A house fan made from PC Case fans

[Elcs]

Ok, since the weather here is a bit hot at night recently, Ive been using my house fan during the day. I cant sleep with it on, it pushes too much air and its way too noisy at its slowest speeds for sleep.

Ive got some old Panaflo L1A's lying around and I remembered how blissfully quiet they were and that they could gently send air flowing.

I thought about making some sort of home fan out of these Panaflo's but I dont know anything about electrics and the like. Last time I even saw a soldering iron was 7 years ago . Does anyone have any idea how I could wire up 2 panaflo's to a variable resistor 0v to 12v preferably and have them powered by means other than a PC PSU?

Weird request, weird mod but I feel like doing something different.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

You know? After staying "but I dont know anything about electrics and the like. " and then mentioning "a variable resistor 0v to 12v " makes you self contradictory .

Excellent idea. Here's what I do though:

Back of PC faces out of window (hot air = bad for summer).
Square sized fan sits right on the window, intakes cold air in the night. INSANELY loud (myp arents yell at me from downstairs because it's annoying), but I'm hot in the summer and I can live with it.

This will be an excellent project , but there are cheaper solutions available. For now, try the cold air intake in the night idea. Then close your room door, windows, etc, and omfg enjoy the chilled air. I use that fan as the AC for my entire floor because within 30 minutes it cools the floor like a mofo! I love it.

-TPG

 

[NokiaDude]

Yeah, those case fans are quiet when in the open. I'd recommend building a frame to put them in.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Why not just build a box to hold a small PSU that you can get for free on the Freebies Thread, and use that... Because you are going to not only step down the voltage to 12v, but also convert it from AC to DC. And as far as the veristor, that solder that inline on the yellow cable of a molex extender...
Tas.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
You know? After staying "but I dont know anything about electrics and the like. " and then mentioning "a variable resistor 0v to 12v " makes you self contradictory .

Excellent idea.
-TPG

I know what I WANT to do but not HOW to do it.

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Why not just build a box to hold a small PSU that you can get for free on the Freebies Thread, and use that... Because you are going to not only step down the voltage to 12v, but also convert it from AC to DC. And as far as the veristor, that solder that inline on the yellow cable of a molex extender...
Tas.

Sounds like a good idea actually. Hooking up a PSU to the mains then plugging in fans sounds simple. Soldering in the resistor doesnt thrill me though.

 

[Zepper]

bgmicro.com has the parts you need except for the rheostat . You could get the Coolermaster Aerogate 1 from SVC.com for $5. and control up to 4 fans for your room with it. Plus they have some nice 120mm fans cheap.

.bh.

 

[Bona Fide]

Here's an idea:

If the computer is on your desk, you can make a simple desk fan. Get wire or hangars and bend them to form a mount/frame, making a ~60 degree angle to the desk surface. Place your fan in the mount, and run the power cable to the PSU. Get an extension of some sort if needed, and set the fan to intake. Place it right next to your monitor, and voila! Instant cooling for those 24-hour gaming sessions

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
Here's an idea:

If the computer is on your desk, you can make a simple desk fan. Get wire or hangars and bend them to form a mount/frame, making a ~60 degree angle to the desk surface. Place your fan in the mount, and run the power cable to the PSU. Get an extension of some sort if needed, and set the fan to intake. Place it right next to your monitor, and voila! Instant cooling for those 24-hour gaming sessions

PC is turned off for the night since even though its quiet, its too noisy for sleep.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
You know? After staying "but I dont know anything about electrics and the like. " and then mentioning "a variable resistor 0v to 12v " makes you self contradictory .

Excellent idea.
-TPG

I know what I WANT to do but not HOW to do it.

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Why not just build a box to hold a small PSU that you can get for free on the Freebies Thread, and use that... Because you are going to not only step down the voltage to 12v, but also convert it from AC to DC. And as far as the veristor, that solder that inline on the yellow cable of a molex extender...
Tas.

Sounds like a good idea actually. Hooking up a PSU to the mains then plugging in fans sounds simple. Soldering in the resistor doesnt thrill me though.

