CPU fan to outlet

I know theres been many threads on this but i tried to hook up cpu fan with an old 120v to 12v block thing and put the red cable from fan on the black cable with writing on it (i guessed that was positive, i have no idea) and it works for a second then stopped. and now the fan wont work on a 9v battery or anything. did the fan break or did my 12v convertor thing break?

If it worked on a 9v battery previously, then chances are it's the fan that is dead. Do you not have a computer you can try the fan on? (just ram the spliced wire into the correct holes on a spare 4 pin molex)

You fried the fan.

Use DC power cords only (old cell phone chargers are perfect).

Most PC fans have 3 wires. Black red white(sometimes yellow)

Black is ground, red positive, white is a sensor that tells the BIOS how fast the fan is spinning.

If your fan fries when you plug in, you wired -/+ wrong.

lol i fried it then. on the DC power cord how do i tell which is +/-? theyre both black. and my fans have black red and yellow, should i just cut off the the yellow or just not do anything with it.

If you wire a PC fan to a 12v power adaptor and you wire it wrong it just will not work. Switch the wires and it will work. BUt as stated you need a 12v Adaptor.

Just found this for someone else.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3875403


Hope this helped.

J

super baked said only use DC power cords. now im confused. lol

superbak3d said:

You fried the fan.

Use DC power cords only (old cell phone chargers are perfect).

Most PC fans have 3 wires. Black red white(sometimes yellow)

Black is ground, red positive, white is a sensor that tells the BIOS how fast the fan is spinning.

If your fan fries when you plug in, you wired -/+ wrong.

Click to expand...

If you reverse the + and - leads on a DC motor it just spins in reverse, it doesn't fry it.

woo! it worked. when i switch the wires it just didnt work. it didnt spin in reverse. but DC power is the way to go. btw im only using a 9v DC output not 12v. is that ok and if i hook up 2 fans to this one cord will they spin slower?

Heck, if you are going to spend money on an adapter, you might as well save yourself the trouble of wiring, and these options are cheaper. Course, you can usually get a 12V adapter at good will for about 50 cents.

http://www.amazon.com/BENCH-COMPUTER-POWER-SUPPLY-ADAPTER/dp/B0013OJOE0/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1280294451&sr=8-3-fkmr2
Or
http://www.amazon.com/110v-4pin-molex-Power-Adapter/dp/B000MGG6SC/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1280294579&sr=1-3

Get a new fan and volt meter if your going to mess with DC voltage. You do not want to put a device you have been "experimenting" with in your grow OP. And as for CELL PHONE CHARGERS, forget that crap, i doubt they can handle more than 1 fan.

Strip the wires down and put your meter on it to determine polarity (+/-), NEVER touch the bare wires together while plugged in, or within probably 30 seconds after unplugging it. Get black tape too, youll need it anyway. Usually there is a dash doing down the wire, that is usually the (+), look closely.

Polarity on a meter will those a (+/-) in front of the metered voltage, when it shows (-) reverse your leads, it should disappear. If so, the wire under the red is (+).

Just go to RS and tell them you want a 2amp (or better) 12VDC power supply, if your power supply starts running too hot, your drawing too much current and you need to upgrade. That huge power supply you showed will run all of the basic 12VDC devices you need, but you'll want to design your OP to make use of all of that current, or its just a wast of space, unless you have tons to spare.

GOOD LUCK!!

i was fucking around with setting up my grow PC and when i was moving fans around i sliced my finger open on a running fan lol. not cool. both fans seem to be running now but i need to get a new smaller fan. becaue i took one right out of an old PC and because i cant change the speed its always on high. thats probably not good. and its a little noisy. kinda like a computer starting up...but constantly.

Im a computer Tech. so i am very educated you can trust me! Take A Computer Fan Or CPU Fan and take the 120v to 12v power brick , DONT HAVE IT PLUGED IN YET!, Now Cut The End Of The Power Cable Where The Wire Meets With the Jack Not The Brick But The Tip Where the Conecter is , Now Seperate Two Wires That Should Be It The Cable , One Black and one red , Strip the two wires and MAKE SURE THEY DONT COME IN CONTACT AT ALL!!!! Take The Red Cable On The CPU Fan And Twist that cable and intertwine it with the other red cable coming on the jack. Do The Same With Black Cables ! Then If You Want To Prevent The Wire From Touching Use Some Electrical Tape Between The Two Connections , Hope I Helped Im Blowed Right Now I Had Some Hydro In A Good Times Blunt! Hahaha Peace Bro!

lol, didnt i just say that?

running a pc fan off 9 volts will make the pc fan run slower most phone chargers ive found are lower voltages you get 12v adapters on pc modems.
you can also get multivolt adapters going 3 5 9 12 volts thats how i know the differences when you change from 12 down to lower voltages the pc fan just gos slower and a bit quieter too.