Electrical – Fan power/speed switch grounding

electricalwiring

I'm making an AC unit out of a cooler, a fan, a PVC tube, and some ice. I'd like to take the fan off of the base, but its power/speed switch is screwed into it. Does this provide grounding or does the ground cable take care of that? Will it be okay if it's not screwed into anything? Thanks in advance.enter image description here

Best Answer

No grounds here. GET GFCI!

It is not safe to do this with mains power -- especially since this will be near water (when the ice melts). Those metal bits on top will be energized with lethal voltage.

Nothing in this picture is grounded. The wall cable has 2 wires, so no ground. The 3 wires in the sleeve, yes, one of them is green, but that wire is for motor speed control and it is "hot".

If you absolutely must do this, then you also must plug this into a GFCI (aka RCD) protected outlet. That will at least stop it from electrocuting you, hopefully fast enough to keep you from dying.

However, I strongly recommend that you obtain a 12 volt DC fan. Power the fan from a "wall wart" style power supply plugged into the wall. This will render it safe.

Of course, don't have high hopes for this -- air conditioning does not work that way. Further, your refrigerator will put more heat in the room making the ice than the ice will remove.