I’m now thinking to try out the Robotdyn AC dimmer module but I don’t know if it will work because I’m not sure about it’s capabilities to regulate the voltage and amperage in accordance to the Fan specs. I’ve compared the TRIACs in both the manual speed regulator and the one in the Robotdyn controller and they seem to be similar. Both are specified at least 8 A 600 V and have similar “on-off” ratings.
Name
Device
IT
VDRM
VGT
IGT
Pin Out
Manual speed regulator
BT137-600
8.0A
600V
1.5V
35mA
17J
Standard
Robotdyn
BTA16-600B
16A
600V
1.5V
50mA
17L
Isolated Tab
The reseller of the fan just email and said “I cannot guarantee it will work but it looks like it will”…
A person on reddit recommended to try out a simple DPST circuit but I’m not familiar with it so will have to explore that a bit more first.
Any suggestions how to proceed from this great community?
A DPST is just a type of relay and relays are On or OFF, so if you dont need a variable speed and a High, Med, Low would be ok, a relay would work and is very reliable.
What exact specs of the fan are you worried about if the dimmer can meet those specs?
Only parts of that spec sheet are in english so, i cant read it all.
As long as the fan current doesnt exceed the max curent for the dimmer module, you should be fine. Sometimes using pwm from esp boards to dimmers, you dont always get a perfect transition from 1% -100% you may get no fan movement untill you get to 10-15% . You can tweak some configuration settings in esphome to make it better, but just be aware.
If you’re wanting to adjust the speed from HA, you dont have very many hardware dimmer options available so, you might as well go ahead and order 1 or 2. You can always use stuff like this in multiple places so, theres no need to get all worried about, “what ifs”
I didn’t bother to try to adjust the speed on mine, used a jasco zigbee switch to turn it on and off and added it to an automation tied to the fan state of the HVAC, has worked well for several years now.
Well, that is a relay but thats not what anyone was talking about. Thats a SPST relay and it doesnt allow for changing fan speeds nor does the fan have a plug on it so that relay is all wrong.
Really? The OP didn’t say he needed automatic speed control, just that he had a dial that could be automated. Unless the air handler is a very high-end multi-zone and variable output system, then it’s likely to work very well at one fan speed. Just set the dial to the speed that balances the flowrate properly for that duct, then switch on/off as needed.
But if it must be fancy, and multiple speeds are needed, then two relays and a resistor will get you a high and low speed. Still need a totally variable setpoint? Then buy a cheap half bridge pulsing a low side FET duty cycle to get the power ouput you need. I’d recommned starting with an ESP32 variant. There are some premade options at https://shop.m5stack.com/. All have been done before and can be done here too, but I argue that such complexity is wasted effort.
Try to keep up here bud, this isn’t difficult stuff or big words to understand. The OP is wanting to regulate the fan speed and the speed controller he has wont work. You in all your wisdom chime in to agree that a cheap smart plug is the ticket! Not only did no one say to use a SPST so what you’re agreeing with, no one knows. The point though is it doesn’t do what the OP is looking for. Now, I do agree with you that it most likely doesn’t need to be a
variable speed and any speed under 70% likely won’t push any meaningful air but, that wasn’t the question asked.
It’s nothing new to see people doing ridiculous projects on here that make no damn sense like building little weather stations with a .96" lcd screen but, that is their right and it’s not mine, yours or any other elitist know it all to tell them what is good enough for them or discourage them from what they want to do because it’s not what you would do up in you castle.
If the OP’s project isn’t an obvious safety issue then just answer the question asked or don’t say anything. You may just like to do “good enough” but others don’t and they didn’t ask or care if you think it’s wasted effort. It’s their effort to waste and if they use it as a learning opportunity then it’s a net gain.
AC motors in most household fans and pumps are single-phase / single-pole / shaded-pole type. Those can’t and, critically, shouldn’t for safety reasons, be controlled via AC light dimmer or any PWM or similar scheme in general. It won’t work, and it may smoke the motor and/or cause fire.
For the DIY route, perhaps the rotary switch in something like a Leviton RTF01-10W ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YQ8FA/ ) could be replaced with a pair of Shelly Plus 2PM or a single Shelly Pro 4PM (which is the route I went). It’s the opposite of keeping things simple and saving you money, but Shelly devices integrate with Home Assistant exceptionally well, with none of the cloud or app nonsense and outstanding responsiveness and stability, and their Pro series devices are DIN mountable and have a hardwired Ethernet option.
