Powering 2 120mm fans...will these chargers work?

Just checking to see if one of these chargers would work to power the fans, from reading other posts it seems that they shouldn't be able to (everyone recommends a 12v power supply), but thought I would check before I go buy something.

Here is what I have:

LG phone charger:
Output: 4.8v @ .9A

Random charger:
Output: 6v DC

Thanks for any input guys!
Also, if there is a really cheap thing I could get at wal-mart that would suffice let me know since I am going there to get stuff later today (have a gift card so would want to get it specifically at wal-mart).

And just a note that these are computer fans in case anyone was wondering..

Specifically these ones in case that matters as well:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106100

I went to the manufacture website and I was able to get this information:

That fan is rated for 12v at 300mA.

Your LG charger would run it but well under half the speed the fan would normally do at 12v. You shouldn't start any fires though. Just electrical tape everything up.

The Output: 6v DC would be a better option if it can support the amperage, you will need to let us know what that is to tell you.
This particular charger would run the fan at almost exactly half speed.

My recomendation to you is to go to goodwill or whatever is in your country (one of those donation places) and they almost always have all kinds of random ACDC crap. Just go through them all and buy all the 12v's you can with the highest Amp or mA rating you can find. I think I payed like a dollar a piece for some. Or radio shack has them for quite a bit more.

Usually netgear routers etc have great high amperage adapters as well. I have one thats rated for 3 amps and I can run 5 pc fans off it.

Computer fans need 12v to run full speed usually

So if you can find a 12v 600 mA one then you can run exactly two of those fans at the same time, no more. I usually like to overrate myself with amperage though because I am fire paranoid.... even though I spin fire poi on chain on the weekends lol

Perfect, thanks for the clarification and for all the info mercilus, I'll go pick up a better charger at the store then so I don't have to run them at half speed.

n/p just PM me if you need any help wiring it up or anything

radio shack bro got everything you need for dc power any type of amp. or ma

i got a d/c to a/c converter there for $20 and the guy threw in the plug-in for the wire so just plug and play no re-wiring

Yeah, but if you can find a re-use store you can get like 13 chargers for the same price and usually it goes to a good cause. But I am frugal

Yeah I'm with you mercilus, I'll probably find a good will if I can or some other thrift store since it'd be cheaper, and I think I should be good with the wiring, I've never really done anything with wiring before but have read up a bunch for fan wiring and for the econolight that I bought which I still have to wire as well.

letsdothis21 said:

Yeah I'm with you mercilus, I'll probably find a good will if I can or some other thrift store since it'd be cheaper, and I think I should be good with the wiring, I've never really done anything with wiring before but have read up a bunch for fan wiring and for the econolight that I bought which I still have to wire as well.

Click to expand...

I know the feeling, I did the same stuff a few weeks ago. I did my e-cono in a bake-a-round used as a cool tube. I cool the tube with a PC fan =)

successfully wired one of the fans to a charger I got at a local thrift store (charger was included with some random old phone hah). Anyways I think I'm going to go out and buy a different charger since the one I bought was 9v @ 400 mA, and it doesn't seem to be moving as much air as I'd want it to.

Also, you shouldn't ever go above 12v right? Since I saw a charger there that was like 30v with a high amperage. But the fan has no way of governing the incoming voltage right? But just wanted to check

Thanks again everyone, I'll take pics once my setup is all done today

A computer generally runs at 12v. PC Fans are set up for 12v.. You can essentially think of the volt as a gear in the car in this scenario.

With 9v you were in 9th gear out of 12. Your fan can turn only as fast as the gear its in will let it. 12v is required for the fan to spin at full speed.

Please note some people dont like to run fans at full speed for noise reasons so lower voltages sometimes are good. Also dimmer type switches lower voltage and if rated properly can be used to slow down and speed up a fan.

The amperage however you don't want to ever go above what the adapter puts out. Thats where a lot of heat/fires build up at.

30V power supply... I would avoid running a pc fan off of that..... stick with 12v. I have never ran a 30v supply up to a 12v fan but I can't imagine it will work for long....

So Volts 12 and under, amperage.. as high as needed to meet your demands.

If sensitive equipment is hooked up (fans aren't that sensitive to me) you don't want to have too high of amperage. That's what surge protectors protect against. (Burning up your electronics with too much juice).

thanks for the reply mercilus...unfortunately I just got back from the thrift store and picked up a 12v 140amp charger so I guess that's useless now hah. Thankfully it was only a dollar, but I've gone to 2 thrift stores now and the 12v 300+amperage chargers are very elusive haha.

140 mA?

Unfortunately that will not run very much.
They are pretty elusive here also, but I sort of bought all I could find....
Try keeping your eye out for old routers/hubs for computers. They are usually 12v with high amperage. My main one off an old router I found was 1.3Amps or 1300 mA.

So far thats the best combo ive found.

You could also try a PC Power supply if you have an extra one of those?