DIY: Power supply / computer fan hack

i agree, i don't see many VDC cell chargers in my area. however, i do have a mass quantity of spare PSU's(nerd) so i think this would be a much better solution for me, also being able to run multiple fans from one box just seems smarter.

That's exactly what I did, used an old wall 12v wall brick and computer fans. Mine was from an old 10baseT hub.

If you look for a 24volt charger then tie two fans together you get more for less and remember the heat and noise generated buy psu's out way the bennifits a large coolmaster sielent case fan times two cheap cost me not a penny check my grow diary for instructions

this is interesting , i always thought of putting up multiple fans in a grow cupboard i plan to make but it always occured to me that the pc power supply would be drawing 200 watts and then wasting it as heat and other stuff as resistance and finally delivering the small wattage to the fans...now the demand thing kicks me into thinking again but m really not sure what would be the actual usage in terms of watts..

anythink less than double never more iE 16v charger and a 12 v fan no no 16v charger 2 times 12volt fans means each fan will run at 75 percent no chance of fire or short i use 18v and 2 fans

after tinkering with my older pc, securing a fan, and getting the wiring right, it werks........now need another fan......GJ +rep

I stripped the end off my old cell charger and connected red wire to red and black to black, I was able to get 3 lil fans out of old pc and it worked for me, but is it really worth the effort? you get lil bit of air flow bit why not just buy a lil regular fan which would produce a lot more power and air flow. I could see using this if you had REALLY small box to vent, but other wise Im not sure um comfortable and not sure if this would ever catch fire? hmmm. Good tip though!

a cell phone charger works. it won't catch on fire if you wire it correctly and tape up the ends. i think the whole hacking the powersupply is alot more dangerous than using the lil 12vdc converter.

TheConstantGardner said:

So, you're going to burn 400-500 watts running a power supply to power a tiny fan?

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First i'd like to thank the MOD for posting this, i was about to make a similar one but i didnt have the energy to make it a good one so +rep for that =)

and for the quote:
#1 its a 200w (MAX)
it will only draw a few watts to power itself which isnt much, sure there is more powersaving alternatives but using this u probably won't have to buy anything.
Allso u can buy/have extentions and splits without cutting and manually connecting wires even though its not rocket sience connecting low power cords some ppl who are inexperienced with wiring or worried about safety u can just connect the fans using a splitter to the 12v 4 pin contact to avoid taping it together or whatever method u are planning as an alternative.

#2 u will for sure know that the fans get the power they should have, there is nothing more accurate then connecting a device originally designed for the product.

so the thread is not useless at all =)

redivider said:

a cell phone charger works. it won't catch on fire if you wire it correctly and tape up the ends. i think the whole hacking the powersupply is alot more dangerous than using the lil 12vdc converter.

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99% of all cell phone chargers are 3-6v i belive but i get your point.

cheers for the helpfull info + rep good thread

I have followed the steps and done as exactly as shown and it works a charm, however the fans are now running much slower any chance this could have damaged them? and when i connect the mother board back in it still runs really slow..
any one kno any info?

Thestinker said:

I have followed the steps and done as exactly as shown and it works a charm, however the fans are now running much slower any chance this could have damaged them? and when i connect the mother board back in it still runs really slow..
any one kno any info?

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See my posts in this thread mate. It's possible you are only running 5 volts through your fans, due to the differences in wiring colours on the 4-pin molex connectors in the PSU. The Yellow wire is the 12 volt supply, not the red one, if using the 4 pin connector of the PSU.

Either that, or you may have your fans wired up in series, rather than parallel.

bump. can anyone explain the 5th step? how do you connect your computer fan to the power supply? Thanks.

I just use 12v 1 amp ac adapters there cheap and waste less power .

No you are not wasting your time, people want to whine about the cost of doing things today just to get some good looking plants. You are right on the money, have about 3 power supply's, I can do that tomorrow. TY for the info.

12V DC broadband router power adapters work fine for connecting around 5 fans to the same supply.

If you ever change your routers, keep the power adapters for them.



J