You would think that there wouldn't be a lot going on with an oven's convection fan motor -- and you would be wrong! This Viking convection fan has a number of interesting elements in its circuit that we're going to explore in this post.

1. Is that a 240 VAC power supply for a fan motor? Turns out that you can actually run a fan on 240 VAC if you want to (and if the fan has the proper specs for it). There are even certain benefits to doing so.

2. Not just one, but two capacitors in the motor's circuit. Why are these capacitors there, and how do they work? Well, this fan is a Permanent-Split Capacitor (PSC) motor, which means that it has two windings, but unlike a split-phase motor, both of those windings stay in the circuit the entire time. The capacitor (or capacitors, in this case) are in series with one of those windings, and they are essential to the motor's proper operation.

3. How do the fan speed and position relays work? This circuit is set up cleverly so that, by simply opening or closing a relay, the motor can be run forward or reversed, and at two different speeds. How this is accomplished has to do with the polarization of the power supply and whether one or both capacitors are kept in the circuit.

We cover all these elements of this motor and its circuit in detail in this recording. Watch the entire discussion below. These Live Dojo workshops are open to anyone, so keep an eye on our calendar to join in next one.

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