Dimming a Turbelle Stream

[Greek Reef]

Hi all,

I have gotten my paws on some bargain priced Tunze Turbelle Streams 6060.

Tunze makes no controller for these pumps, so in simple terms, I need to be able to 'dim' them down and then turn them back on to 100% since I think they are Synch AC motors, I am afraid to just try a dimmer on them.
I recall a discussion, quiet a while back, on Synchronous AC motors that touch some interesting matters, but I have failed to relocate it recently.

Any takers on this one?

 

[wrightme43]

I am sitting here holding a tunze 6100 and box in my hand. It says its 12/24 volt system. If that helps any.

 

[Greek Reef]

Yup, you are right, the 6000, 6100 and 6200 are indeed controlled (they can be dialed-up/down between 100%-30%, or pulse etc) by a 24V 'driver' as Tunze calls it. The 6060 & 6080's however are not controlled/driven by such a device. They operate in an ON/OFF fashion, driven by pure house electricity (either 110V/60z or in my case by 220V/50Hz).

 

[wrightme43]

Oh ok, Yep I have the 6100s I have been putting them on every tank I can talk into doing it. They rock. I dont know enough to be anymore help to you. Sorry.

 

[Greek Reef]

No worries m8
Thanx for the effort :exclaim:

 

[Greek Reef]

Noone has any input on an attempt on this matter?

No positive, and no negative feed-back?

 

[Scooterman]

I don't know if the motor can be driven in the same manner as the others, I guess the design would determine that but I'm sure you could make a 0 to 100% start stop with them, which I'd like more than the 30% because I could never tell of much a difference that way. Do a search for DonW, he is setting up a plc controller to automate things, this may fit your needs also & you could add more to it later.

 

[Greek Reef]

Yup, I think I know which one you are talking about (Don's Ocelot/SEC16 setup) but that thing is capable of controlling most of my two houses! j/k....

I am simply looking for something 'lighter' as a project.

Heck.... I think I'm gonna take the plunge and play with dimmers on the pump.

Wish me luck!

 

[DonW]

Its going to get HOT.

Don

 

[Greek Reef]

Don, even with inductive 3-way dimmers?

 

[DonW]

Don, even with inductive 3-way dimmers?

You would need a frequency driver board to do it without destroying the motor. Motors that use common dimmers are things like a ceiling fan. If they are two speed they have two sets of winding. If you use them with a dimmer you are essentially just using whatever percentage of the winding. Without the extra winding the resistance is not high enough. The low resistance will just cause excess heat. Some motors can handle this but most will die quickly. In the tunze the epoxy will probably melt down and flow into your tank.

Don