I need a cooling fan.. how do I make one? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff:L]

Hello, I need a cooling fan for my cabinet to keep my receiver cooler. I went to radio shack, but they dont sell AC fans that have the plug on it already. I dont know how to connect a plug, can anyone help?

Would it be easier to connect a computer fan? The problem with that is that those are DC right? Help!

 

[Darren_T]

Find yourself a fan at RadioShack that is compatible with 110v/120v AC. Just connect a common lamp cord (with plug) to the leads with proper connectors and whalla! You have a fan. If your receiver has a switchable power supply plug on it you can plug the fan into the receiver and have auto on/off for free

 

[Drew_W]

Use a universal adapter. That'll let you change voltage from 3~12V and therefore vary the speed of the fan. Then use a computer fan hot-wired to that. Real simple.

 

[Jeff:L]

If I buy a AC fan & lamp cord, does it matter which wire goes to which? I notice that AC plugs do not seem to have a positive & negative wire?

Sorry, but what is a universal adapter?

 

[Drew_W]

One of those things you buy at Radio Shack so you don't have to use batteries for your CD Player/Portable TV/whatever else...



Reversing the polarity changes the direction of the fan...

 

[Joey Skinner]

On an AC fan polarity doesn't matter. For a cord you can buy a cheap extension cord and cut off the female end, strip the wire ends and solder them to your fan leads, using heat shrink for insulation. You can also scavenge a cord from any dead electical device.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Not for A/C; there is no polarity for A/C.

Jeff, what Drew was talking about is an A/C adapter. It would let you use a DC fan. The adapter can plug into the switched outlet of your receiver.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Jeff:L]

Thanks for the replies guys! I got a 120 VAC fan from radio shack & a AC plug to connect it to an AC outlet. Question is, can I plug this 120 VAC fan into the switched outlet on my Harman Kardon?

 

[Drew_W]

Yes.

 

[Jeff:L]

Thanks for the reply Drew. Actually looking at the box, it says that it is a 115 VAC.. can I plug this into the receiver switched outlet too even though its now 120 VAC? Probably sounds like a dumb question... sorry.

 

[Mark Shannon]

It would work, but the fan would probably be a bit too overpowered and eventually blow.

 

[Darren_T]

The fan won't blow... 115 VAC and 120VAC are the same thing. Remember when they used to call it 110 VAC? It's just common household voltage.

 

[Jeff:L]

ok guys I just woired up this radio shack fan & boy is it loud! it has a loud whirling noise! I have not plugged it into my receiver yet, but I know that it will be quite loud. Is there anything that you guys can suggest? Is there a quieter fan that I can buy? I was thinking about using the DC fan a universal adapter, but the only problem is that the universal adapter's plug is an adapter & so it has one of those big box type of plugs which will not plug into my reciever... :frowning: help please.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Jeff, I’d return the AC fan and get a DC fan, along with an AC adapter that has different voltage settings. If you get a 12v fan and run it at say, 7.5 or 6v it will slow it down considerably.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Darren_T]

Isn't this going to be a cabinet cooling fan? Chances are you won't hear a thing in the back of your cabinet... Mine wasn't noticeable when I had one. Give it a test before you return it.

 

[Owen Bartley]

Or you could go to a computer store and pick up a "Stealth" fan, I think Vantec might make them.

 

[Jeff:L]

I went & got a Vantec Stealth fan, and it is much quieter, although you can still hear it when there is no music. But that is when the adapter is set to 12V.

Can anyone tell me, If I want to hook up two 12V fans to one AC/DC universal adapter, is 1200 ma big enough? Also, will hooking up two 12 V fans require a separate adapter for each fan, or do I need a 24 V adapter? or does it not matter how many fans I hook up to the adapter as long as all the fans are 12 Volt?

 

[Owen Bartley]

Not too sure about the adapter, but check out this thread where Mark put 2 fans into a beautiful new equipment stand, and wired them in series to run them quieter... might be an idea.