How to power fans outside the computer?

[HyunYu]

I've got a Maxtor 5000DV external firewire/USB hard drive. The drive runs pretty hot (7200RPM and all), and the plastic enclosure does not have a fan. So, I thought, why not rig up something to have a spare 80mm fan I have blowing at it.

Are there such things things as external power supplies (that plug into the wall outlet) that can provide power to computer peripherals with the standard 4-prong power connectors?

Thanks, guys, in advance for any help.

 

[pspada]

Why bother to kludge something together? Just buy one of those little personal fans just for it.

 

[jonny13]

Here are two PS that do just what you need. I have the 1500ma one and it powers 6 small LED's and 4 120mm fans just fine. Pcmods also has free shipping right now I think, so only $14.99 for the biggest one, or $4.99 for the small one.

1500ma PS
200ma PS

Jonny

 

[HyunYu]

Johnny--thanks for the links. Yep, those were what I was looking for!

A quick question: am I right on assuming that they only come with one power connector, and that you have to use a series of Y-splitters if you want to power multiple devices?

Thanks again.

 

[jonny13]

Yeah, it just has a big box that plugs into the wall and a single wire coming from that with a single 4 wire molex on the end. So, yes, a series of y-adapters is needed to power more than one device. One thing you could do is to mount a baybus somewhere and plug the power into that. Then just wire up the fans to that. Nice if you want to shut off the fans when the computer is off instead of having to unplug it.

Jonny