How do I wire and connect an in-line duct fan?

mogie

Well-Known Member
Contributed by: Flowerman

Your In-Line Duct Fan must be connected to a 110/120 Volt AC, 60Hz fuse or protected by at least a 15amps circuit breaker. Never connect your In-Line Duct Fan to a 240 Volt AC blower motor or other 240 Volt systems. When you remove the fan from its box, there will be no cover box for the wires, as that is only used when connecting the fan to a switch. For all purposes we’re going to connect it to a heavy-duty extension cord. A pretty simple procedure, most fans come with either, 1 black wire, 1 green wire (ground), and 1 white wire. To begin, simply slice the extension cord wire. Make sure it has a ground plug (3 connector pins). Then merely match up the wires, green goes to green, this is your ground wire, white goes to white ,and black goes to black. You might run into a situation where you have 2 black wires, and 1 green wire. Simply attach the green to the green wire, and attach one black to black, and the other black wire to the white wire.



SAFE WIRING:
This is a wire-stripper-crimper:



Point A (the white arrow) is used for cutting the wire ends off, just like a pair of pliers. More than likely you will not have to do this, most are pre-cut coming from the manufacturer (On the fan, and on the extension cord). Point B is used for stripping the wire, put the wire end in the proper gauge hole (Marked on the tool), and pull. Point C is used for crimping. In this assembly, I have used wire nuts instead of crimped butt splice connectors.



You’ll need 3 wire nut connectors, 1 for the white wire which is your common, 1 for the black wire which is your hot wire, and 1 for the green wire which is your ground. After all wires firmly connected with the wire nuts, it is a good electrical safety practice to tape over the nuts using electrical tape or duct tape. After each connector is taped, bundle all three together and tape it over as one bundle.

You must never have any bare wires showing!



Now all you have to do is plug it into the outlet. And if hanging In-Line Duct Fans, make sure you have them adequately supported, If you’re fitting the fan inside a wall, wrap rubber around it to reduce the noise level and stop vibration.
NEVER EXPOSE YOUR IN-LINE DUCT FAN TO TEMPERATURES OVER 140° F (60° C)!
 

gvega187

Well-Known Member
just bought a fantech fx6, but cant figure out the wiring. The electrical box does not have wires protruding from it already like yours does. It requires that I insert the wires directly into the box. My question is how should I insert the wires so that they will stay secure? Since you are only attaching the wires from ur fan to your power source it is a bit different. Any tips?
 

gvega187

Well-Known Member
mmk problem solved, for all of you looking at this thread trying to solve the same problem as I. Simply strip the wires from the computer cable (which mogie has instrutables 4) Then secure each wire with the adjustable screws in the electrical housing of the fan.
 

Khemi

Well-Known Member
Is it possible to wire the inline fan to a 3 pronged plug? Then plug that in a power strip?
 

jpalms27

Well-Known Member
question....

i have 2 inline duct fans and they are working just fine but i never hooked the ground wires together. is this a problem?
 

thrawn

Well-Known Member
heh, well im just wondering if rigging up a duct fan to the extension cord poses any problems fire wise? and how loud are these buggers
 

squinty eyes

Active Member
Thanks a lot for this man, I followed your steps and its pumpin cold air in there as we speak :)

and thrawn, It doesnt seem too loud, but I guess I'll let you know about the fire thing, heh.. ;) lol
 

Hydro929

Well-Known Member
As long as you wire it like shown to a cord that can handle the fan's output, which shouldn't be much, you'll be fine. I have one connected to my hood and then the ducting leading from the fan to my exhaust so it's pulling air through the hood and I'm able to take the 20' of ducting I have across the hall to pull air from my airconditioned bedroom. Works very nice.
Thanks a lot for this man, I followed your steps and its pumpin cold air in there as we speak :)

and thrawn, It doesnt seem too loud, but I guess I'll let you know about the fire thing, heh.. ;) lol
 

