Alliterative Ways to Power Case Fans.

[Aux10]

We apparently the admins of my building decided to turn on the steam heating system and cut the power to everyone's AC units (cheap asses) and my room is like an oven. I swear I'm gonna wake up one day to find I turned into a cookie if this keeps up. If I close my vent the hot air backs up in my ducts and starts to radiate through the walls nor does opening the windows help (as a construction engineering student I call this failure by design). I then came up with an idea, why don't I make a window fan that will fit the weird window opening. The framing for it will be made of foam board insulation and it'll have a small HEPA filter cartridge (dam city air). Because of the limited space as strip of three 120mm case fans are perfect for the job. While I do have an old PSU sitting around I was hoping to use something lighter and more compact. Any ideas on how to power them without a good old PSU?

[Fire$torm]

About 2 decades ago (yes, yes, yes... and no laughing plz) I made a power supply for an external hard drive from a 12V@1.5A transformer and two voltage regulators, 12V & 5.5V. You can make something similar sans the 5.5V regulator.

First just figure out the total current all the fans will draw by adding together their respective current ratings. So if you have five fans and each one is rated at 300mA that totals to 1.5 Amps so a 12~14V transformer rated at 2 amps will work. Same for the 12V regulator.

Note: It is possible to forgo using a regulator but then you loose the regulators ability to maintain line voltage at 12V. Since you will be powering only fans it not a serious issue. You will still need to use a full-wave bridge rectifier and a couple of capacitors to convert the transformers AC output to DC. This is assuming you are using DC powered case fans of course. The net has plenty on How-To's for projects like this.

You can just buy a 12 DC power supply from the likes of Radio Shack but they charge a hefty sum for units rated over 500mA.

[Crazybob's Son]

What if you used something like this (http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329300&CatId=3770)? I use that for my hard drives all the time in order to pull data off of them or test them out.

I'm not sure if it will turn on w/out the USB connection, but I can try that out for you tonight and see if the fans turn on. If that works, then you could piggy back the molex connectors.

- Jason

[Aux10]

What if you used something like this (http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329300&CatId=3770)? I use that for my hard drives all the time in order to pull data off of them or test them out.

I'm not sure if it will turn on w/out the USB connection, but I can try that out for you tonight and see if the fans turn on. If that works, then you could piggy back the molex connectors.

- Jason

If the outlet of that power adaptor is what I think it is that with defiantly work! I already have plenty of fan cables, just need a way to give em some juice. I can picture the finished product in my head but it's a pain to get accurate measurements. Especially that pesky angle at the bottom. Its one of those windows that open at the top and have the hinge at the bottom which is why I'm on the DIY bandwagon with this. I'm trying to make a mock up out of poster board first to make sure every thing looks good but that angle is the devil. If only my protractor wasn't too big to fit in there.

Quick Question: Do GPUs clock them selves back a bit when they run hotter than normal? Both of mine are reporting temperatures 6-8C above normal (for obvious reasons) and my credit seems to have taken a bit of a roll back.

[Crazybob's Son]

If the outlet of that power adaptor is what I think it is that with defiantly work! I already have plenty of fan cables, just need a way to give em some juice. I can picture the finished product in my head but it's a pain to get accurate measurements. Especially that pesky angle at the bottom. Its one of those windows that open at the top and have the hinge at the bottom which is why I'm on the DIY bandwagon with this. I'm trying to make a mock up out of poster board first to make sure every thing looks good but that angle is the devil. If only my protractor wasn't too big to fit in there.

Quick Question: Do GPUs clock them selves back a bit when they run hotter than normal? Both of mine are reporting temperatures 6-8C above normal (for obvious reasons) and my credit seems to have taken a bit of a roll back.

Yes the end is a molex plug. I just wanted to confirm that plugging in a case fan would automatically turn on and not need a switch of some sort.

[bmwr606]

Hi Aux10, http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g36/c265/list/p1/Fans-AC_115V_Fans.html frozen CPU sells AC fans.....follow the link!

[Aux10]

Hi Aux10, http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g36/c265/list/p1/Fans-AC_115V_Fans.html frozen CPU sells AC fans.....follow the link!

Ah yes! That is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

[Crazybob's Son]

I did test out the USB adapter power source and that does work with the fan. It just turns on right away so you'd need to add in a switch of some sort if you wanted to have it switched. Otherwise just unplug.

