What do I need?
- Thread starter tk9119
- Start date
UncleReemis
Well-Known Member
Electricity
DeeTee
Well-Known Member
The color of the wires seem to be red, black, blue, if I'm right I'd say its a DC fan and I'll still guess 12 VDC, try it, it won't hurt if I'm right about the colors, that's the best I can do, label doesn't really give the voltage, it's a cpu fan for a computer therefore I'd say def DC and probably 12V.
kinddiesel
Well-Known Member
lol. dc fans in a house . why not get a car radiator and a car battery and run jumper cables in the house . but if your that cheap to use the incorrect fans you can buy a plug for those prob 30 bucks each plug . and a new fan is 15 bucks . lol good luck with those
bicit
Well-Known Member
Here's a couple links. To get an idea.
12v/5v, 2amp
12v/5v 5 amp
Each fan draws about 0.16 amps according to the label. So you can run about 10-12 of those fans with the first psu. I'm lazy, not cheap so I also buy wires pre-made.
4 pin molex too six, 3-pin PCB
ETA: For most fans you want a constant voltage power supply.
12v/5v, 2amp
12v/5v 5 amp
Each fan draws about 0.16 amps according to the label. So you can run about 10-12 of those fans with the first psu. I'm lazy, not cheap so I also buy wires pre-made.
4 pin molex too six, 3-pin PCB
ETA: For most fans you want a constant voltage power supply.
SupraSPL
Well-Known Member
Some cheapo options
9V 2A with plug $6.50
The 2A version of this one is 8.4-14V adjustable. You could also use the 1A version 11-13V
9V 2A with plug $6.50
The 2A version of this one is 8.4-14V adjustable. You could also use the 1A version 11-13V
Mellodrama
Well-Known Member
I don't know why kinddiesel went off on you like that. Lots of people use 12V DC fans.
Supra's researched this stuff as much as anyone.
I went cheap. I had a few PC power supplies laying around. Used a Kill-A-Watt meter to find the one that used the least amount of electricity at very low loads. I picked one that came out of a 10-year old Gateway small form factor PC. It only used 13W with no load, and about 17 W with several small fans strapped onto it.
When they're inside a computer, a PSU will idle at a very low power setting, waiting for a signal from the motherboard to spin up. When used in an application like ours, you grab the big ATX plug (the big, long, white plug with either 20 or 24 pins) and you jumper the green wire to any of the black wires. Google "jumper PC PSU green black" or something similar for directions. Once you've jumpered the green to black, it'll fire up whenever it's plugged in. If you power the PSU from the same timer that's controlling the LED power supplies it'll all turn on and shut off at the same time.
The yellow wires provide 12V. The red wires provide 5V. So the yellow wire will make those Arctic Alpine fans spin full speed ahead. A red wire will spin them much slower. Maybe too slow.
Supra's 9V option will spin them slower than 12V, but faster than 5, which is probably pretty close to where you want to be.
EDIT: Supra, if you read this - with the power supplies you linked to, I assume you solder, crimp, or use some terminal strips to connect several fans all together in parallel, then connect to the power supplies? Do you have a rough estimate how many 12V DC fans those power supplies could handle?
ANOTHER EDIT, DANGIT: It can be confusing figuring out which wires to use coming off the heatsink fan. Anybody know off the top of their heads which two wires to use on those Arctic Alpines, and which one(s) to ignore?
Supra's researched this stuff as much as anyone.
I went cheap. I had a few PC power supplies laying around. Used a Kill-A-Watt meter to find the one that used the least amount of electricity at very low loads. I picked one that came out of a 10-year old Gateway small form factor PC. It only used 13W with no load, and about 17 W with several small fans strapped onto it.
When they're inside a computer, a PSU will idle at a very low power setting, waiting for a signal from the motherboard to spin up. When used in an application like ours, you grab the big ATX plug (the big, long, white plug with either 20 or 24 pins) and you jumper the green wire to any of the black wires. Google "jumper PC PSU green black" or something similar for directions. Once you've jumpered the green to black, it'll fire up whenever it's plugged in. If you power the PSU from the same timer that's controlling the LED power supplies it'll all turn on and shut off at the same time.
The yellow wires provide 12V. The red wires provide 5V. So the yellow wire will make those Arctic Alpine fans spin full speed ahead. A red wire will spin them much slower. Maybe too slow.
Supra's 9V option will spin them slower than 12V, but faster than 5, which is probably pretty close to where you want to be.
EDIT: Supra, if you read this - with the power supplies you linked to, I assume you solder, crimp, or use some terminal strips to connect several fans all together in parallel, then connect to the power supplies? Do you have a rough estimate how many 12V DC fans those power supplies could handle?
ANOTHER EDIT, DANGIT: It can be confusing figuring out which wires to use coming off the heatsink fan. Anybody know off the top of their heads which two wires to use on those Arctic Alpines, and which one(s) to ignore?
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stardustsailor
Well-Known Member
Tk9119 ,The ATX option or the cheap option Supra suggested will do -both-fine ,
for powering those fans ....
And ....
Some more 'info' notes on the ATX -mod ....
