For some fans, it’s obvious what it is, but I liked it when you would superimpose a clip rotating around the stationary fan in the corner of the smoke test. For me, there’s something nice about being able to look back and forth between the design and how its airflow is doing. Could you do that in future episodes again?
The airflow coming out of the washing machine is weird because the housing and impeller were made for a clockwise spinning fan, to fix this the print just needs to be mirrored and re-printed. And if it’s mirrored it’ll definitely move a lot more air.
The end away from motor needs to be capped and use it as a pull fan with offset outlet, mirror the blades angle if you want a push style fan *edit maybe have the cover cap conical to improve flow routing*
Multi-airfoil designs are actually significantly more efficient than a single airfoil at steep pitches because it reduces flow separation which reduces lift force and efficiency. I think in this case, the pitch was not steep enough to see any any benefit from the multiple airfoils.
I think I've seen this in some plain videos I've watched. With multiple air foils at multiple different angles you can pretty much make a non-existent stall speed, the problem I remember from that though is the amount of drag severely limits the top speed of the aircraft.
Thermaltake had some kind of crazy hamster wheel cooler years ago (it was called the spinq). It didn't really just a duct though, the entire outer wall was the cooler so it just used centrifugal force to chuck air through the cooler.
just a thought, ever consider sending the top fans to steve at gamers nexus to both verify with his industrial fan tester and to gain channel viewership?
As cool as that would be, I really think that that would deviate massively from Gamers Nexus regular content and since they spent a lot of time with their reviews and tests already, I doubt that they would participate. LinusTechTips wanted to start a new Project where they test stuff out with equipment as well, maybe they would be better suited for a collab, since they do way more "silly" stuff
@@Shortyman17 I agree with you, Shorty. If Steve is interested, I think he'd prefer to build out a good testing 'portfolio' of proper fans first. LTT on the other hand? I feel like they would love to sidestep for something like this. It almost seems like they're always looking for collabs.
There's also a problem of not being his designs, they are already being submitted for testing here. I don't know if he can just send them elsewhere, or even if the people submitting them would want that. As we've seen in the first or second season, there was a company interested in one of the prototypes, and they were working with the person who created it, not with MH... So, there's the legal side of things to be considered as well.
JUST A THOUGHT: You should make a rim powered turbine next... A fan in which the rotor is embedded in the rim, the stator encompasses the rim and the turbine blades point inward toward a hollow center.
and a slightly better lip around the edge, a little bit of the exhaust was coming back out the intake. Still, definitely wanna see more concepts like this, and would love to see a V2.0
This, exactly. It needs a proper involute, not a cylinder to run in. Also, air is normally drawn in on both ends / sides of the squirrel cage. They are used when there is higher static pressure that blade fans can't overcome.
7:28 - It doesn't show us which fan is which in the smoke tests. So first it's the Triple Decker, then the surgelessACE, then the Testarossa, and finally the Washing Machine.
Thanks. How'd you figure it out though? The first one is kind of obvious cause you can see 3 "hot spots" in the whirling mass, but I couldn't tell between #2 and #3.
I came to comment the same. I was trying to figure out if these were different fans or not until we got to the washing machine. Love these videos however some of the editing in this one seems a little rushed. None the less great episode.
Where did you see separate models or "basic pictures"? What do you even mean by those? There was no images used and no separate models. Just one model per fan and the video was taken from two different POVs. Just like always. If anything, there was no labels. In this video it wasn't a problem since the fans were easily discernible from each others but sometimes there are many similar fans which can be hard to identify when spinning.
It's always fun finding things where it's obvious audio was only mastered on one device... Not really a criticism btw; I don't expect a medium sized UA-camr to be mixing audio to the same standards as audio engineers. *Also, one could argue that changing the gain on a comparison is contrary to the point of the video... Details.
The squirrel cage started out as swirl cage because the housing for a normal centrifugal blower is in the shape of a spiral (swirl). All it takes is someone to miss pronounce a word and you get stuck with an "S" after your last name for your nickname.
No. Squirrel cage was invented by Russian engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky in 1889 year for asynchronous electric motors he developed. Since then this type of rotors are named as squirrel cage/squirrel wheel. In Russia, we call hamster wheel as squirrel wheel, just because, historically, we had more squirrels than hamsters as royal pets. Even in fairy-tales we frequently have something like a "squirrel cage" with a pet squirrel.
My week is saved, thanks for checking out my SanAce/Nidec mashup! The 9gv1512 is originally a 50mm thick fan so scaling it down makes the angle of attack very shallow. I think a steeper profile would have landed quite a bit higher but it was still great seeing it in action!
Squirrel cage was invented by Russian engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky in 1889 year for asynchronous electric motors he developed. Since then this type of rotors are named as squirrel cage/squirrel wheel. In Russia, we call hamster wheel as squirrel wheel, just because, historically, we had more squirrels than hamsters as royal pets. Even in fairy-tales we frequently have something like a "squirrel cage" with a pet squirrel.
4:10 *humor* You see those in cars. We had old cars and the goofy squirrels/mice/rats liked to make nests inside of the fan. Likely why they named it the squirrel cage.
yup You cant run a squirrel cage fan just out in the open - it needs to have pressure - or it will burn the motor out - thats why they are in enclosed areas and why mommy and daddy said - DON'T COVER THE AIR VENTS - close half of them and no air will blow - and the furnace starts on fire - have them all open and the door to the room the furnace is in open and you burn the motor out - it lets it spin too fast - it needs that pressure. you need a rod going from the motor side - centered on the motor tht goes through the center of the hampster wheel - to a bearing on the open side - just make a pillar big enough to put a pillow bearing in that has needle roller bearings in it - with light oil. Just look at any furnace or central air unit inside your house (not the condenser outside). - making a vented box that the blower assembly can fit in - where you can adjust the amount of intake air - WILL CHANGE THE PRESSURE AND RESULTS ON EVERYTHING - and that's good - because you have to adjust according to the pressure needed for whatever case you're blowing air into - or sucking air out of - hint - they are better and blowing through - than being used to suck out - because they are great with static pressure - it actually forces the fan to go slower and not get as hot and burn itself out. Also you can put an air filter on the intake side of the case you make around the fan assembly - stretch out a used dryer sheet and make something to snap it in a opening - 3D printed snap in frame. And there ya go!
