Which cable on Maplins to use as fan cable?

[BenW]

Never been any good at seeing the differences between cables, can anyone suggest a cable suitable for fan wiring on maplin.co.uk?

Cables Page

Many Thanks
Ben

[BenW]

Anybody?

[Taz]

Try the following link on the Maplin site for ready-made fan cables:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/search.aspx?...2&doy=31m5

The link should all be on one line but may come out as split across two lines.

You could get one of the fan extension cables and just cut the connector off the fan end if your existing fan only has solder tags on it. I hope that helps!

[BenW]

Thanks Taz, im really looking for just pure wire.

My plan is to mount a little switch on the side of my desk for changing between 12v and 5v on my rear fan. So i want a ton of this cable, need 6 wires to the switch and the switch will be about 1.75m from the read case fan.

So i need about 10m of suitable cable :?

If nobody can show me something on maplins could you say what type of cable i need?

[Taz]

Okay, I would order 2 x 10m reels, one red and one black, giving you 20m of cable which should be enough. Ordering just 10m is going to be very tight.

16/0.2mm cable rated at 3A max:
Black 10m reel: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Mproduct.asp?oc=FA26D
Red 10m reel: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Mproduct.asp?oc=FA33L

You could go for even thinner wire (7/0.2mm) if your current consumption will not exceed 1.4A:

Black: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Mproduct.asp?oc=BL00A
Red: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Mproduct.asp?oc=BL07H

You should be able to get the amperage rating for your fan from the label on the fan itself or the manufacturers Web site.

The cable type is usually benoted by the number of strands in the core followed by the size of each strand. Hence, 16/0.2 means than the cable core is made up of 16 strands, each strand being 0.2mm in diameter. The plastic sleeving is in addition to these figures.

The whole lot inclusing postage should be under a fiver or even cheaper if you can get to a Maplin shop.

Alternatively, pop into your local Halfords and get thin automotive cable (as this is usually designed for 12V use). Most of it is going to be quite thick as the current consumption in cars is quite high so get the thinnest one you can (3A rating should be fine - this gives you around 36W of power consumption at 12V). Again, I would get two 10m reels, one red and one black.

[BenW]

Thanks Taz, exactly what i wanted!

Fan says 0.2Amp so that second one is going to be fine i guess

I'll be getting 2*10m reels, a push DPDT switch and some insulator tape

Should be interesting result, will also mount the switch in a little block of wood and mount it on the desk

[SilentDeath]

For normal pc fans your unlikely to need more than 0.3A ever. More is only needed for stuff like 12v waterpumps (mine takes 2A) and my big 172mm fan only takes 0.5A.

Current ratings also only apply at the rated voltage (usually 300v+). At a lower voltage they can take more current. I had no problems doing electrolic etching using 1/0.6 cable (doubled up) which must have had 6A + going through it.

Get it from rapidelectronics, they are cheaper.. yesterday you would have got free postage aswell

Pre-made fan cables are expensive, like every product int he computers catagory..

I would suggest you get this as then each can be different colour, making it easyer to do - try wiring a 26way connector when you only have a 100m of red 1/0.6..
Each length is about what you need.. saves cutting..

[Taz]

Good luck. Some things to check (most of which I guess you have already):

a) Make sure the fan will *start* and then continue to rotate at 5V. This might sound strange but a fan rated at 12V will not necessarily run at 5V.

b) A good soldering iron (something like a 15-25W soldering iron with a 1mm point tip). The soldering lugs on the DPDT switch are likely to be very small and very close together.

c) Some lead-free solder with non-corrosive flux

d) A steady hand!

[BenW]

Cheers guys, had a look on rapid electronics and they don't sell any dpdt switched unless i missed em

Yea my fan will rotate at 5v so no worries there

Got a soldering iron, not sure what its like as i cant remember but i'm sure i'll be fine with it

Does it have to be lead free? I have solder but i'll have to check its lead free if thats a must for this and i'll have a look at the flux as well

I've got the steady hand

[Taz]

Lead free only if you want to avoid brain damage!!! All solder sold these days should be lead-free. When I was playing with soldering irons back in the 70's and 80's some solder had lead in it. This was to make it more malleable and have it melt at a lower temperature.

If the solder is not self-fluxing then you can buy a tin of flux (bit like dried up silver shoe polish) and dip your soldering iron into it before applying to the joint. The flux oxidises any surface contaminants on the metal.

Remember that you apply the heated soldering iron tip to the soldering lug on the switch and press the solder itself on the opposite site so that the heat travels through the metal lug to melt the solder - this ensures the best joint. Just ensure you don't keep the soldering iron tip on the lug for too long as it may melt the surrounding plastic on the switch. You shouldn't really melt the solder directly with the soldering iron as you may end up with a 'dry' joint'.

[BenW]

Thanks Taz

[BenW]

Only just got around to this!

Ordered all the bits a few days back and it all arived this morning. Put it all together and mounted the switch. Works a treat! 2*5V Nexus 120mm fans is about as quiet as it gets a temps are fine at 12v

Thanks for all the help

[peterb]

Use self fluxing solder! Unless you buy flux designed for electronics use, most separate fluxes are corrosive and will damage the components on electonic circuits! If you have solder containing lead, this is safe to use for the type of job you have in mind. It is only really a problem if yopu are working on a production line 7 days a week, and then the problem is mainly that the lead fumes were exhausted to atmosphere!

[BenW]

Well, bit late for that now.

What exactly does flux do?

[Butcher]

Flux removes surface contaminants so that the solder can bond with the metal. If you don't use flux you'll get a dry joint (a dry joint has a very thin layer of crud between the solder and the metal, which means it won't carry current properly and it'll fall apart easily).

Current ratings also only apply at the rated voltage (usually 300v+).

Current ratings are at any voltage. The required thickness of a wire is related to current carried, not power or voltage. The maximum voltage rating is for the strength of the insulation; a copper conductor can carry any amount of voltage. You can exceed the current rating on the wire, but the wire will get hot. If you exceed the rating too much you'll melt the insulation or in extreme cases, the wire itself.