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I took the fan out of an old pc and I want to use it for my fan system. It plugs into the mother board and I dont understand how the hell Im supposed to get it to work...I cant have this big ass mother board hanging out of my grow box so im sure someone knows how to do it. THANKS!
You won't go all the way with just PC fans but I think most will agree PC fans are great for seedling stage.
You will need a 12 volt adapter or whatever the fans rated for. Ask Radio Shack peeps.
Then, snip the small roundish socket off your adapter.
And with or without a switch in line, go get your fan out.
Should be a small plug going into motherboard. Just unplug it and snip it off. Or leave an inch or so of wire with the plug if you can think of anyone who can use it.
And use those plastic screw on things. You don't need sparking wires inside some electrical tape after the moving fan spins off the end of your finger and dangles around and blows that joint into the wastebasket and the fire department comes in and the leftienant calls in and says the police better bring the K9 sniffer mutt and your wife kicks you out so you end up on skid row and all you can afford is cheap wine once a day. Well. It could happen.
I just wanan use soem kind fo battery source. How can I hook it up without the little motherboard attacxhment? I cut it off so its just black and red wiring now. HOw can I make it work from there with out much Trouble?
CS,
You need the fans on all the time so batteries aren't a good choice.
The adapter will cost you like 9 bucks unless you have one sitting around collecting dust. And it would have to match the rating on your pc fan.
Mine's 12 volt but some may be 9v. I'm not Joe electronics but those are common voltages for adapters. Should say on the fan what it is rated for.
My adapter came with a little white socket. Turns out I did not snip wires on the adapter but instead bought the compatible plug and wired that onto the wires from my fan(s).
Only thing is to test the polarity of the wires. The fan will only work if you get that right because the plug and socket only fit one way. You won't hurt anything if you get it reversed while testing for that. Just don't be holding bare wires obviously - or - well - considering you might be completely zonked, take my word for it.
Anyway point is you might as well put the adapter money toward a good fan. And the one below is about the best you can find under $20. Walmart has 'em.
Is it Silent? I need silence completely! And my space is only 24" x 1' x 1' in room. The ehgith is 24", SO a pc fa is really what I need...
Completely Stoned,
I think you should do like Rezinator said and get a DC adapter at Radio Shack... unless, as he said, you've got one gathering dust somewhere... and I'm almost sure every household in the planet has an average of 2.3 of these lying around.
As to the 9v or 12v... just plug it in! I mean, you're dealing with cheap fans... they'll work... and if you burn it? Get another one.. should cost you about 2-4 bucks. Heck! You can connect 9v batteries of you wanted to them.
[Connecting 9v batteries: When you connect + with + with + ... etc, and - with - with - ... etc, you'll get the same as one BIG battery. So you can hook up in this fashion 50 9v batteries and you'll get a big 9v battery with the capacity of 50 batteries.
Now, if you hook them up battery A's +, hooked to battery B's - >> A+ with B-, then B+ with C-, then C+ with D-, etc. and so on... you'll get a higher voltage battery. So if you hook up 3 of these 9v batteries in this fashion, you'll get = 9v * 3 = 27v . You'll get a 27v battery.
Simple!]
I suggest you use the first method if you trully need the batteries. Otherwise, us the DC adapter!
Hope this helps!
so um..these adapters..what woudl they be used with so I can know where to look? THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!
These are adapters are used for just about everything...
We're talking about the ones that you plug into the wall... and where those two electrical prongs are located, there's a small solid, heavy plastic box. That's the adapter.
These are used for small computer speakers... cordless phone base power... If you go to Radio Shack, ask them for a "AC to DC" adapter... How many amps? Small.... 1, 2Amps... maybe 3...
Volts? Well, your computer fans run on 12volts... so that would be the best to pick... but you can really hook up 9 volts... 5 volts.... etc.
wow thanks man!
Ok SO I FINALLY found one and its installed and everything. BUT IT'S SO LOUD! I can't have this loudness guys. This grow has got to be STEALTH. I have to know hwo to silence it a bit. It can be kind of buzzy, but it cant be loud like it is. I don't want to switch to 9V because its not enough wind. I need what it can give me. HELP!
I'm planning to do a similar setup
Not sure in power sources yet myself,
I have many of these fans and some quite big (>4")
I plan to attach carbon filters to remove smell
I NEED SILENCE OF THESE FANS! HELP!!!!!
err... grow your pot to classic rock? the music will drown down the fans :)
Uh.. white lithium grease the fan? err... whats making the noise, is it a loud HMMMMM or is it a squeak like noise?
it's a loud HUMMMMM. It because its spinnign so fast and its so small. so the air gets cut up and buzzes.
wow I wish it would just STFU
How do I rewire my 12 V Adapter to be 7 volts or 5 volts? I need to know this badly...
Completely Stoned,
Most adapters are multi volt - they run from 3 volts to 12 volts, adjusting the voltage slows the fan down, reduces the noise and gives u some sort of control over the temperature
you can also buy silent running pc fans for a little bit more cash
mine doenst have a setting. It's striclty 12V :\ How do you rewire it?
u cant
Yes you can, I know you can. Try to figure it out for me or something. :d lol
u cant convert it for the same reason u needed a 12 volt adapter in the first place
I went and bought an adpater that changes. It works wonders lol. Thanks for all your help guys!