Instructions for F95B fan

Instructions for "F95B" portable rechargeable fan

This fan can be sold in different configurations, and doesn't usually come with an instruction book. We experimented with two different items from separate sellers, both marked "F95B":

One, bought in Hong Kong in 2014, was labelled in Chinese and with a feather logo in the centre and on the battery (an 18mm×65mm "18650"-size flat-top Li-ion, rated at 2200mAh 3.7V);
the other, bought online in 2017, was labelled in English, with a snowflake logo in the centre and no logo on the battery---which we later replaced with a higher-capacity "9900mAh" (actually 4000mAh) 18650 with button top and it just about fit at a push. The fan's "off" and "on" buttons are also labelled "Activation" and "Shift", and the word "rechargeable" is misprinted with an "i" instead of "l".

The fans otherwise looked identical, but the particulars of their operation were different. I don't know if one manufacturer sells it in different configurations or if others have copied the product.

Very similar-looking fans are sold as "HY96A" and as "Taidea UF-TDF01". We have not tried these but we suspect they are the same.

F95B operation

Short-pressing the right-hand (green) button:
- From the 'off' state, starts the fan at speed 1
  - On the Chinese model we tried, speed 1 is the fastest speed. On the English model, speed 1 is the slowest speed.
- From speed 1, switches to speed 2 (a medium speed)
  - The English model can also run with the battery removed and only external power connected. In this case, only the slow speed 1 and the torch are available, and pressing the green button a second time simply switches off the fan instead of changing to speed 2.
- From speed 2, switches to speed 3 (the slowest speed on the Chinese model, or the fastest speed on the English model)
  - Faster speeds are useful when it's hotter, but slower speeds run quieter and make the battery last longer. The hum frequency of the medium and slow speeds is about 85% and 70%, but I'm not sure how this translates to air speed or battery life.
  - When the battery is low, the fastest speed can cut off more quickly---so on the Chinese model (where the fastest speed is selected first), if you have low battery you might want to switch to a slower speed quickly before the fan has finished spinning up. (You might also want to do this if you're in a situation where you have to limit the noise.) Such quick changes are not necessary on the English model, but the tradeoff is the fastest speed is slightly more troublesome to reach---perhaps they thought it'll be wanted less frequently if the climates of English-speaking countries are cooler than that of southern China.
- From speed 3,
  - on the Chinese model, switches the fan off and switches on the torch (the torch can then be switched off by pressing either button);
  - on the English model, just switches off the fan.
Long-pressing the right-hand (green) button:
- on the English model, switches the torch on or off. This model allows both fan and torch to be running at the same time and switched independently. Long-press to switch on the torch, then short-press to select a fan speed.
Short-pressing the left-hand (red) button:
- on the Chinese model, switches everything off,
- on the English model, queries the battery level: 1, 2 or 3 LEDs will briefly light up to indicate how much charge is left in the battery (3 LEDs being highest; if the level drops to 1 then the LED also flashes while the fan is running). A battery-level query does not seem to be available on the Chinese model.
Long-pressing the left-hand (red) button:
- on the English model, switches everything off.
Charge light:
- Lights up red when it's charging; changes colour when charged:
  - on the Chinese model we tried, it changes to green;
  - on the English model we tried, it changes to blue. The blue lamp is also lit when external power is connected but the battery is missing.

ZS fan

In 2019 we bought (online) a third fan, marked "ZS", which appears to be a derivative of the F95B. In this version the controls are reduced to one unlabelled button, which cycles through slow-medium-fast-torch-off, and the battery is held in a vertical grasp-handle rather than being horizontally mounted below the fan. The unit can still be stood on a table by easing open a clip at the top front of the handle which then allows the handle to flip around to the back of the blades. Again no instructions were provided.

I suspect the ZS uses a version of the two-button F95B's circuit and they simply haven't connected the red-button input. It was sold without battery (we fitted a spare 18650 we had, but a couple of years later this battery's overcharge-protection circuit failed in a way that left corrosion on the holder's terminals); when run on external power, the faster speeds can be slowed, sometimes resulting in the "fast" speed being slower than the "medium" speed, if not enough current is available from the power source---a 1500mA mains adaptor was sufficient for the fastest speed, but a "2.1A" power bank was not as reliable.

(The English F95B also limited speed when connected to external power even though the battery was also present: it must have switched into a "charging and using external power only" mode, and only its slowest speed was available no matter what the rating of the power source.)

We still don't know who made the ZS fan. It came in a box claiming (among other things) the fan is safe for babies, whereas a label on the fan itself said it isn't, so it seems to have been irresponsibly repackaged. A search for the exact words of that box (which had 24 English mistakes) found a lady in Guangdong promising to ship 20,000 per day but not stating their source; a search for the fan's own label found only resellers.

Disclaimer: these notes are provided in the hope that they are useful but without any warranty.