Power ATX wires:
-Black : Common Ground -
-Red : +5 VDC (check ATX case for max Amps )
-Yellow : +12 VDC (check ATX case for max Amps )
-Orange : +3.3 VDC
-Blue : -12VDC
-White : -5 VDC
Function ATX Wires :
-Purple : +5VDC VSB ( Voltage stand-by ) .
This wire will always output +5VDC( check ATX case for max Amps ) ,
even if ATX is switched off ,but still plugged on mains .
Can be used to power a 'Standby/ On AC Mains ' led indication ( with a 1K res in seriesc with small epoxy led ) ...
-Grey (can be sometimes Brown ) : 'Power Ok' +5VDC signal.(Low Power !!!)
PSU if operates normally ,it sends a signal,with this wire ,to the motherboard ,
notifying for it's normal operation state .If signal goes low (0V ),
then motherboard will be resetting the CPU,until fault condition is removed.
Can be used as 'Power Ok/On " led indication .( with a 1K res in series with small epoxy led )
-Green: As Mellodrama ,stated this is the Powering cable.
Can be used on with a toggle switch ,connected with a black common wire ,
to make a ( remote ) 'On/off ' switch of the ATX PSU .
Otherwise it has to be low (connected to Ground/black wiring) in order for the ATX,
to be able to operate by itself and not as part of a desktop computer unit.
(As also 'Mell' has correctly suggested...)
for powering those fans ....
And ....
Some more 'info' notes on the ATX -mod ....
Power ATX wires:
-Black : Common Ground -
-Red : +5 VDC (check ATX case for max Amps )
-Yellow : +12 VDC (check ATX case for max Amps )
-Orange : +3.3 VDC
-Blue : -12VDC
-White : -5 VDC
Function ATX Wires :
-Purple : +5VDC VSB ( Voltage stand-by ) .
This wire will always output +5VDC( check ATX case for max Amps ) ,
even if ATX is switched off ,but still plugged on mains .
Can be used to power a 'Standby/ On AC Mains ' led indication ( with a 1K res in seriesc with small epoxy led ) ...
-Grey (can be sometimes Brown ) : 'Power Ok' +5VDC signal.(Low Power !!!)
PSU if operates normally ,it sends a signal,with this wire ,to the motherboard ,
notifying for it's normal operation state .If signal goes low (0V ),
then motherboard will be resetting the CPU,until fault condition is removed.
Can be used as 'Power Ok/On " led indication .( with a 1K res in series with small epoxy led )
-Green: As Mellodrama ,stated this is the Powering cable.
Can be used on with a toggle switch ,connected with a black common wire ,
to make a ( remote ) 'On/off ' switch of the ATX PSU .
Otherwise it has to be low (connected to Ground/black wiring) in order for the ATX,
to be able to operate by itself and not as part of a desktop computer unit.
(As also 'Mell' has correctly suggested...)
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SupraSPL
Well-Known Member
Yep I use crimps to make power distribution pigtails for the DC side
In testing I was able to push the 1A PSU up to 1.3A using 5 fans, although I would not run it that hard. I use the 2A version to run 4 fans at 8.4V and I expect to be able to expand to 6 fans with no problem. The PSUs are 70-80% efficient as long as you are not running just 1 fan.
On the Arctic Alpines I just cut the end off and use the red and black wires.
tk9119
Well-Known Member
Would you suggest maybe a Mean Well (MW PLC-30-12) driver?
JavaCo
Well-Known Member
You want a Constant Voltage switching reg for fans, Constant current is mainly for LED's . This would work http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_323300_-1.
JavaCo
Well-Known Member
Actually this one here would be more then enough to run a few fans http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_1919051_-1
bicit
Well-Known Member
overthinkingismything
Member
I would personally go with a Meanwell NES or RS 15/25 12V.
If you do use the PC power supply, and 12V is too loud, and 5V is too soft, you can get 7V (12, 5), 8.7 (12, 3.3) or 10V (5, 5) out of a PC power supply very easily. Not that you'd want it for a fan, but you can even get 17V or 24V out of one, using the same principles.
You are limited by the lowest rail capacity however, so it would be prudent to look into the specs. In some of these configs you probably wouldn't even be able to run 1A. Enough for a couple small fans but not much more.
I'd echo the recommendations of Mr. Flux if you don't have enough heatsink to avoid disaster should the fans power supply fail. Even if you did have the mass, a Meanwell for a couple dollars more is hardly a large investment for what is likely be a superior solution.
If you do use the PC power supply, and 12V is too loud, and 5V is too soft, you can get 7V (12, 5), 8.7 (12, 3.3) or 10V (5, 5) out of a PC power supply very easily. Not that you'd want it for a fan, but you can even get 17V or 24V out of one, using the same principles.
You are limited by the lowest rail capacity however, so it would be prudent to look into the specs. In some of these configs you probably wouldn't even be able to run 1A. Enough for a couple small fans but not much more.
I'd echo the recommendations of Mr. Flux if you don't have enough heatsink to avoid disaster should the fans power supply fail. Even if you did have the mass, a Meanwell for a couple dollars more is hardly a large investment for what is likely be a superior solution.