Speed control for AC fan

[Ralph Weaver]

I have a fan that draws less than 1A and plugs into the wall. Any ideas on an easy cheap way to control the speed manually, something with a knob or slider?

[Richard Ingram]

How about one of those light dimmer switches. I have used on on a small router that I use to cnc pc boards. Works pretty good.

[Brandano]

make sure it's a dimmer for inductive loads, though, or it will have a fairly short life. Dimmers for halogen lights should work fine. Naturally, this assumes a brushed motor, if it's a brushless motor then chances are that you will only be able to control the torque and not the speed, since the speed will be determined by the AC phase

[Ralph Weaver]

I found a dimmer in my junk drawer and hooked it up. It's worked fine for the last 12 hours. We'll see if it holds up.