fan club

While listening to the Car Talk podcast this morning there was a question concerning a broken vent fan control on some caller’s car. The details or the call aren’t so important but the answer that outlined how the fan functions was enlightening – and is surely related to my ongoing wonder about why house fans, and their ilk, always turn on first to high (first click), followed by various mid-settings, and eventually all the way over to low. It seems to me, if I followed along correctly, that current to fan motors flows first through a resistor that controls the amount of power; or what I call fan-chopping-spinning-speed. I’m guessing that when the initial current blasts through the motor it’s easier to have the resistor wide-open and allowing maximum speed on first click, hence the high setting. From that point we ramp down the power (increasing the resistance?) as we flip to the lower settings. It doesn’t make sense to have the resistor begin at its highest level (low setting) and then amp up (lowest level/high setting) as the knob rolls through its gears/settings. There may also be some type or size of motor that requires this configuration – I think the big floor models might have motors that can handle the initial avalanche of current. Go ahead and call me crazy; either for the entry or for my lack of mechanical engineering knowledge.

Did we know there was a flavor industry and flavor scientists? I think they are members of groups like the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA). It came up during a discussion about the possible link between microwave popcorn fumes and pulmonary cancer. Apparently, FEMA is the “…oldest and largest national association of the flavor industry.” There are more?

T.