Designer of the Squirrel Cage Fan here (Josh) I'm aware that the fan housing wasn't the best, I had originally planned it to be snail-shell shaped but was having issues with CAD (designing, licencing etc), the first iteration of the design managed to get deleted so I had to start from scratch, I'm from a design background but honestly was a bit lazy about making the housing... I will send in an improvement if possible. And damn 24 hour print time, I'm amazed it even managed to print in the first place. Also 420 FPM, nice
the washing machine needs a more sea shell like look with a longer outlet port to help control the flow along with an intake shroud similar to ones used on fans previously on this channel, should help improve the stability of the flow, maybe even widen the blade a little to move more air, that design has a lot of potential, I use this particular type of fan in my field of work, and I will say there is a reason we call them air movers and not fans as they move a lot air rather quickly, much better than any fan I`ve ever seen aside from those giant belt driven shop fans on wheels, lol
Yea and check those at your work and you'll find they are springing with the scoops facing the opposite of the way these are, the scoops need to scoop the air otherwise its like trying to scoop ice cream with the back of an ice cream scoop.
Actually, there are some benefits to low speed performance with biplane or triplane performance which were very good for maneuverability at the (relatively) low speeds they were flying. Especially with there not very powerful engines. Although nowadays with our really powerful engines and the lower drag from a mono wing design we would rather use that because of our faster planes.
A "Squirrel Cage" is a type of anti-squirrel device mounted upon birdhouse and birdfeeder posts, to try and keep things such as squirrels, snakes, and other rodents away from the birds/birdseed. It takes the form of a 4inch-pipe (usually) with a cap on the upper end, with the post going through the center of this. It creates a sort of 'trap' that a rodent can not get around because the lip has nowhere for them to grab on.
actually triplane designers knew exactly what they were doing, biplanes and triplanes were for maneuverability in dogfights and also allowed for slower takeoffs and landings
Different color for every fan is a great idea. Makes it easier to instantly distinguish each fan. I'm always excited to see new video from you, James. Big fan.
Along with changing the shape of the outlet on the squirrel cage fan housing, it also helps to shroud the intake side of the fan. It helps direct the flow of air coming into the impeller. Also, adding a directional pitch to the fins would increase the efficiency and direct the airflow as well.
8:51 its because squirrel cage fan shrouds need to be offset slightly. The air from the fan doesn't come from the center of the exit hole, the air comes from the side of the fan in the direction of the fan shroud. That's why when you see a large squirrel cage fan the shroud is always shaped like the number 6. this design would still work for thick radiators as static pressure is more important then the direction of the flow.
Great fan as usual! The thing with "squirrel" cage fan is they are not design to build pressure they are suppose to have a free flow and will push a lot of air. This type of fan is use in most furnace, AC, Car HVAC and it's also very quiet since those usually run at lower rpm. Great design keep it up! Cheers.
@@geekswithfeet9137 Of course I was talking only about the actual squirrel cage fan the big one not those design like a turbo. There's lots of design out there that are ready to blow our mind indeed.
The Washing Machine used an HVAC blower design (volume) instead of a high-velocity design sea shell, those are much smaller, about the size of any other fan design but comes with a sea shell housing that focuses the air, but that would have to be designed to be clipped, snapped, or screwed together, and that becomes difficult when you have to use an existing housing for a motor.
The FPM is a nice addition, but seeing if it can keep a cpu from thermally throttling is probably the most interesting test. I know you're trying something new with the ranking, but I'd really appreciate having that metric back in the vids. Thanks for keeping up this wacky science series!
I would like to see a lip cover the out edges of the intake sides of the squirrel cage fan to prevent pressure built up from escaping before it reaches the outlet for efficiency.
it also really helps when the blades are facing the right way currently the scoops are backwards its like trying to scoop scream with a backward ice cream scoop, not ideal lol
A little trick I use to keep things from falling off shelves or in your case a pc is locktite fun tack. Cut off a small piece and stick it to the surface and it wont slide around, plus it leaves no residue or glue and reuseable. Not more than $6 at a WalMart in the office supplies/arts and crafts area. I use it to keep my speaker monitors from falling over if I bump my desk by accident.
reason those others do a snail-esque design around the squirrel-cage housing is the tendency to sling air out on all sides when it's running, run that snail in the same direction the fan is spinning and you get a lot more effective airflow, car turbo or centrifugal supercharger does this as well
The squirrel cage fan needs some tweaks, the most important of which is that it's mounted wrong. Apparently both you and the designer intuitively (incorrectly) thought the air would come out where the motor was attached. That's not how they work. Squirrel cage fans want to dump air out the side (square in this example), not through the round ends. This is blindingly obvious in the video as smoke blasts out the square opening. That's why they're also called "centrifugal" fans- the induced airflow is *away from the centerline* not *along the centerline*- the latter is how axial flow fans, like how almost every other fan you've tested works. The rotor's diameter should be twice its length, and the square output duct (which will take up only half the width of the casing) taken off tangential to the round case. The other end of that duct should be mounted to the temperature sensing rig/airflow sensor rig. Air will enter through both round ends, though one can be closed off for the smoke test. (And no, reversing the pitch of the blades so that it pulls air in through the square side won't work. That's why you never see fans designed like that.) Tweak it right and I think this is going to be a huge winner. (Also, you forgot to put text up telling us which fan you were smoke testing.)
Yes great explanantion im supreisd how many times he gets fans backwards lol To dumb it down a little the scoops on the one he made are facing the wrong way so its like trying to scoop ice cream with the back of an ice cream scoop, not very ideal lol
On the squirrel cage fan, if you close off the arena that attaches to the fan motor and design a cap for the intake side so that the opening dips into the center of it with a velocity stack shape it will perform a lot better. I used to work at a factory where we built hvacs for Honda vehicles and that design is extremely similar to a blower fan in a vehicles hvac. I’m also an automotive mechanic too so I’ve changed them on many vehicles and they all have the same type of fan
The most common name for that fan is "blower" fan. A blower fan is generally used for exhaust applications when the stresses are much greater to rewove air and in very rougher environments like factory duct work. I have one that I needed to extend my dryer exhaust. That fan takes a beating with all the lint & moisture it handles.
That squirrel cage fan was designed for clockwise rotation. That's why the air is coming out at an angle. The opening needs to be tangent to the other side, and the scoops on the fins need to point the other way. It would work better if you print it mirrored.
I ran into this during season 1 ep 4, and honestly this is my weird niche content I'm glad UA-cam recommended to me. No, I'm not subscribed but honestly it's because I love seeing these videos randomly popping up in my recommended section. Thanks for continuing the series and thanks to everyone providing files for printing
Awesome! Although I never planned to participate, this series has been inspiring me to work at the mental drafting table on possible designs. I too had thought about the industrial blower concept (squirrel cage) and how to mate it to this motor platform. I can't wait to watch the episode and see how this version performs!
Well shoot, the problem I can't resolve didn't get resolved here either. The axis of rotation is perpendicular to the out flow. I wonder if the approach should be a reverse draft? That is to say drafting air inward across the CPU and venting out the side of the drum. In this way the top of the blower drum could be blanked off. and fashioned with a spindle to provide out board centering. I wish I could post a sketch but maybe some can follow me.
