32 volt DC fan

PatrickGrant

Senior Member
What are the chances of running a 32 volt DC 6 amp fan off a 6 volt system? It's a desk top style with variable speed and a 10" diameter fan.
 

Attachments

  • fan.jpg
    fan.jpg
    59.5 KB · Views: 75
Buy a step up converter from ebay. They are available in 5v to 24 volt which would probably work just fine. Get the 10a version. Pay attention to polarity!
 
I wonder what it was originally designed to work with? If it has brushes, I'd think it should run, but at about 1/5 speed. Motors are typically rated by rpm/volt. (Kv is the motor velocity constant, measured in RPM per volt ). 6 volts just might not have enough "umph" to overcome the friction of all the mechanical parts.
 
I wonder what it was originally designed to work with? If it has brushes, I'd think it should run, but at about 1/5 speed. Motors are typically rated by rpm/volt. (Kv is the motor velocity constant, measured in RPM per volt ). 6 volts just might not have enough "umph" to overcome the friction of all the mechanical parts.

Before REA came to the farms, a lot of the farms had their own 32 volt light plants, either wind chargers or gas engines. Remember Green Acres with the smoking vibrating light plant Oliver had running for Lisa. That was a 32 volt Delco Light Plant, but of course the smoking and vibrating was fake. The common size Delco has a 2 1/2" bore and 5 inch stroke, and are built to last forever, with a weight of probably about 200 to 300 pounds.
 
I must'have learned from a different school,as for motors are rated by HP. Meaning 1 Hp.= 746 watts.(watts law = watts divided by volts will tell you how many amps the motor would draw). The higher the voltage the lower the amps .so if you run the motor with less volt the motor will draw more amps if it draws more amp than the wires or windings can handle they will heat up and will short out
 
I need some schooling on ohms,volts, watts, and amps !! Never thought this Model A fetish of mine would be so complicated. So it looks like a converter or the Delco light plant in the back end. Thanks all !
 
I must'have learned from a different school,as for motors are rated by HP. Meaning 1 Hp.= 746 watts.(watts law = watts divided by volts will tell you how many amps the motor would draw). The higher the voltage the lower the amps .so if you run the motor with less volt the motor will draw more amps if it draws more amp than the wires or windings can handle they will heat up and will short out

No no no! :) The motor doesn't determine it's own load (amps), although there is a "no-load" rating.
 
It's hp. Rating . The nec. Section 430 motor section will show you the facts .this is a section will show you all you need to know,that hp rating voltage will give you current draw.
 
Last edited:
... for motors are rated by HP. Meaning 1 Hp.= 746 watts.(watts law = watts divided by volts will tell you how many amps the motor would draw). The higher the voltage the lower the amps .so if you run the motor with less volt the motor will draw more amps if it draws more amp than the wires or windings can handle they will heat up and will short out
Uh? you figure if I put 1 volt through the fan it draws 750 amps?:eek:. I think Not. Well, not this side of the pond anyway;).
 
Ahhh, the warm look back . . . .
Right now, and for the last twenty years, I have used 18 volt Solar Panels to charge my bank of 12 Volt batteries, which run the electrical system of my remote ranch.

However, in the twenty years before that, my bank of 12 volt batteries were charged by a Jacobs Wind Turbine, circa 1942 - one of the last of its kind, having begun production around 1924 or so. The Jacobs produced 32 Volts of Direct Current (DC) electricity. Prior to the expansion after WW11 of 'Grid' electricity (110-120 AC), rural America lived on either kerosene or 32 Volt D.C. electricity. In the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's, because so much of rural America lived with 32 Volt D.C. electricity, there were a great many products sold in every rural store and catalog in America - that ran on 32 V.DC.

With the widespread influence (driven by a U.S. Government program of 'Rural Electrification') of 'modern' (and MUCH more efficient) 110-120 AC electricity, slowly the 32 Volt DC products and the 32 V.DC generators that powered them, began to fade from the market place and the rural 'homesteads'. By the time I was using my Jacobs 32 V.DC there were only two products still being made the ran on 32 V.DC.

So I reconfigured my Battery Bank to continue taking in 32 V.DC from the Jacobs Generator, BUT reconfigured the Battery Bank Out Flow to the more common 12 V. DC. Because of the trucking industry and later the emerging RV markets, there were a great many 12 V.DC products that replaced the 32 V.DC products. And that is what I still use today.
 
Uh? you figure if I put 1 volt through the fan it draws 750 amps?:eek:. I think Not. Well, not this side of the pond anyway;).

No, that won't happen because the resistance of the motor windings does not change. Amps = volts/resistance, so half the voltage will result in half the current if the resistance is the same.
 
I don't think he wants a fan. I think he wants to incorporate a vintage piece of history into his vintage automobile. It helps re-inforce the whole historical connection. And I salute him for that !
 
I have an old small 6 volt fan, but this one is a larger blade fan by far and matches the period for quality. It is also a family heirloom that I want in my truck someday. Thought it might be an easy fix, but I guess nothing is easy !
 
I have an old small 6 volt fan, but this one is a larger blade fan by far and matches the period for quality. It is also a family heirloom that I want in my truck someday. Thought it might be an easy fix, but I guess nothing is easy !

OK, since you have a truck, that solves the problem. You put the Delco 32 volt light plant in the back of the truck and run it to power the fan. You'll be the hit of the show wherever you go.:D
 
Doug Vieyra and Tom Wesenberg know this history of 32-volt systems. Jacobs initially made 32-volt wind generators before REA, and later 110-volt wind generators, but the standard in rural America in the 30s was 32 volts.

As for the look you want, I'm guessing its mostly fan blades and the wire cage. You might take it in to an auto parts store and see what they might have in a 6-volt or 12-volt heater motor that you could swap out, retaining the blade and cage.
 
Back
Top