Can I use a speed controler on a 120 volt single phase motor with a start cap?

What type of speed control? Do you know how many poles the motor has? What sort of motor is it?

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Originally Posted by 64nova

can i use a speed controler on a 120 volt single phase motor with a start cap?

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The short answer is absolutely not. A speed control will only work with a shaded pole motor.

Stan, that's not true. Ceiling fans haven't used shaded pole motors since the 1970s. They are all PSC.

OH. I didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up.

From my perspective I was referring to larger or more "typical" motors.
I guess it is wrong to put a ceiling fan in a different category. It is still a motor.

Most speed controls sold today are for ceiling fans. All ceiling fans are PSC. So, most speed controls sold today are for PSC motors.

The infinitely variable controls you are probably thinking of work better on shaded pole motors. They do work on PSC motors, but it depends on the number of poles. Most ceiling fans are 16 pole motors and they don't work with these.