[rgathright]

I will take a completely different approach to this discussion...

USE SOLAR POWER and an old car battery!

I have been powering an AMD Phenom II 965 system with an inverter and also connected the fans in the system directly to the battery.

Here are just a few of my articles on this subject:
How to Generate Your Own Electricity with Cheap Solar Panels - Part 1 (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/3019590/how_to_generate_your_own_electricity.html?cat=57)
How Does a MPPT Solar Controller Work? Solar Power Project Part 3 (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5510020/how_does_a_mppt_solar_controller_work.html?cat=57)

Feel free to PM me for more details or assistance buying your solar supplies. Ebay has some great deals on 50 watt solar panels that should run all the fans in your computer case, assuming you first store the power in a battery so the fans can run at night.

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[trigggl]

I was thinking car battery charger. Of course, that's probably because I already have one.

[John P. Myers]

I was thinking car battery charger. Of course, that's probably because I already have one.

That's exactly what my reply was gonna be. Doh! lol

But yeah, they're pretty cheap and quiet and already assembled. Simple :)

[Fire$torm]

That's exactly what my reply was gonna be. Doh! lol

But yeah, they're pretty cheap and quiet and already assembled. Simple :)

phhhh. Where is the fun in preassembled hardware???? :P

[John P. Myers]

Hmmm...good point. My soldering iron hasn't seen any action in a year or so. It feels neglected...

[Fire$torm]

Hmmm...good point. My soldering iron hasn't seen any action in a year or so. It feels neglected...

Here is my 12V power supply that has seen many duties since I first built it. The full wave bridge rectifier board and transformer are from my original external drive psu, circa 1990 :)
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[Aux10]

Well I ordered one of those AC adaptors they had on Amazon which came in the other day and it works great! Now I just have to decide on some fans and build the thing. One thing I never got about fans though is why do Blue LED fans cost less than Red LED fans when they're the exact same fan with the only difference being the color of the LED? Any ways, tanks guys you've all been a great help! :-bd

[Aux10]

I know it's been a while and a bit old but I wanted to share the results of this project. The project was a complete success and worked perfectly! Then a week later some drunk dumb f***s walked by and figured it would be a good idea to toss bottles of juice(?) at it. :mad: All that work for naught... :mad:

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[Mike029]

I know it's been a while and a bit old but I wanted to share the results of this project. The project was a complete success and worked perfectly! Then a week later some drunk dumb f***s walked by and figured it would be a good idea to toss bottles of juice(?) at it. :mad: All that work for naught... :mad:

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Ahh NO WAY!!! tell me you gave him a good @$$ kicking. PLEASE!

[Aux10]

Ahh NO WAY!!! tell me you gave him a good @$$ kicking. PLEASE!

I was hoping to but by the time me and my RA got outside they ran off.

[Mike029]

I was hoping to but by the time me and my RA got outside they ran off.

Well, now were left with fixing it. What do you need? If it was a friend roll him for some cash to fix it. if not, beat his *&^ next time you see him.

[Aux10]

Well, now were left with fixing it. What do you need? If it was a friend roll him for some cash to fix it. if not, beat his *&^ next time you see him.

It just needs new fans which were from the $12 Cooler Master basic fan 4pk. I'd replace them but I afraid they'll just come back again. *sigh* where's a passing police car when you actually need one...

[Slicker]

How about adding some baffles on the bottom so morons with juice bottles can't hit them directly with the liquid? Something like:




[FAN]
\ /
\ /
\
/
/
/
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\



A diet coke and mentos would probably still do you in, but other than that, the liquid would have to snake back and forth as it rose in order to get to the fans, yet air would get through pretty easily.

[Aux10]

How about adding some baffles on the bottom so morons with juice bottles can't hit them directly with the liquid? Something like:




[FAN]
\ /
\ /
\
/
/
/
\
\
\



A diet coke and mentos would probably still do you in, but other than that, the liquid would have to snake back and forth as it rose in order to get to the fans, yet air would get through pretty easily.

I have though of that but I'm a bit lazy with it cold out and all. Maybe in the spring when I need it again.

[Crazybob's Son]

That sucks... You could also add a webcam with a poster on the window "SMILE DOUCHEBAG YOU'RE ON CAMERA"