Then do it like a true IC-man. Strip the wires to bare copper, twist them together, set them aside on of the cables, and electrical tape the hell out of it. Not that it matters--it's only 12v anyway. It won't hurt you.
Tas.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Nope. Just realized, the panaflo's just won't cut it.
The panaflos were designed for a case environment where the source of air travels directly to it's destination. Your room fan however would require a blade that spreads the air out. Nevertheless it's an awesomeproject.

-TPG

 

[QurazyQuisp]

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362

Originally posted by: Elcs

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
You know? After staying "but I dont know anything about electrics and the like. " and then mentioning "a variable resistor 0v to 12v " makes you self contradictory .

Excellent idea.
-TPG

I know what I WANT to do but not HOW to do it.

Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
Why not just build a box to hold a small PSU that you can get for free on the Freebies Thread, and use that... Because you are going to not only step down the voltage to 12v, but also convert it from AC to DC. And as far as the veristor, that solder that inline on the yellow cable of a molex extender...
Tas.

Sounds like a good idea actually. Hooking up a PSU to the mains then plugging in fans sounds simple. Soldering in the resistor doesnt thrill me though.

Then do it like a true IC-man. Strip the wires to bare copper, twist them together, set them aside on of the cables, and electrical tape the hell out of it. Not that it matters--it's only 12v anyway. It won't hurt you.
Tas.

The voltage isn't what kills you. It's the current, otherwise known as amperage.

 

[Ken90630]

A mildly creative idea, I suppose, to use some old Panaflos that are just lying around anyway, but you're gonna need a heckuva lot of Panaflos to generate enough airflow to cool a room!

Why not just pick up a smaller table fan than the loud one you currently have? Rite Aid sells their "Cool Breeze" table fans for $15-$20, and they'd be perfect for what you describe. I use one at night during the summer, aim at my bed, and it cools things down enough without being too loud. I'd do that rather than waste a bunch of time on a computer fan monstrosity mod like you're describing (irrespective of the power supply / electrical issus), but that's just me. You'd prolly need 50 or 100 Panaflos to match the output of a regular table fan. :laugh:

If you do build the Panaflo fan thingamabob, we wanna see pictures.

 

[Elcs]

I was hoping for a small solution that is quite mobile. At night the air is usually completely stagnant in my room so I was thinking any airflow would be useful, especially if it was movable and could be positioned close to my bed or next to an open window, drawing in air.

 

[CrispyFried]

You dont need a computer PSU, just grab a 12v dc wall adapter and wire it up. I run two 80 mms off a 7.5 v dc adapter to keep my receiver cool. They are basically silent. A one amp adapter wil power several computer fans and should be dirt cheap.

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: Elcs
I was hoping for a small solution that is quite mobile. At night the air is usually completely stagnant in my room so I was thinking any airflow would be useful, especially if it was movable and could be positioned close to my bed or next to an open window, drawing in air.

The "Cool Breeze" table fan I referred to earlier is similar in design to something like this. Rite Aid stores carry them. (I tried their Web site to get a link for you, but they don't have the fan on their site.)

These "Cool Breeze" fans are plastic, but are the same size and function the same as the Casablanca fan in the link above. This is what I was thinking would be 'cool' for you [get it? ], 'cuz they're not noisy, they put out a good amount of air, plus you can set them to oscillate (sweep back & forth) if you want them to, and they're obviously totally portable. I can't imagine why you'd want anything else for what you describe, but if you just wanna do a computer fan project anyway, knock yourself out.

Incidentally, you can find fans like this ("table fans" I think they're called) at other places like Bed, Bath & Beyond, Wal Mart, K-Mart, etc. I own four of the Cool Breeze ones and they've held up well for several years now.

 

[ericlala]

dont you need a signal to start up the psu?

 

[mindwreck]

powersupply?!. too difficult. I have 3 120mm fans -> fan controller-> 12Volt ac adaptor.

 

[Mrvile]

I can sleep with any noise so I keep my house fan about 10 feet away from the bed and the airflow is perfect. Not too much to keep me awake and freeze me to death while I sleep but enough flow to keep me in solid state.

 

[agreenfield]

[/quote]

The voltage isn't what kills you. It's the current, otherwise known as amperage.

[/quote]

Okay, but it is voltage (otherwise know as volts) that causes current to flow. No matter how much current a 12volt source is capable of, it will never hurt you (please don't take this as advice to stick a molex connector to your tounge).