Amazing episode as always! I hope the washing machine type fan gets explored more, it was funky to watch. Also, general feedback, labels of any kind during the smoke test were really helpful. Doesn't have to be the rotating mini view like before bc I bet that's a lot of work, but a pic or even just text would probably do
The "washing machine" housing could also be used to accommodate a double ended fan, blowing in to the housing from each end, maybe combined with with the squirrel cage. Also, for that style, it should really be firing into an offset output from the forward edge of the cage
The best use for the squirrel cage design would be to pull air through a restriction. I can work fine as a blower with a good enclosure which accounts for the tangential angle of exit. Usually a snail-shaped enclosure that allows expansion around the whole perimeter. But what it is BEST at is pulling a lot of static pressure at low RPMs. I'm currently designing an "air purifier PC case" around this concept. Basically: Charcoal prefilter -> MERV-14 HVAC filter -> MO-RA3 -> computer chassis -> exhaust. The exhaust would be handled by one fan. One ~400mm centrifugal fan. The goal being that the fan could hang out around 200-300 RPM most of the time. But at higher speeds, could act as an air purifier. But for it to be able to run silently and pull through filters and a rad, it needs to be able to pull a lot of pressure at low RPM. So I'm going with a centrifugal fan.
Fun fact, more wings does mean more better but it's not linear and require a good bit of fiddling to get right for the application at hand. The reason early planes used multi wing designs was because materials and manufacturing techniques were not sufficient for making long airfoils.
Worked on blower fans for a large industrial plant back in the day. Your hamster cage needs a bigger output throat for directed flow, and you've got to take some extra time to get the blades level. Definitely needs a top ring to cover the blades. Industry adds a bottom ring-plate so that you can remove small bites of plastic in order to properly balance.
The "Washing Machine" needs a few non-printed things to improve it. 1)An axle assembly on the opposite end from drive unit. 3 arms on the fan itself and 3 on the housing, connected with a shaft through some sort of bearing(teflon slide or ball/pin bearing) to provide some(or a lot) of support and lubrication. 2)a discharge chute or way to attach some ducting to put the air where you want it. #1 is far more important and would allow for the RPM of the fan to be increased rather dramatically.
Im sure just an oversite but it helps to have the names of each fan on screen during the smoke test. Had no idea which was which except for the washing machine.
Have you experimented with having the background dark for the smoke test, and have some light outside of the camera view, directed at the smoke from below (or above with no table under the smoke? (so the light only hits the smoke)
If you search biscuit blower, it does indeed turn up short centrifugal fans, mostly from Comair Rotron line. It then wanders around a bit before coming back to centrifugal fans.
the squirrel cage, blower fan is what you will find on your furnace, other house hold appliances that blow. and in your car. theres no replacement for displacement... Also usually mounted to a box/duck work.. or a workblower fan like you showed.
the squirrel fan is 100% in need of a shroud re-design. if you look at your average furnace/AC unit, the ducting on the pressure side of the fan is much smaller and is shaped very specifically to direct the flow at great velocity. however, those types of fans also use a motor that has a TON of torque. one of those wicked Delta fans, something like the blowiematron, would be perfect to push that fan
The issue with the washing machine is the design is set up to run the other direction, if you can flip the design of the outer sleeve then the air will be forced out in the correct direction therefore better airflow and more consistent pattern.
just from a physics standpoint i whould say that the configuration of the washing machine makes it prone to push the air sideways, so it would make sense to mount the fan on the bottom of the case and direct the air inside sideways. furthermore i think that with a more powerfull centrifugal force it would be possible to cool a case (maybe even an AIO too??) with a single fan motor and a huge washing machine fan.. maybe even increase performance by placing standard fan on top and bottom to force air inside the housing, with the WM fan/rotor pushing it sideways. now THAT would be a project i would LOVE to watch
you should also put back how well it works next to a radiator. because some fans may not generate much flow (cfm) but they do generate a high hydrostatic pressure (will give greater temperature drop). one will serve for the chassis and form a good flow and the other for a radiator or a CPU air sink. but since both are part oriented different objectives can give low values in one aspect but high in another. so you should measure both the flow and how well it works with a radiator.
I think if they add a centre support for the cage it’ll do pretty well, maybe a rod with a bearing to stabilize. I think the new crop of cases with the back panel intakes that blow in and then force the air to turn 90 degrees should run squirrel cages fans. Pull in from the back side, and directs the air 90 degrees straight at the components with lots of force and static pressure. Major hardware, if you see this comment and have an lian li 011 or a corsair 4000-7000 airflow case, make 3 squirrel cage conversion fans and try it out! Please and thank you.
Finally! There is a blower style fan, and its called "The Washing Machine". It preformed about as expected. But, I noticed some splash back at the opening on the "top"(?) I wonder if it would benefit from having fan blades where the opening at the inlet side is. As in, part of the grey piece. Yes, that would make it tricky to print. Maybe we'll see that in a revision? Either way. Thank you for another video.
Squirrel cage fan gets its name because the main use for that type of fan is as a blower for heating systems, the main animal that gets into ductwork and ends up stuck in this blower and dieing, and subsequently being found by a repair person, is a Squirrel
James now that you have improved your 3D printing skills and seen 100s of fan types. 1: What fan would enjoy making for performance and sound. 2: which fan would you remake with tweaks to get more performance.
Personally I’m ok with the fans being made in different colors, however I do very much prefer when they’re all the same. I just think it’s a really cool detail that the fans that faced each other all match for their round.
I work on HVAC systems and wanted to make a suggestion for the squirrel cage blower. The inlet needs a cone to help direct the air through the open side this will help on the throughput.
OK, just found your channel. I'm a process engineer working in very large chemical and power plants. Many of the best ideas are already out there.... simply look at large process fan makers for what they ended up putting out for the customer bases... Now, the squirrel cage fan... Let me first say, you are spinning it backwards for highest flow and quietest use. The outer "washing machine" part needs to be about 15% larger in area than the ID of the moving blades to make room for the air to exit outthe OUTER rim of the spinning wheel, and ducted to where you want it. Fans in industry are generally noisy affairs, but they then case them in sound proofing. Also Look at a boat propeller, the larger the pitch, the bigger the amount of material moved in 1 rotation allows you to reduce the RPM of the blades which also reduce noise. The high speed air leaving the tips of the blades is what makes the sound. Very interesting that someone is finally taking these fan issues to heart and looking to get to some real solutions. Good channel and really good to see you come to the point quickly and straight up. Like this a lot!!
The washing machine squirrel cage is perfect. The body is built wrong. It is supposed to change diameter like a sea shell. It's properly called a volute in reference to the volume it contains It gives the air someplace to go during it's trip around the inside before it exits.
Might have something to do with the fact it is also the same type of fan used as a blower motor in automobiles. Squirrels are known for nesting in sitting vehicle's blower motors.
