Computer Fan

what could a computer fan wire up to for power?

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not trying to be a turd here...i just know (as a newbie), 99% of my questions (including this one) have been answered by either the search function, or the growfaq, or a little of both.

to answer your ? since i am already typing. a 12v cell phone charger works great.

Got to agree completely on what howdydo said. Any normal cell charger will work to power up a computer fan. A friend of mine had his hooked up to a switch plate and charger so that he could turn them on and off.

And I know it seems simple to just start a thread asking for help, but most newbie questions like this can be found using the search function and/or the GrowFAQ.

just pick up a power supply for a p.c and you can hook several fans up. exhaust and so on. even lighting if you know a bit about wiring.

I'm with netpirate.. Cell chargers are puny.. You need a dc adapter that can pump a few hundred mA atleast for most fans, and the typical 4.5V from a cell charger won't run many fans well.. For most fans, you want a 9-18V adapter that has a bit of weight to it.. Nothing is better than a pc psu.. You can get 5, 7, 10, 12, 17, and 24V from them with various wire combos, and alot of current.. (A whole lot at 5 and 12V, the rest aren't rated for as much current..
You can trick a modern atx psu to turn on by shorting the green wire that goes into the motherboard connector to a black ground wire.. Hook it up to a switch and you have it made..

Thats not true i have a couple processer and power supply fans runnin off 3-5v cell phone chargers, it works great

go to radioshack and get a 110v to 13.8 volt converter, its setup to let you wire tons of stuff on with screw terminals in the back.

Are you sure it works great? Have you tried 12V without in increase in greatness..
Also using adapters with puny cores will over-heat and kill them eventually.. Dead adapters mean dead air, dead air often means dead plants..

jus gotta find some kinda charger that matches up w/the fan(s) you want to use, I'v got one hooked up to a cellphone charger, but only because the cellphone charger is at a higher volt output than most

these radio shack converters are design for constant load, they are often used in public safety communications equipment because of it. they can run 3+ years without turning off, i can get you a part numbe if you give me a couple hours.

dtchmstr420 said:

Thats not true i have a couple processer and power supply fans runnin off 3-5v cell phone chargers, it works great

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hook them to 12v and watch the RPMs soar.

Yea, with a DC fan the power output is proportional to the voltage squared..

they get a lot louder with a 12v hookd up 2, my setups all hidin, they run fine off of the 5v i have, its not like they look like they need ne more power or are laggin

i figured it would be to much when the plants r small

I also did a 12v power supply with a dial for speed control once

dtchmstr420 said:

they get a lot louder with a 12v hookd up 2, my setups all hidin, they run fine off of the 5v i have, its not like they look like they need ne more power or are laggin

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Good, cheap, or quiet. Pick any two.

plz do i am about to tackle this problem myself

i pick good and quiet, what are your suggestions? with one computer fan hookd up to a 5v cellphone charger blowin under the canapy of my plants, i can feel the air blowin out of it 2-3 ft above the fan out of a vent i cut in the box i use, so i got cheap, good, and quiet down, but if u have ne suggestions plz feel free to inform me, im always interested in learnin, but considerin the fan is used to draw power away from a processor that would fry without a fan, im thinkin that 12v mite b a lil stronger then my plants need, considerin theyre not gunna grow to be huge cuz im usin floros, but if i ever feel the need, installin another fan wouldnt be that difficult....

PC heatsinks are perfectly designed for small fans to cool them.. You should be able to feel air moving over a dozen feet away.. I'm telling you ppl cell phone chargers running fans are going to get your plants killed.. I run some PC fans at 24V.. 9V takes away the whine from most, and still gives 'ok' air-flow.. The biggest risk with a puny adapter though is that it overheats and konks out, leaving your plants to suffocate/fry..
Go to value villiage or someplace and Atleast get a 9V+ adapter that has a bit of weight to it..

BBB was talking about options you have when you purchase a fan.. Good (reliable), quiet, or cheap.. They're properties of the fan, and I totally agree that you can pick any 2 of those..

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Almost all case fans run on the 12V DC supplied through a power supply. One way to reduce fan noise is to supply a lower voltage to the fan. All ATX power supplies provide both 12V and 5V DC outputs. A case fan could run on a 5V voltage, but the 58.3% voltage reduction would significantly reduce the cooling power of the case fan[/FONT]

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but ur not tryin to cool a computer, and they r baring-less fans so it doesint take much to power one, take a look at my box set up, if i blow in a couple drags of a cigg in from the bottom and look at the vent i cut out in the top u can see n feel the smoke bein blown out of the box, and like i said 2 5v fans would be better then 1 12v, they can circulate the air better then a lot of airmovement in just one spot