Chris Argentino Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 A few of my fans still have original plugs. Is it dangerous to keep them non polarized or does it not matter. Are old fans just double insulated to where they don’t need polarized plugs like modern fans do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Warnecke Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Depending on the fan, it can be a good idea. If going the polarized route, land the Hot wire on the switch and the Neutral on the motor stator. I've had a handful of fans that will give you a faint tingle (enough to dimly illuminate a neon bulb), if Hot is routed to the stator and you make contact with the housing. I suppose Eddy currents induced by the stator could explain this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Argentino Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 4 minutes ago, Derek Warnecke said: Depending on the fan, it can be a good idea. If going the polarized route, land the Hot wire on the switch and the Neutral on the motor stator. I've had a handful of fans that will give you a faint tingle (enough to dimly illuminate a neon bulb), if Hot is routed to the stator and you make contact with the housing. I suppose Eddy currents induced by the stator could explain this. Why does the “tingle” happen with some fans and not others? I’ve never felt this. And was this tingle feeling considered “normal” back in the day after touching a plugged in appliance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Adams Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 A few years ago I wrote an article in the Fan Collector regarding this. It all depends on where you are going to run your fans. On an insulated floor, no worries. On concrete or any non-insulated floor, yes, polarized is good. I don’t like to remove an original plug or an antique plug, so what I do is plug the fan in & see if an electrical squealer (non contact voltage sensor) goes off when the fan is plugged in & you get near the cage. If it doesn’t, put a little piece of tape on the neutral or large hole side of your plug. If it squeals, flip the plug over & put the tape on the long hole side. Now you know how to plug it in & retain the old plug. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Yurko Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 This happens because the fan body is not grounded, and there usually is a direct connection from the stator to the fan body (since they are both metal). so if you connect voltage up to the stator, even though there is no current flowing, the stator windings in combination with the stator itself, act like a capacitor. Any two conductors placed close together separated by an insulator makes a capacitor. Even the line cord has some capacitance (not enough to feel, but if you get up into the rf frequencies, it has a major effect). With fans the closeness of the windings to the metal of the stator, and the large surface area between the windings and the metal of the stator, makes a significant capacitor that can pass enough current to feel, and also set off a squealer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Argentino Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 12 hours ago, Stan Adams said: A few years ago I wrote an article in the Fan Collector regarding this. It all depends on where you are going to run your fans. On an insulated floor, no worries. On concrete or any non-insulated floor, yes, polarized is good. I don’t like to remove an original plug or an antique plug, so what I do is plug the fan in & see if an electrical squealer (non contact voltage sensor) goes off when the fan is plugged in & you get near the cage. If it doesn’t, put a little piece of tape on the neutral or large hole side of your plug. If it squeals, flip the plug over & put the tape on the long hole side. Now you know how to plug it in & retain the old plug. Very interesting. I will just put a marking on the hot side that does to the switch. One of my plug is slightly cracked. Would some resin or something be ok to use to fill that in? If not, is there a plug that looks similar to this one I can use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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