That blower fan outlet pattern is exactly what they do and theres no real way around it except diverting it to whatever direction you want the air to go.
music is good, you got better at editing over the course of the series 👍 The washing machine fan looks like a fan for a swamp cooler turbine. it also may make sense to run the fan in the other direction, angling the blades in the opposite orientation. it might create a higher constant pressure.
If every fan in the same video is a different color it makes it easier to tell them apart in each test. If every fan in the same video is the same color but different then other videos it makes it easier to remember former fans across longer time periods.
With the squirrel cage fan, i think there is much to improve on. Fan is good but the housing, look up a swamp cooler. And how the air is compressed and the outlet is offset not just wide open. The same design can be found on alot of carpet drying blower fans.
It actually looks just like an old swamp cooler. (An older style window unit room cooler that you used to spray the sides with a water hose and it cooled a room in your house by pulling air through wet straw mats in the sides.)
Many air handler fans in the company I work for are of such cage fan variety, or radial fans, as they are called. With the ducting behind it they can move quite a bit of air volume.
Airflow measurements needs to take in surface area and density into effect to measure actual airflow. So the blower has a larger surface area, and even though it has a lower flow rate, it might be moving MORE air with a higher static pressure.
Yeah, the way you had to mount that "washer fan" for the smoke test was interesting, as well as watching the flow have to take a sharp turn (naturally).
squirrel cage fans are used in automotive dashboards, right where fresh air is pulled into your cabin. as such, one VERY common problem is that squirrels will get in there and fill them up with all kinds of detritus.
Two big problems with that centrifugal fan design. 1, the outlet needs to be smaller and more toward the side opposite the direction of rotation. 2, and most importantly, one of the sides needs to be blocked! Unless you’re trying to mount a radiator to the outlet, you will end up drawing half your flow from either side. That is extremely inefficient.
The washing machine needs a volute case to direct the air out, look up an evaporative cooler blower. Also a cap on the end so air must go through the cooler.
The sides of the "washing machine" is not sealed enough to generate pressure :/ The outer part of the blades need to be in an enclosed area to plow air into and achieve high static pressures!
Exactly plus it will make the blade spin faster. Once had a blower with the correct exhaust outlet from an air handler. Ran slow and tripped its thermal cutout until I blocked part of the outlet. It then ran full speed and never again tripped its thermal cutout plus it blew a lot of air.
For the washing machine try to close the outlet for half the height and do a little bit of a lid like the dryer you have. For the inlet make a bit of a venturi.
People absolutely knew what they were doing. Dealing with incredibly weak engines and wooden fabric wings that had a tendency to rip off in a dive. Triplanes did well in acrobatics that would have ripped apart a single wing set plane at the same time.
Couldn’t find anyone with this explanation for the name of the squirrel cage so here’s mine from my dad circa my childhood: the squirrel cage fan is most commonly used in home hvac systems, and it’s called that because often times squirrels would find their way into the ducts, and this cage was to catch them so they don’t burn up in the furnace
Testarossa, not exactly the pinnacle of aero design, but how much I love that car, and how much I do love that fan. If it does even decent I may make some for my PC just for awesome. Also my next build is going to be a Car Theme and I plan on really going for it, so how rad would that be?!]
I have seen many people make bladeless fans on thingivers but I have not seen one on here. Not really a good pc fan, but still curious how it would do if you tested one here
While I don’t normally care about fan color as long as it’s the same material… the different color really helped me identify the 3-blade fan while it was spinning. So I’m not just “I don’t care,” I’m actively in favor of switching to colors for identification purposes.
The problem with the Washing Machine fan isn't necessarily the shape of the opening, but that there's so little room around the fan for the air to find the exit. Centrifugal fans exhaust in all directions, so the surrounding shroud must have sufficient room and shape for the air to smoothly reach the exit. Shrouds are typically quite large for this reason. The shroud may not have much room to grow here, so the fan may need to shrink in diameter. Perhaps if the diameter shrunk by 1/3rd it might provide more shroud space while decreasing the mass and increasing RPM. The reduced weight will help the fan support itself, but the higher speed will offset this such that balance issues may persist. The blades can be inclined either forwards or backwards compared with the direction of rotation, but forwards can work at higher static pressure and backwards is more efficient at lower pressures. Backwards is likely most efficient for this application and Josh probably did his homework here, but forward-included blades can make less noise.
For the washing machine I feel like you need to pick either the side it was dumping air and seal the rear, or if you want it to run air in a straight line I would think you'd want to spiral the cage inside/fins and seal the side.
For some fans, it’s obvious what it is, but I liked it when you would superimpose a clip rotating around the stationary fan in the corner of the smoke test. For me, there’s something nice about being able to look back and forth between the design and how its airflow is doing. Could you do that in future episodes again?
Yeah. I enjoyed that too.
@@EchoBuildsThings I also appreciated that. You never truly know what you have until it's gone...
The airflow coming out of the washing machine is weird because the housing and impeller were made for a clockwise spinning fan, to fix this the print just needs to be mirrored and re-printed.
And if it’s mirrored it’ll definitely move a lot more air.
Do another .5 ep to test it
Boost
Definitely worth a try. It either works or we get a mirrored result.
The end away from motor needs to be capped and use it as a pull fan with offset outlet, mirror the blades angle if you want a push style fan *edit maybe have the cover cap conical to improve flow routing*
Yeah, I think he was teasing us, there is no way he didn't think of that. The only problem it would have taken an other day to print.
Multi-airfoil designs are actually significantly more efficient than a single airfoil at steep pitches because it reduces flow separation which reduces lift force and efficiency. I think in this case, the pitch was not steep enough to see any any benefit from the multiple airfoils.
I like your funny words, magic man!
I think I've seen this in some plain videos I've watched. With multiple air foils at multiple different angles you can pretty much make a non-existent stall speed, the problem I remember from that though is the amount of drag severely limits the top speed of the aircraft.
@@custommotor Early airplane designs went crazy with numbers of airfoils, if I recall.
Thermaltake had some kind of crazy hamster wheel cooler years ago (it was called the spinq). It didn't really just a duct though, the entire outer wall was the cooler so it just used centrifugal force to chuck air through the cooler.
@@Fitzgibbon299 yes, but not for the reason described in the comment. It just gave it more lift in smaller footprint
Imagine if 20 years ago someone told you that some day you'd be watching homemade computer fan prototypes being tested and loving every minute of it.
This is still my favorite only fans channel
I guess I would have produced my best Vulcan impersonation ever...
--------
( 20 years back:
* raises one eyebrow * "Intriguing idea." )
20 years ago... I'd have asked you to put the DragonTales VHS back in
I would have absolutely believed you.
Honestly I would believe it. I loved ceiling fans as a toddler. My family would get me ad magazines of fans haha
just a thought, ever consider sending the top fans to steve at gamers nexus to both verify with his industrial fan tester and to gain channel viewership?
