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Thread: 12v fans off mains

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    Get to da choppa Million's Avatar
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    Question 12v fans off mains

    How would i go about running a couple/few 12v 12cm fans from mains electricity?

  2. #2
    Big Member BlindMelon7's Avatar
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    Get a couple of those voltage/wattage changeable power plugs and wire them up to it. make sure you check the impedece etc. of the fans.
    With love and many thanks,

    Melons

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    Get to da choppa Million's Avatar
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    Never heard of such a thing, where do I find them? And also, impedence?

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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Maplin

    something like this should work:
    http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...brick&doy=22m8

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    Senior Member FatalSaviour's Avatar
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    ...Or pare the wires...plug 'em in directly, and feelsome serious air flow as they spin at 20times their norm...*


    *Don't actually try this at Home...or Work....or near anything flammable...
    Quote Originally Posted by Noni
    What the hell does "WTH" mean


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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    ...and wear safety glasses and gloves...crash helmet might be an idea...and padding

    In fact, just don't try what FatalSurvivor said, it's not very safe.

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    Unidentified Frying Object
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    Especially when you think the fans like DC and your mains feed is AC

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    Big Member BlindMelon7's Avatar
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    you could rig a car radiator to your computer, hehe.
    With love and many thanks,

    Melons

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    Senior Member FatalSaviour's Avatar
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    These fans...are they the usual 4-pin molex type?
    I haven't tried it myself, but you may want to think about buying an uber-cheap HD caddy, with a 4-pin power connection and using that?
    Quote Originally Posted by Noni
    What the hell does "WTH" mean


  10. #10
    Get to da choppa Million's Avatar
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    They'll prob be 4 pin, standard. I'm not using them in a PC, which is why i'm wanting to power them from mains. I'll prob be using 2, and yeah, maybe a cheap HDD cooler would be a good idea. Just need to keep air circulating on some seedlings

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    omg haxor listy's Avatar
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    you could use a cb psu to power them thats what im using for my block of 4

    http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...upply&doy=23m8

    mine is 13amp one since i used to use some high power sideband rigs

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    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BigFatCat
    Especially when you think the fans like DC and your mains feed is AC
    A diode in series should convert that to DC, then just need to run 14 of them in series so the volts across each one is under 12V :-)

    Seriously, you can buy cheap variable voltage battery replacement supplies from places like Asda for a few quid. Fans can run down to as low as 5 volts, so variable output means you can play with the fan speed by selecting an output lower than 12V.

    Or you could wire it to a big 9V battery.

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    The King of Vague Steve B's Avatar
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    dont think thats possible, as i dont know of a diode that takes 240V through it! certainly not on an economicly acceptable level. you'd need to do a step down before converting, and a diode will just rip out the positive bits of the sine wave so all ud get is n_n_n_n you'd then need to add smoothing caps to pull the zero line up to the peak, but even then you'd lose voltage off the peak. its hard

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    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
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    Yeah, so after all that, just buy a DC power pack that'll give you 12 volts, and wire your fans up to it.

    Fans don't usually consume more than 6W unless they're particularly beefy models (and I picked 6W as the near-upper limit in Panasonic's Panflo 12cm range). So that's 0.5 amps per fan; bear that in mind when you check the rated output current of the power adapter.
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    root Member DanceswithUnix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve B
    dont think thats possible, as i dont know of a diode that takes 240V through it! certainly not on an economicly acceptable level. you'd need to do a step down before converting, and a diode will just rip out the positive bits of the sine wave so all ud get is n_n_n_n you'd then need to add smoothing caps to pull the zero line up to the peak, but even then you'd lose voltage off the peak. its hard

    It's called half wave rectification. Never said it was a good idea, just felt like joining in with the silliness

    The diode would be cheap & easy to get: 300V reverse voltage isn't exotic, and nothing compared to the cost of all those fans!

    Ever seen inside a cheap car battery charger? A 30V transformer, one diode and a big resistor that doesn't mind getting hot to limit the current.

    Anyway, to get back on topic...

    Sounds like you need a 12V >=2A power source. Maplins or even Halfords will sell you something around the 20 quid mark, or for less money you could rig up a PC power supply.

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    The King of Vague Steve B's Avatar
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    more expensive than a 12v mains transformer anyway, and less risk of getting electrocuted!

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