NewGrower2011
Well-Known Member
Snatched up two of the new 'smart' controllers for the AC Infinity fans as I was looking for the ability to have a minimum fan speed when using the 'auto' mode otherwise. That was the main reason to upgrade from my existing controllers.
My only gotcha, and they sort of spell it out but you may not 'get it' at first, was that I had one of their original 'smart' fans. I was assuming that it was an 'EC' fan as they call out in their compatibility notes. What my brain was focused on was 'yeah it's not an AC fan, it's DC'. I was thinking DC==EC but that is NOT the case. So if your AC Infinity fan is a little older model - even though it's using the smart controller - this will not be a compatible upgrade for you. The first clue is if your fan itself has 1 or 2 cords coming out - if it's the older/single cable model it's not gonna work. The old ones have the laptop power-brick looking deal is another clue.
Luckily though, I had already bought a 2nd fan and had it on standby. This one (thank God) was the newer 2-cable model. So what I think the key difference is here is that the newer EC models are PWM-based and the other was somehow DC but using an alternate method to control it (i.e. directly reducing voltage or something).
Inside the box they include a note that tells you about the new Bluetooth module within. Cool right? Well my 1 concern is there appears to be zero security so anyone in range can mess with your gear. Horrible design to introduce anything in todays market without some forethought around security. For this reason alone I may actually put old one back into use and return these. That's sort of a deal breaker imo.
Now the good thing... It's got a good mobile app, some nice 'programming features' to let you run automations/schedules and then GRAPHS! Temperature and Humidity tracked over time. Guess I may not need one of those devices after all if my fan does it for me! Nice. I've asked them when will they include a VPD graph.
So far, they're on the right path. AC Infinity has become my preferred vendor for fan gear easily. That security deal.... Facepalm... WTF engineers?
Also, if you buy the S-series model plus one of these separately you're not spending much more than what the T-series would cost you - and it doesn't appear that they're going to update the T-service/bundle to have this (yet).
My only gotcha, and they sort of spell it out but you may not 'get it' at first, was that I had one of their original 'smart' fans. I was assuming that it was an 'EC' fan as they call out in their compatibility notes. What my brain was focused on was 'yeah it's not an AC fan, it's DC'. I was thinking DC==EC but that is NOT the case. So if your AC Infinity fan is a little older model - even though it's using the smart controller - this will not be a compatible upgrade for you. The first clue is if your fan itself has 1 or 2 cords coming out - if it's the older/single cable model it's not gonna work. The old ones have the laptop power-brick looking deal is another clue.
Luckily though, I had already bought a 2nd fan and had it on standby. This one (thank God) was the newer 2-cable model. So what I think the key difference is here is that the newer EC models are PWM-based and the other was somehow DC but using an alternate method to control it (i.e. directly reducing voltage or something).
Inside the box they include a note that tells you about the new Bluetooth module within. Cool right? Well my 1 concern is there appears to be zero security so anyone in range can mess with your gear. Horrible design to introduce anything in todays market without some forethought around security. For this reason alone I may actually put old one back into use and return these. That's sort of a deal breaker imo.
Now the good thing... It's got a good mobile app, some nice 'programming features' to let you run automations/schedules and then GRAPHS! Temperature and Humidity tracked over time. Guess I may not need one of those devices after all if my fan does it for me! Nice. I've asked them when will they include a VPD graph.
So far, they're on the right path. AC Infinity has become my preferred vendor for fan gear easily. That security deal.... Facepalm... WTF engineers?
Also, if you buy the S-series model plus one of these separately you're not spending much more than what the T-series would cost you - and it doesn't appear that they're going to update the T-service/bundle to have this (yet).