strictly seedleSs

Well-Known Member
I like to put an "Cooling In Line Voltage Thermometer" between the power source and the fan (you can put the thermometer after the fan, but you have to have a little understanding of the electrical current). If you do this, you can set the thermometer to whatever temp you want your fan to come on at. This keeps my room a +/- 5F (ie: 70-75F, or 75-80F). If i suck the outside air 24/7 my temps range jumps to +/- 30F...big difference. Make sure you get a "cooling" thermometer not a "heating" one, there is a difference. Of course if your using this fan to just pull air away from your lights then this doesn't apply. If anyone has any questions about the more complicated wiring, Im an electrician, I can make you a diagram. :mrgreen:
 

mizke

Member
I like to put an "Cooling In Line Voltage Thermometer" between the power source and the fan (you can put the thermometer after the fan, but you have to have a little understanding of the electrical current). If you do this, you can set the thermometer to whatever temp you want your fan to come on at. This keeps my room a +/- 5F (ie: 70-75F, or 75-80F). If i suck the outside air 24/7 my temps range jumps to +/- 30F...big difference. Make sure you get a "cooling" thermometer not a "heating" one, there is a difference. Of course if your using this fan to just pull air away from your lights then this doesn't apply. If anyone has any questions about the more complicated wiring, Im an electrician, I can make you a diagram. :mrgreen:

i hate to thread jack and all but i have not been able to find the info i need by searching and dont think it warrents a new topic. i am in the process of putting together a grow box for my first real grow. i have the lighting situation under control but after buying a digital themp gauge from walmarts i realized that with no lights in my box the temps are sitting around 79f.. im going to need to get the temps lower and want to use a few pc fans placed around the bottem for fresh air. then wire in a duct fan with a diy carbon filter.figure put the exhaust fan in a corner running up a wall in my closet with the filter and pipping hidden by clothes. i dont need massive air flow. i am trying my luck with doing 12/12 from seedlings. so under 3ft tall plants. prolly going to end up with 4 plants going, with a 5th one almost 2 weeks into flowering now i think, and its been tied down one time but is around the 1 1/2 foot mark..

i just dont get the wirring, and get freaked out by electricity.i cant figure out how to use pc fans.. i have alittle knowledge about pc power supplys. i rigged one to work as a ps for my lipo battery charger.

thanks for any and all help.. if there is pm's on this site feel free to use that, i dont want to jack this guys thread to hell.
 

strictly seedleSs

Well-Known Member
Try these threads:

Computer fan wiring 1

Computer fan wiring 2

You dont need to be so concerned with a fan for the intake of air, its all about the air being expelled. I dont have intake fans in my room just a larger intake hole with a 600cfm fan, but i have a closet and not a box. If you have issues of heat, and im sure you will once you get a light in there, then you may need to have a small air conditioner in front of your intake hole.
 

Drifter126

Active Member
heh, well im just wondering if rigging up a duct fan to the extension cord poses any problems fire wise? and how loud are these buggers
Not so long as the extention cord wire is the same size or larger.And to address the ground.Attach it to the blower case
 

CDXX

Active Member
Is it possible to wire the inline fan to a 3 pronged plug? Then plug that in a power strip?
Yes, it is. I just did it myself. I looked it up on ehow.com, here's what it says:

"When an appliance or tool requires a three-prong grounded plug, connect the grounding wire (green) under the green terminal screw on the grounding prong; attach the black wire (hot) under the brass terminal screw and the white wire (neutral) under the silver terminal screw."

Hope this helps.
 

blatstuff

Member
I'm a little confused as to what exact item needs to be used. I have a standard 6" duct fan from home depot, 3 wires exposed. What should I connect it to?

After reading the original post it seems like any standard extension cord with three prongs will do. Is that safe? Does it also need some sort of fuse for safety purposes? Assuming I leave no wires exposed is there a fire hazard involved?

I know to keep it under 140F, but that's about all I know. This will be used in a grow tent so I'm making sure ahead of time about fire safety. : )

Thank you for the help!
 

Green Dave

Well-Known Member
I used a extention cord then plug that into a Ductstat. It is a controller that I got at Home Depot it works like a thermostat and you can (with a little jacking around )set the temp and the fan will come on at a set temp and go off at a set temp
 
Top