Whether to purchase...

[Alissa Thomas]

I've been looking for several months for a bathroom 3 in 1 exhaust fan/light/infrared (lamp type) that has a fascia other than polymeric. Bottom line, all I can find are products from China sellers. Panasonic (Aupu) has a listing that has pictures of many of the components (see http://world.tmall.com/item/3512125...77e3ad7c475b16015c6&user_id=1777586638&is_b=1). While I feel confident that I can replace the 50Hz induction motor with a 60Hz one, I am ill-equipped to handle much more than that. I am also wondering if I will need to run 220V instead of 110V.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Martaine2005]

Hi Alissa,
I admit I have no idea what polymeric is!
But it seems that 3 in 1 fans are readily available. Some of these are nice, but probably 'polymeric'

As for 220v or 110v, that would depend on what you buy.

Also have a read of this

Martin

 

[cjdelphi]

The fan might not be 240ac rated, but as you said you think that's not an issue...

the LED driver supports 110-240ac and outputs 10v (no problem) so driving LEDs with existing setup is fine...

the only concern is heating/ir edison style bulbs, if they're rated 110ac they'll need to be replaced as well...

 

[Alissa Thomas]

Thanks, Martaine2005. That article supports my thoughts that replacing the fan assembly would be prudent. My fear is that what I refer to as "the circuitry" - capacitors, relays, circuit boards, inline fuses, wiring, etc. - would also suffer from the unintended 110v 60Hz power supply.

 

[Alissa Thomas]

Thanks, Cjdelphi. Wow - it never even crossed my mind that the bulbs could be rated something other than 110/220v. If replacing the fan and possibly the bulbs is all that I would need to do for proper and safe operation at 110v 60Hz, I can handle that.

 

[cjdelphi]

replacing just the fan and bulbs (if the bulbs are rated 110ac) but keep the led driver as it accepts both 110/240vac. .

still not as straight forward as buying the 240vac version? they might offer it already?

 

[Alissa Thomas]

Cjdelphi, the individual units are only marketed in locations with 220V 50Hz power supplies, such as China and Australia. I've found a Chinese manufacturer that has the ability to make the units with 110V, 220V, 50Hz, and 60Hz, but the minimum purchase is 300 units.

I have rethought the house wiring concerning the possibility of changing those circuits over to 220V, and have concluded that it would be far more work that it would be worth to me. Therefore, the unit would have to operate on 110V 60Hz. I suspect putting a 220V to 110V converter inline for the unit would create additional issues.

Thanks again!

 

[Alissa Thomas]

I looked at the listing again, and noticed that the LED power has a minimum of 176V, but that looks easy to replace (no soldering, LOL).

I just had another thought, though. If my thinking is correct, the replacement fan would have to be pretty darn close to the same size and shape to provide adequate cooling for the unit. I'll have to look into what is available.

 

[Alissa Thomas]

Martin, sorry I failed to state earlier... Polymeric, in this instance, is basically plastic, and the color options here are pretty much white, white, or white. Most of the 3-in-1 units available in the USA have forced air heat, which some prefer. I happen to prefer radiant heat from an infrared lamp.