As cool as that would be, I really think that that would deviate massively from Gamers Nexus regular content and since they spent a lot of time with their reviews and tests already, I doubt that they would participate.
LinusTechTips wanted to start a new Project where they test stuff out with equipment as well, maybe they would be better suited for a collab, since they do way more "silly" stuff
@@Shortyman17 I agree with you, Shorty. If Steve is interested, I think he'd prefer to build out a good testing 'portfolio' of proper fans first.
LTT on the other hand? I feel like they would love to sidestep for something like this. It almost seems like they're always looking for collabs.
There's also a problem of not being his designs, they are already being submitted for testing here. I don't know if he can just send them elsewhere, or even if the people submitting them would want that. As we've seen in the first or second season, there was a company interested in one of the prototypes, and they were working with the person who created it, not with MH... So, there's the legal side of things to be considered as well.
JUST A THOUGHT:
You should make a rim powered turbine next... A fan in which the rotor is embedded in the rim, the stator encompasses the rim and the turbine blades point inward toward a hollow center.
This gets suggested every video
The squirrel cage fan housing needs to have an expanding tangential exit like every other squirrel cage fan
and a slightly better lip around the edge, a little bit of the exhaust was coming back out the intake. Still, definitely wanna see more concepts like this, and would love to see a V2.0
The housing could be redesigned and the washing machine retested just to see if a proper housing design makes it better.
I would've put an involute casing around the cage
This, exactly. It needs a proper involute, not a cylinder to run in. Also, air is normally drawn in on both ends / sides of the squirrel cage. They are used when there is higher static pressure that blade fans can't overcome.
I think it’s blowing backwards or needs to be reversed
7:28 - It doesn't show us which fan is which in the smoke tests. So first it's the Triple Decker, then the surgelessACE, then the Testarossa, and finally the Washing Machine.
Thanks. How'd you figure it out though? The first one is kind of obvious cause you can see 3 "hot spots" in the whirling mass, but I couldn't tell between #2 and #3.
I came to comment the same. I was trying to figure out if these were different fans or not until we got to the washing machine. Love these videos however some of the editing in this one seems a little rushed. None the less great episode.
@@DFPercush the surgelesACE has a ring you can see.
@@DFPercushThe remaining fans are lying on the table in the background.
I just don't understand how you can figure out where the Washing Machine is in the line up.
Having a separate model of the fan present during the smoke test was a nice touch. It's doesn't need to be moving, just a basic picture works (IMO).
Where did you see separate models or "basic pictures"? What do you even mean by those?
There was no images used and no separate models. Just one model per fan and the video was taken from two different POVs. Just like always. If anything, there was no labels. In this video it wasn't a problem since the fans were easily discernible from each others but sometimes there are many similar fans which can be hard to identify when spinning.
@@anteshell I was referring to how the fans were presented in this episode: ua-cam.com/video/e_31YBMwUEA/v-deo.html
That ~30Hz peak from the Ferrari-inspired fan (and to an extent, the washing machine) was quite the experience on headphones.
It's always fun finding things where it's obvious audio was only mastered on one device...
Not really a criticism btw; I don't expect a medium sized UA-camr to be mixing audio to the same standards as audio engineers.
*Also, one could argue that changing the gain on a comparison is contrary to the point of the video... Details.
Same my subwoofers were a bit excited
Nah you just have your bass boosted
The squirrel cage started out as swirl cage because the housing for a normal centrifugal blower is in the shape of a spiral (swirl).
All it takes is someone to miss pronounce a word and you get stuck with an "S" after your last name for your nickname.
What about squirrel cage rotors on electric motors? those don't have any spiral
A squirrel cage is a real thing which looks like the fan does. I'm not sure where you heard that from but it's not true lol.
That sux, Balls
No. Squirrel cage was invented by Russian engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky in 1889 year for asynchronous electric motors he developed. Since then this type of rotors are named as squirrel cage/squirrel wheel. In Russia, we call hamster wheel as squirrel wheel, just because, historically, we had more squirrels than hamsters as royal pets. Even in fairy-tales we frequently have something like a "squirrel cage" with a pet squirrel.
Eric, I literally have an uncle Harold 🤦
My week is saved, thanks for checking out my SanAce/Nidec mashup!
The 9gv1512 is originally a 50mm thick fan so scaling it down makes the angle of attack very shallow. I think a steeper profile would have landed quite a bit higher but it was still great seeing it in action!
Squirrel cage was invented by Russian engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky in 1889 year for asynchronous electric motors he developed. Since then this type of rotors are named as squirrel cage/squirrel wheel. In Russia, we call hamster wheel as squirrel wheel, just because, historically, we had more squirrels than hamsters as royal pets. Even in fairy-tales we frequently have something like a "squirrel cage" with a pet squirrel.
4:10 *humor* You see those in cars. We had old cars and the goofy squirrels/mice/rats liked to make nests inside of the fan. Likely why they named it the squirrel cage.
The squirrel cage needs a volute enclosure to work properly, otherwise it mostly just spins the air.
yup
You cant run a squirrel cage fan just out in the open - it needs to have pressure - or it will burn the motor out - thats why they are in enclosed areas and why mommy and daddy said - DON'T COVER THE AIR VENTS - close half of them and no air will blow - and the furnace starts on fire - have them all open and the door to the room the furnace is in open and you burn the motor out - it lets it spin too fast - it needs that pressure. you need a rod going from the motor side - centered on the motor tht goes through the center of the hampster wheel - to a bearing on the open side - just make a pillar big enough to put a pillow bearing in that has needle roller bearings in it - with light oil. Just look at any furnace or central air unit inside your house (not the condenser outside). - making a vented box that the blower assembly can fit in - where you can adjust the amount of intake air - WILL CHANGE THE PRESSURE AND RESULTS ON EVERYTHING - and that's good - because you have to adjust according to the pressure needed for whatever case you're blowing air into - or sucking air out of - hint - they are better and blowing through - than being used to suck out - because they are great with static pressure - it actually forces the fan to go slower and not get as hot and burn itself out. Also you can put an air filter on the intake side of the case you make around the fan assembly - stretch out a used dryer sheet and make something to snap it in a opening - 3D printed snap in frame. And there ya go!
Designer of the Squirrel Cage Fan here (Josh)
I'm aware that the fan housing wasn't the best, I had originally planned it to be snail-shell shaped but was having issues with CAD (designing, licencing etc), the first iteration of the design managed to get deleted so I had to start from scratch, I'm from a design background but honestly was a bit lazy about making the housing... I will send in an improvement if possible.
And damn 24 hour print time, I'm amazed it even managed to print in the first place.
