Since the warm months are upon most of us, I decided to make this fan for my tank. This setup can cool my tank by about 3°F.
I had most of the supplies already so I can't say exactly what it would cost if you had to buy the parts...probably around $30 if you had to buy the CPU fan.
Materials:
1x - Project Box (1" deep x 2" wide x 3 long")
1x - Small PC Board
1x - Bag of heat shrink (I prefer heat shrink over black electrical tape)
1x - 500ohm Potentiometer
Drill Bits
Multimeter (optional but very handy)
CPU Fan
AC-DC power converter
Soldering Gun
Solder
Wire Strippers
Directions:
The first task is to locate a 12VDC CPU fan. Once that is located you will need to find the rated amperes that it uses. There should be a tag, sticker or stamping that lists either the amps or wattage of the fan. The fan that I used was a 12VDC 3.84 watt (which is 0.32 amps). This tells us how big of a AC-DC converter that we need. We will want to have one that is rated over 0.32amps that our fan is rated at. The one that I used was a 12VDC 1amp power converter.
Now that we have the main components, it's time to start prepping the other parts. The project box is to hold the potentiometer that will act as a speed adjuster. Holes are drilled in the project box; one at each end for incoming and outgoing wire and one for the pot.
The circuit had to be cut down to fit inside of the project box.
The pot is then soldered in-line with one leg of the DC circuit. It doesn't matter which leg (positive or negative) just as long as it is wired in series with the circuit. Otherwise it will just short out and you might see some sparks. See schematic below for more details if I confused you.
Once the circuit is soldered on the board, insert it into the box and close with screws. Attach the outgoing wire to the fan and use the heat shrink over the connections to ensure that they are sealed. Here is the finished box and it mounted on my tank.
There you have it...a cooling fan for those hot days. I might add an illuminated toggle switch for power indication but that's optional and might draw too much power from the fan. Anyway leave feedback or questions so i can make these DIY projects better.
NOTE: The yellow wire on the CPU fan is a signal wire to tell the motherboard how fast the fan is spinning. I didn't use it so I just left it loose. If you have no other plans for the fan then you can remove it completely.
I had most of the supplies already so I can't say exactly what it would cost if you had to buy the parts...probably around $30 if you had to buy the CPU fan.
Materials:
1x - Project Box (1" deep x 2" wide x 3 long")
1x - Small PC Board
1x - Bag of heat shrink (I prefer heat shrink over black electrical tape)
1x - 500ohm Potentiometer
Drill Bits
Multimeter (optional but very handy)
CPU Fan
AC-DC power converter
Soldering Gun
Solder
Wire Strippers
Directions:
The first task is to locate a 12VDC CPU fan. Once that is located you will need to find the rated amperes that it uses. There should be a tag, sticker or stamping that lists either the amps or wattage of the fan. The fan that I used was a 12VDC 3.84 watt (which is 0.32 amps). This tells us how big of a AC-DC converter that we need. We will want to have one that is rated over 0.32amps that our fan is rated at. The one that I used was a 12VDC 1amp power converter.
Now that we have the main components, it's time to start prepping the other parts. The project box is to hold the potentiometer that will act as a speed adjuster. Holes are drilled in the project box; one at each end for incoming and outgoing wire and one for the pot.
The circuit had to be cut down to fit inside of the project box.
The pot is then soldered in-line with one leg of the DC circuit. It doesn't matter which leg (positive or negative) just as long as it is wired in series with the circuit. Otherwise it will just short out and you might see some sparks. See schematic below for more details if I confused you.
Once the circuit is soldered on the board, insert it into the box and close with screws. Attach the outgoing wire to the fan and use the heat shrink over the connections to ensure that they are sealed. Here is the finished box and it mounted on my tank.
There you have it...a cooling fan for those hot days. I might add an illuminated toggle switch for power indication but that's optional and might draw too much power from the fan. Anyway leave feedback or questions so i can make these DIY projects better.
NOTE: The yellow wire on the CPU fan is a signal wire to tell the motherboard how fast the fan is spinning. I didn't use it so I just left it loose. If you have no other plans for the fan then you can remove it completely.