and feel which way the wind blows. That way is the side to put to the ducting, you can always put an arrow on it with a felt tip marker so when you fit it you know you have it the right way round.
Good luck.

 

[JohnnyBotch]

I wired it up, and it works no problems.

Thank you again for the help guys!