Also 420 FPM, nice
the washing machine needs a more sea shell like look with a longer outlet port to help control the flow along with an intake shroud similar to ones used on fans previously on this channel, should help improve the stability of the flow, maybe even widen the blade a little to move more air, that design has a lot of potential, I use this particular type of fan in my field of work, and I will say there is a reason we call them air movers and not fans as they move a lot air rather quickly, much better than any fan I`ve ever seen aside from those giant belt driven shop fans on wheels, lol
Yea and check those at your work and you'll find they are springing with the scoops facing the opposite of the way these are, the scoops need to scoop the air otherwise its like trying to scoop ice cream with the back of an ice cream scoop.
Actually, there are some benefits to low speed performance with biplane or triplane performance which were very good for maneuverability at the (relatively) low speeds they were flying. Especially with there not very powerful engines. Although nowadays with our really powerful engines and the lower drag from a mono wing design we would rather use that because of our faster planes.
Okay so for the washing machine. I have a larger fan at work thats rather similar but the air flow is ejected from a narrow slot from the outlet side
A "Squirrel Cage" is a type of anti-squirrel device mounted upon birdhouse and birdfeeder posts, to try and keep things such as squirrels, snakes, and other rodents away from the birds/birdseed. It takes the form of a 4inch-pipe (usually) with a cap on the upper end, with the post going through the center of this. It creates a sort of 'trap' that a rodent can not get around because the lip has nowhere for them to grab on.
actually triplane designers knew exactly what they were doing, biplanes and triplanes were for maneuverability in dogfights and also allowed for slower takeoffs and landings
Different color for every fan is a great idea. Makes it easier to instantly distinguish each fan.
I'm always excited to see new video from you, James. Big fan.
The washer sounded exactly like one on spin....amazing!
Along with changing the shape of the outlet on the squirrel cage fan housing, it also helps to shroud the intake side of the fan. It helps direct the flow of air coming into the impeller. Also, adding a directional pitch to the fins would increase the efficiency and direct the airflow as well.
8:51 its because squirrel cage fan shrouds need to be offset slightly. The air from the fan doesn't come from the center of the exit hole, the air comes from the side of the fan in the direction of the fan shroud. That's why when you see a large squirrel cage fan the shroud is always shaped like the number 6. this design would still work for thick radiators as static pressure is more important then the direction of the flow.
Great fan as usual! The thing with "squirrel" cage fan is they are not design to build pressure they are suppose to have a free flow and will push a lot of air. This type of fan is use in most furnace, AC, Car HVAC and it's also very quiet since those usually run at lower rpm. Great design keep it up! Cheers.
That’s not entirely true, as with all fans blade configuration determines flow/pressure profiles.
@@geekswithfeet9137 Of course I was talking only about the actual squirrel cage fan the big one not those design like a turbo. There's lots of design out there that are ready to blow our mind indeed.
The Washing Machine used an HVAC blower design (volume) instead of a high-velocity design sea shell, those are much smaller, about the size of any other fan design but comes with a sea shell housing that focuses the air, but that would have to be designed to be clipped, snapped, or screwed together, and that becomes difficult when you have to use an existing housing for a motor.
The FPM is a nice addition, but seeing if it can keep a cpu from
thermally throttling is probably the most interesting test.
I know you're trying something new with the ranking, but I'd
really appreciate having that metric back in the vids.
Thanks for keeping up this wacky science series!
This season is supposed to be case fans, not CPU cooling. Hence flow rate.
Hmmm "I know you're trying something new with the ranking, but I'd
really appreciate having that metric back in the vids."
You know, my exhaust fan has a squirrel cage fan. Yet my laptop has 3 biscuit blowers. 💀💀💀
I would like to see a lip cover the out edges of the intake sides of the squirrel cage fan to prevent pressure built up from escaping before it reaches the outlet for efficiency.
it also really helps when the blades are facing the right way currently the scoops are backwards its like trying to scoop scream with a backward ice cream scoop, not ideal lol
A little trick I use to keep things from falling off shelves or in your case a pc is locktite fun tack. Cut off a small piece and stick it to the surface and it wont slide around, plus it leaves no residue or glue and reuseable. Not more than $6 at a WalMart in the office supplies/arts and crafts area. I use it to keep my speaker monitors from falling over if I bump my desk by accident.
reason those others do a snail-esque design around the squirrel-cage housing is the tendency to sling air out on all sides when it's running, run that snail in the same direction the fan is spinning and you get a lot more effective airflow, car turbo or centrifugal supercharger does this as well
The squirrel cage fan needs some tweaks, the most important of which is that it's mounted wrong. Apparently both you and the designer intuitively (incorrectly) thought the air would come out where the motor was attached. That's not how they work.
Squirrel cage fans want to dump air out the side (square in this example), not through the round ends. This is blindingly obvious in the video as smoke blasts out the square opening. That's why they're also called "centrifugal" fans- the induced airflow is *away from the centerline* not *along the centerline*- the latter is how axial flow fans, like how almost every other fan you've tested works.
The rotor's diameter should be twice its length, and the square output duct (which will take up only half the width of the casing) taken off tangential to the round case. The other end of that duct should be mounted to the temperature sensing rig/airflow sensor rig.
Air will enter through both round ends, though one can be closed off for the smoke test. (And no, reversing the pitch of the blades so that it pulls air in through the square side won't work. That's why you never see fans designed like that.)
Tweak it right and I think this is going to be a huge winner.
(Also, you forgot to put text up telling us which fan you were smoke testing.)
Yes great explanantion im supreisd how many times he gets fans backwards lol To dumb it down a little the scoops on the one he made are facing the wrong way so its like trying to scoop ice cream with the back of an ice cream scoop, not very ideal lol
This
On the squirrel cage fan, if you close off the arena that attaches to the fan motor and design a cap for the intake side so that the opening dips into the center of it with a velocity stack shape it will perform a lot better. I used to work at a factory where we built hvacs for Honda vehicles and that design is extremely similar to a blower fan in a vehicles hvac. I’m also an automotive mechanic too so I’ve changed them on many vehicles and they all have the same type of fan
The most common name for that fan is "blower" fan. A blower fan is generally used for exhaust applications when the stresses are much greater to rewove air and in very rougher environments like factory duct work. I have one that I needed to extend my dryer exhaust. That fan takes a beating with all the lint & moisture it handles.
That squirrel cage fan was designed for clockwise rotation. That's why the air is coming out at an angle. The opening needs to be tangent to the other side, and the scoops on the fins need to point the other way. It would work better if you print it mirrored.
The squirrel cage fan is what's used in household HVAC systems and commercial air blowers used for drying floors and carpets.
