Wiring a mains fan, help needed.

OK, I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this but it seemed the most relevant, if it's not the right place it's cool to move it.

I bought a 230v, 13w fan today but it doesn't come with a plug, I have read that all I need to do it wire it up normally and it'll work fine but the fan only has a live and neutral wire no earth...is this an issue at all?

Also the cables connected to the fan are only around 30cm long, would I be able to splice an old phone charger cable or the likes in to give me extra length needed so it can reach from the socket to the vent?

The fan is a Bi-Sonic model 3E 230S Tubeaxial if that helps at all.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Oscar Mike

i used an extension cord to wire a fan up that didnt have a plug. it did have a ground plug so i used an "outside" extension cord. if there is no ground wire then use a standard indoor cord...i dont know about the phone charger cord, i dont think those carry enough power.

hope that helps

ya a phone charger definately wont be able to power a 13 W 230V fan... weird there is no ground.. you can just use an extension cord and if the cord has a ground just dont wire it to anything.. however i would make sure to plug it into a GFCI so that it would hopefully trip if anything went wrong although i am not sure if it requires the ground wire coming in to trip or not

What country are you in? Wiring in other countries are different.

electricity is universal doesn't change from country to country... ground, wire gauge, voltage, loading capabilities etc are consistent whereever you go

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Originally Posted by bloodbrother

ya a phone charger definately wont be able to power a 13 W 230V fan... weird there is no ground.. you can just use an extension cord and if the cord has a ground just dont wire it to anything.. however i would make sure to plug it into a GFCI so that it would hopefully trip if anything went wrong although i am not sure if it requires the ground wire coming in to trip or not

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couldnt of sed it better my self, just make sure that you have zero exposed connections, anything that even shows a bit of copper you need to heat shrink,not electrical tape.i work with a lot of live power and i have seen recently taped live lines smolder into goo right in front of me.

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Originally Posted by bloodbrother

electricity is universal doesn't change from country to country... ground, wire gauge, voltage, loading capabilities etc are consistent whereever you go

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WRONG

I went to college for electronics engineering.
Have you ever seen an outlet converter for traveling to Europe? Some countries use two wire for 230v here in USA we use three wire for 240v and sometimes even 4 wires for 240v.

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Originally Posted by trinitybound

WRONG

I went to college for electronics engineering.
Have you ever seen an outlet converter for traveling to Europe? Some countries use two wire for 230v here in USA we use three wire for 240v and sometimes even 4 wires for 240v.

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sorry i don't know what you mean by an "outlet converter for travelling to europe" i didn't know you could travel to other countries through an outlet..sorry im not trying to disagree im just not sure what you mean. just a question did you goto school for electronic engineering or did you get your degree in electronics engineering? cause i know you aint gonna run 4 wires straight from a single 230V breaker

Hey thanks for all the replies.

I spliced the phone charger cable with the fan cable and attached a normal plug with a 3a fuse and it's running fine.
I did use electrical tape however, it seems to be holding fine but I may have a look into this 'heat shrink' (better safe than sorry)

Ta again

Oscar Mike

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Originally Posted by Firemansam606

Hey thanks for all the replies.

I spliced the phone charger cable with the fan cable and attached a normal plug with a 3a fuse and it's running fine.
I did use electrical tape however, it seems to be holding fine but I may have a look into this 'heat shrink' (better safe than sorry)

Ta again

Oscar Mike

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i dont think that sounds really safe ... i dont think phone charger wires are proper gauge to run a fan... and you attatched it to a plug with a fuse as well?

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Originally Posted by bloodbrother

sorry i don't know what you mean by an "outlet converter for travelling to europe" i didn't know you could travel to other countries through an outlet..sorry im not trying to disagree im just not sure what you mean. just a question did you goto school for electronic engineering or did you get your degree in electronics engineering? cause i know you aint gonna run 4 wires straight from a single 230V breaker

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Firemansam606 I see you are from Belgium, so you have 230v electrical outlets which is different from here in the USA. I don't know if the cell phone charger you are using is enough to power the fan correctly. You might want to take the fan to a hardware store and ask them what would be proper. If you don't supply the fan with enough power it won't run as fast as it should.

To answer your question bloodbrother. I only got through two years of college before I had to go to work for a living.
Although I assume you meant to insult my ability to complete a sentence. To that I say, obviously I didn't take English classes. lol

I can't post pics but here is an outlet converter
Adapter Plug - Universal Polarized Wide Input Europe (in white)

A 4 wire cable (technically it's called 3 wire the earth ground wire isn't counted)
Basic Electrical Wiring
I can't find a decent picture of a 4 wire circuit box connection but it consists of two hot leads from a dual breaker (red and black), a neutral (white) and an earth ground (green) (typically only used for hot tubs and some electrical clothes dryers).
Most 240v circuits here in the USA only use two hot leads from a dual breaker and an earth ground. :thumbsup:

You really should ALWAYS CHECK AND PROPERLY wire size ANY ELECTRICALDEVICE,IN ANY COUNTRY.....,if not IT CAN AND LIKELY WILL CAUSE A FIRE:(

if the wire you are sing is smaller than the wire that came attached to the fan from the factory you need to go to a wire that matches or it will eventually melt the smaller wire where you have connected it :jointsmile: