Quick question - does the current version of the switch have the capability to reverse the fan direction? I saw that in the original “Project Hurricane” thread it mentioned that it would be in v2 but wasn’t sure how old that thread was. If this is a future feature, any idea if it will required new hardware or if it couldl be via firmware?
@rakeshg - Negative. At this time there’s no way for the V1 can provide reversing. However, it seems to be a hot topic and I’m sure Inovelli is taking notes. @Eric_Inovelli -Just an idea, sell newer canopies (like in a couple years) that will connect to your V1 switches, but can provide some of these features (reverse, 4+speeds, covid elimination etc).
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So… I just installed my second lzw36 and it only goes backwards. It would really suck if I’m stuck with a fan that only reverses…
Does the fan have a pull chain you can use to change direction?
no, and I didn’t see a switch when installing it, either. The module I replaced had the ability to go forward and reverse from the remote, but it’s all remote controlled.
Can you reconnect the original controller? Measure the voltage for forwards and reverse? Shot in the dark… swap neutral and hot at the fan? A/C motors should run in reverse/forwards when you swap hot and neutral.
I have the original - it would just be hours of work to do all that. I will have to decide how important this is if there isn’t a way to do this via a driver. I’d love for someone from Inovelli to explain whether or not it’s possible to do the ‘easy way’, without taking everything apart, getting out the multimeter, and rewiring
What model of fan do you have? I’m not an Inovelli employee, but I can almost guarantee this won’t be resolved via a firmware or driver update. Thus I’d be interested to see what model of fan you were using as there’s usually extra wires to trigger the reversing of the fan.
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I think that you are confusing AC with DC. A DC motor will run in reverse if you swap positive and negative. If you have a portable fan with an AC motor, feel free to turn the wall plug over and see that it still runs in the same direction despite hot and neutral being swapped…
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“Switching the polarity of the input voltage will cause a simple DC motor to run in the reverse direction. Switching the starter winding leads will cause a single phase AC motor to run in reverse. A 3 phase motor will run in reverse by switching one leg of the input power.”
So it depends where the contacts are swapped.
No, they won’t. What @vreihen said is correct.
That doesn’t mean swap the hot and the neutral.
AC ceiling fan motors have two windings in them. At any given time, one of the windings is powered with a capacitor in series with it. For fans that have the switch that can reverse direction, what happens is that the switch controls which winding gets the capacitor, effectively nudging the fan to start in one direction or the other. (You can also swap the winding leads around to induce direction.)
Unfortunately, this little nugget isn’t going to help @marswa since his fan doesn’t have a switch. The module he removed to replace with the Inovelli controlled the direction. I have no idea how that works.
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Thanks for the clarification
Does anyone know of any smart fan switches that do allow you to reverse the fan direction and adjust speed?
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