I ran into this during season 1 ep 4, and honestly this is my weird niche content I'm glad UA-cam recommended to me. No, I'm not subscribed but honestly it's because I love seeing these videos randomly popping up in my recommended section. Thanks for continuing the series and thanks to everyone providing files for printing
the weird output on squirrel cage fans is always rectified by fins or long ducts, also on ducted ones only half is exposed witch helps a lot
Awesome! Although I never planned to participate, this series has been inspiring me to work at the mental drafting table on possible designs. I too had thought about the industrial blower concept (squirrel cage) and how to mate it to this motor platform. I can't wait to watch the episode and see how this version performs!
Well shoot, the problem I can't resolve didn't get resolved here either. The axis of rotation is perpendicular to the out flow. I wonder if the approach should be a reverse draft? That is to say drafting air inward across the CPU and venting out the side of the drum. In this way the top of the blower drum could be blanked off. and fashioned with a spindle to provide out board centering. I wish I could post a sketch but maybe some can follow me.
Amazing episode as always! I hope the washing machine type fan gets explored more, it was funky to watch.
Also, general feedback, labels of any kind during the smoke test were really helpful. Doesn't have to be the rotating mini view like before bc I bet that's a lot of work, but a pic or even just text would probably do
The "washing machine" housing could also be used to accommodate a double ended fan, blowing in to the housing from each end, maybe combined with with the squirrel cage.
Also, for that style, it should really be firing into an offset output from the forward edge of the cage
am I losing my mind or were the smoke tests not notated with which fan it was?
Please never change your smoke test music!
The best use for the squirrel cage design would be to pull air through a restriction. I can work fine as a blower with a good enclosure which accounts for the tangential angle of exit. Usually a snail-shaped enclosure that allows expansion around the whole perimeter. But what it is BEST at is pulling a lot of static pressure at low RPMs.
I'm currently designing an "air purifier PC case" around this concept. Basically: Charcoal prefilter -> MERV-14 HVAC filter -> MO-RA3 -> computer chassis -> exhaust.
The exhaust would be handled by one fan. One ~400mm centrifugal fan.
The goal being that the fan could hang out around 200-300 RPM most of the time. But at higher speeds, could act as an air purifier. But for it to be able to run silently and pull through filters and a rad, it needs to be able to pull a lot of pressure at low RPM. So I'm going with a centrifugal fan.
Fun fact, more wings does mean more better but it's not linear and require a good bit of fiddling to get right for the application at hand. The reason early planes used multi wing designs was because materials and manufacturing techniques were not sufficient for making long airfoils.
It's called a squirrel cage fan because they're most often enclosed in a sort of chicken wire cage that's reminiscent of a squirrel/rodent trap.
Worked on blower fans for a large industrial plant back in the day. Your hamster cage needs a bigger output throat for directed flow, and you've got to take some extra time to get the blades level. Definitely needs a top ring to cover the blades. Industry adds a bottom ring-plate so that you can remove small bites of plastic in order to properly balance.
That fart sound that played out of nowhere when you talked about bisket blowers had me cracking up!
The Testarossa has a really nice thick 30Hz note and some musical midrange notes too. Good stuff!
The "Washing Machine" needs a few non-printed things to improve it.
1)An axle assembly on the opposite end from drive unit. 3 arms on the fan itself and 3 on the housing, connected with a shaft through some sort of bearing(teflon slide or ball/pin bearing) to provide some(or a lot) of support and lubrication.
2)a discharge chute or way to attach some ducting to put the air where you want it.
#1 is far more important and would allow for the RPM of the fan to be increased rather dramatically.
Amazing episode as always! I hope the washing machine type fan gets explored more, it was funky to watch.
Im sure just an oversite but it helps to have the names of each fan on screen during the smoke test. Had no idea which was which except for the washing machine.
Have you experimented with having the background dark for the smoke test, and have some light outside of the camera view, directed at the smoke from below (or above with no table under the smoke? (so the light only hits the smoke)
If you search biscuit blower, it does indeed turn up short centrifugal fans, mostly from Comair Rotron line. It then wanders around a bit before coming back to centrifugal fans.
the squirrel cage, blower fan is what you will find on your furnace, other house hold appliances that blow. and in your car. theres no replacement for displacement... Also usually mounted to a box/duck work.. or a workblower fan like you showed.
Awesome episode as always.
Those smoke tests never get old.
This reminds me of my old cpu cooler in the early 2000s. It was a Coolermaster aero 7. It made a racket when you turned it up!
Its an blower fan use in shops and factorys known to have squirles get in them sometimes if guard falls off with neglect.
the squirrel fan is 100% in need of a shroud re-design. if you look at your average furnace/AC unit, the ducting on the pressure side of the fan is much smaller and is shaped very specifically to direct the flow at great velocity. however, those types of fans also use a motor that has a TON of torque. one of those wicked Delta fans, something like the blowiematron, would be perfect to push that fan
The issue with the washing machine is the design is set up to run the other direction, if you can flip the design of the outer sleeve then the air will be forced out in the correct direction therefore better airflow and more consistent pattern.
7:30 it's really hard to tell which fan is which without the picture of the non-spinning fan in the corner
just from a physics standpoint i whould say that the configuration of the washing machine makes it prone to push the air sideways, so it would make sense to mount the fan on the bottom of the case and direct the air inside sideways. furthermore i think that with a more powerfull centrifugal force it would be possible to cool a case (maybe even an AIO too??) with a single fan motor and a huge washing machine fan.. maybe even increase performance by placing standard fan on top and bottom to force air inside the housing, with the WM fan/rotor pushing it sideways. now THAT would be a project i would LOVE to watch
you should also put back how well it works next to a radiator. because some fans may not generate much flow (cfm) but they do generate a high hydrostatic pressure (will give greater temperature drop). one will serve for the chassis and form a good flow and the other for a radiator or a CPU air sink. but since both are part oriented different objectives can give low values in one aspect but high in another. so you should measure both the flow and how well it works with a radiator.
I think if they add a centre support for the cage it’ll do pretty well, maybe a rod with a bearing to stabilize. I think the new crop of cases with the back panel intakes that blow in and then force the air to turn 90 degrees should run squirrel cages fans. Pull in from the back side, and directs the air 90 degrees straight at the components with lots of force and static pressure.
Major hardware, if you see this comment and have an lian li 011 or a corsair 4000-7000 airflow case, make 3 squirrel cage conversion fans and try it out! Please and thank you.
Finally! There is a blower style fan, and its called "The Washing Machine". It preformed about as expected. But, I noticed some splash back at the opening on the "top"(?) I wonder if it would benefit from having fan blades where the opening at the inlet side is. As in, part of the grey piece. Yes, that would make it tricky to print. Maybe we'll see that in a revision? Either way. Thank you for another video.
Squirrel cage fan gets its name because the main use for that type of fan is as a blower for heating systems, the main animal that gets into ductwork and ends up stuck in this blower and dieing, and subsequently being found by a repair person, is a Squirrel
James now that you have improved your 3D printing skills and seen 100s of fan types. 1: What fan would enjoy making for performance and sound. 2: which fan would you remake with tweaks to get more performance.
Personally I’m ok with the fans being made in different colors, however I do very much prefer when they’re all the same. I just think it’s a really cool detail that the fans that faced each other all match for their round.
I work on HVAC systems and wanted to make a suggestion for the squirrel cage blower. The inlet needs a cone to help direct the air through the open side this will help on the throughput.
OK, just found your channel. I'm a process engineer working in very large chemical and power plants. Many of the best ideas are already out there.... simply look at large process fan makers for what they ended up putting out for the customer bases...
Now, the squirrel cage fan... Let me first say, you are spinning it backwards for highest flow and quietest use. The outer "washing machine" part needs to be about 15% larger in area than the ID of the moving blades to make room for the air to exit outthe OUTER rim of the spinning wheel, and ducted to where you want it.
Fans in industry are generally noisy affairs, but they then case them in sound proofing.
Also Look at a boat propeller, the larger the pitch, the bigger the amount of material moved in 1 rotation allows you to reduce the RPM of the blades which also reduce noise. The high speed air leaving the tips of the blades is what makes the sound.
Very interesting that someone is finally taking these fan issues to heart and looking to get to some real solutions. Good channel and really good to see you come to the point quickly and straight up. Like this a lot!!
The washing machine squirrel cage is perfect. The body is built wrong. It is supposed to change diameter like a sea shell. It's properly called a volute in reference to the volume it contains It gives the air someplace to go during it's trip around the inside before it exits.
Might have something to do with the fact it is also the same type of fan used as a blower motor in automobiles. Squirrels are known for nesting in sitting vehicle's blower motors.
That blower fan outlet pattern is exactly what they do and theres no real way around it except diverting it to whatever direction you want the air to go.
music is good, you got better at editing over the course of the series 👍 The washing machine fan looks like a fan for a swamp cooler turbine. it also may make sense to run the fan in the other direction, angling the blades in the opposite orientation. it might create a higher constant pressure.
If every fan in the same video is a different color it makes it easier to tell them apart in each test. If every fan in the same video is the same color but different then other videos it makes it easier to remember former fans across longer time periods.
With the squirrel cage fan, i think there is much to improve on. Fan is good but the housing, look up a swamp cooler. And how the air is compressed and the outlet is offset not just wide open. The same design can be found on alot of carpet drying blower fans.
It actually looks just like an old swamp cooler. (An older style window unit room cooler that you used to spray the sides with a water hose and it cooled a room in your house by pulling air through wet straw mats in the sides.)
I can’t imagine any other music to the smoke test. So 80’s and its just so awesome.
Many air handler fans in the company I work for are of such cage fan variety, or radial fans, as they are called. With the ducting behind it they can move quite a bit of air volume.
Airflow measurements needs to take in surface area and density into effect to measure actual airflow. So the blower has a larger surface area, and even though it has a lower flow rate, it might be moving MORE air with a higher static pressure.
Yeah, the way you had to mount that "washer fan" for the smoke test was interesting, as well as watching the flow have to take a sharp turn (naturally).
squirrel cage fans are used in automotive dashboards, right where fresh air is pulled into your cabin. as such, one VERY common problem is that squirrels will get in there and fill them up with all kinds of detritus.
it’s called a scroll cage fan. SCROLL. scroll scroll scroll
Two big problems with that centrifugal fan design. 1, the outlet needs to be smaller and more toward the side opposite the direction of rotation. 2, and most importantly, one of the sides needs to be blocked! Unless you’re trying to mount a radiator to the outlet, you will end up drawing half your flow from either side. That is extremely inefficient.
Can you make the entire fan showdown spreadsheet public? I'd just like to look at it. Thanks.
The washing machine needs a volute case to direct the air out, look up an evaporative cooler blower. Also a cap on the end so air must go through the cooler.
The sides of the "washing machine" is not sealed enough to generate pressure :/
The outer part of the blades need to be in an enclosed area to plow air into and achieve high static pressures!
Exactly plus it will make the blade spin faster.
Once had a blower with the correct exhaust outlet from an air handler.
Ran slow and tripped its thermal cutout until I blocked part of the outlet. It then ran full speed and never again tripped its thermal cutout plus it blew a lot of air.
For the washing machine try to close the outlet for half the height and do a little bit of a lid like the dryer you have. For the inlet make a bit of a venturi.
People absolutely knew what they were doing. Dealing with incredibly weak engines and wooden fabric wings that had a tendency to rip off in a dive. Triplanes did well in acrobatics that would have ripped apart a single wing set plane at the same time.
The narrow outlet for drywall fans is to create a lot of pressure, the same thing the squirrel cage design is meant for in general.
Couldn’t find anyone with this explanation for the name of the squirrel cage so here’s mine from my dad circa my childhood:
the squirrel cage fan is most commonly used in home hvac systems, and it’s called that because often times squirrels would find their way into the ducts, and this cage was to catch them so they don’t burn up in the furnace
Testarossa, not exactly the pinnacle of aero design, but how much I love that car, and how much I do love that fan. If it does even decent I may make some for my PC just for awesome. Also my next build is going to be a Car Theme and I plan on really going for it, so how rad would that be?!]
I have seen many people make bladeless fans on thingivers but I have not seen one on here. Not really a good pc fan, but still curious how it would do if you tested one here
the Trippledecker even sounded like an old airplane, love it ^^
While I don’t normally care about fan color as long as it’s the same material… the different color really helped me identify the 3-blade fan while it was spinning. So I’m not just “I don’t care,” I’m actively in favor of switching to colors for identification purposes.
Fun fact, those fins were added to comply with recently added us regulations that didn't allow openings above a certain size.
The problem with the Washing Machine fan isn't necessarily the shape of the opening, but that there's so little room around the fan for the air to find the exit. Centrifugal fans exhaust in all directions, so the surrounding shroud must have sufficient room and shape for the air to smoothly reach the exit. Shrouds are typically quite large for this reason.
The shroud may not have much room to grow here, so the fan may need to shrink in diameter. Perhaps if the diameter shrunk by 1/3rd it might provide more shroud space while decreasing the mass and increasing RPM. The reduced weight will help the fan support itself, but the higher speed will offset this such that balance issues may persist.
The blades can be inclined either forwards or backwards compared with the direction of rotation, but forwards can work at higher static pressure and backwards is more efficient at lower pressures. Backwards is likely most efficient for this application and Josh probably did his homework here, but forward-included blades can make less noise.
For the washing machine I feel like you need to pick either the side it was dumping air and seal the rear, or if you want it to run air in a straight line I would think you'd want to spiral the cage inside/fins and seal the side.
Almost 200K Subs. Been watching since about 27k.
You should really bring back the Acceleron back and see if it's still at the top of the board.