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Post by lloyd on Oct 31, 2007 20:37:00 GMT -5
The easiest way to make a muffin fan:
Go to your discount dinky computer store. Buy 12V fans for about $6 each.
Go to your general neighbourhood discount/bargain store. Buy a wall-wart power supply, the kind with the variable voltage and polarity (+/-) switches for about $6.
All the parts are cheaply available within a half-hour walk from my house.
Cut off the connector at the end of the wall-wart power supply. Connect the two wires from the wall-wart to the 2 wires on the fan. Turn the voltage all the way down. Flip the polarity switch one way or the other. If it the fan turns leave the polarity switch in that position. Otherwise increase the voltage and repeat the process until the fan finally turns. Then increase the voltage until the fan is turning at the appropriate speed.
N.B.: You will never need to set the voltage to 12V! 9V will likely be high enough. If you have a voltmeter measure the voltage across the fan when it is running, it shouldn't be higher than say 12.5V.
It's best to solder the wires and use shrink-wrap to seal the connection. Otherwise twist them securely together and use electrical tape.
You can save a couple of dollars by using a fixed voltage wall-wart. However then you will have to experiment to find one with an appropriate voltage and likely will have to use some method to lower the voltage to deliver 12V to the fan.
I made a couple for Tom. I can't remember what voltage wall-wart I used but I needed a few diodes to drop the voltage to 12V.
Now I have diodes, tools and the expertise but I can't say I want to go into production particularly. I also don't want to make a profit or to charge for my time.
If people are really electrically challenged and don't mind paying for parts and shipping, I might be persuaded to make them for people. But I will demand something CP in return. Nothing like a rajah or immediately, just something.
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Post by vraev on Oct 31, 2007 21:18:24 GMT -5
thanks lloyd. I guess the hard part is getting those parts. I remember looking up on a CHANGABLE voltage adapter...but it was like 30$.
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Post by Flytrap on Oct 31, 2007 21:56:51 GMT -5
Lloyd - you da electrical meister My entire CP grow-op is circulated by a few muffin fans. It's a fair swap... a working muffin fan for some good CPs. Air circulation is very important in a closed environment... or else you'd be farming mould and fungus instead of CPs. I hope a few folks take you up on this offer, after all, what other electrical guy but Lloyd can appreciate CPs?
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Post by simon on Nov 8, 2007 16:33:51 GMT -5
If you want to find cheap pc fan, you should try to fing a local computer recycling center. Last time i went there, i came back home with 2 power supply and 10 fans. It cost me 5 $.....
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Post by lloyd on Nov 8, 2007 22:17:09 GMT -5
If you really want a deal, just wander around Toronto with a phillips screwdriver and salvage the computers people put outside. I've salvaged various parts like memory, cables, EPROM, etc.
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Post by lloyd on Dec 31, 2007 12:00:35 GMT -5
I just got my free samples of an "intelligent" fan controller from the USA (You have to love the internet.) Now I'll have to figure out how to use them. They are only a few mm. across and do all sorts of thermal fan control with lots of warning signals. The documentation is about 20 pages long. Plus I'll have to figure out the interface circuitry so I can program and read them from my computer. Lots of fun.
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Post by vraev on Dec 31, 2007 14:00:23 GMT -5
NICE!!! keep us posted lloyd. Where can we get those samples?? SOund wicked. I need something like that coupled with humidity sensor (humidistat).
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Post by lloyd on Dec 31, 2007 19:46:52 GMT -5
I haven't seen or looked for humidity controlled fans but the IC I'm working with has an over-ride input that forces the fan to full speed. That could be activated by a humidity sensor. Also I think humidity can be measure by a "wet-bulb" thermometer (sensor moistened by a wick). So maybe it wouldn't be too much of stretch to measure humidity fairly easily. Once I get the basics down, maybe I'll look into it.
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Post by vraev on Dec 31, 2007 20:41:25 GMT -5
thanks lloyd. That would be tops. I am getting serious into neps and I guess after light (which I still need to tackle), humidity is an important issue.
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Post by Sawchuk on Jan 12, 2008 14:23:45 GMT -5
heres what bud did for me, its three diffrent sized muffin fans all wired together on a single "component"? i use the largest to circulate the top air around the outside of the setup then the middle to shoot the air to the center were the plants are and the lil just floats were i want it the component is just outside the bottom of the setup so the heat isent put in the setup aswell there are some pretty laughable methods happenin in there eh although it is fairly eye appealing my place of Zen or Che or whatever religion u are lloyd is an excellent at what he does and if ya do get a chance 2 work with him, dont be a fool and pass it up hes def a valuable asset to the forum with the skills he brings thx again lloyd (also notice the fish stand, they exspected that 800LB fishtank to hangout on a aluminum stand, 55gallon its fairly new and thats y the color is grouse, altogether with stand was round 700$$ i got em down too 200 hundred for it brandnew without stand, and just build a stand myself outta 2x4 and 2x8 lil tearout carpet n there ya go dont be a fool when it comes to buissness, everyhitng is overpriced these days legal dealers make me sick
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Post by vraev on Jan 12, 2008 16:15:26 GMT -5
yup! I will be getting my fan setup for the exact same enclousure as sawchuck. (Nice setup BTW dude). Thanks for all the help Lloyd.
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Post by calorchis on Jan 24, 2008 12:57:21 GMT -5
This was a great post - it's just in time because I am in the process of building some of these fans. I bought some 12V fans from tigerdirect for 7 bucks, but I'm having trouble finding this wall-wart type thing. I checked a local cpu store and they sell these adaptors for 20 bucks + ....do you have a picture/photo of one of these puppies? Any sources in toronto that come to mind?
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Post by lloyd on Jan 24, 2008 17:34:42 GMT -5
Toronto
"Above All" Bloor North side just west of Bathurst
-fans, including a nice clear plastic 4.75" square fan with a tachometer lead for $6.95. Lots of cheaper, less fancy fans -reasonably priced wallwarts ~$4 or so. -lots of other stuff, like wire, tools, etc.
Active Surplus Queen South side just east of Spadina
-really cheap fans, 12V and others some for $3-4 or more depending on size -cheap wallwarts, wire, soldering equipment, shrink wrap -great supply of forceps, glassware for tissue culture -tons of other neat stuff
Honson Computer/Supremetronixs College south side just west of Bathurst
--soldering stuff, wire, shrink wrap, voltage regulators 7812 for 12V fans and 0.1mf capacitors for the 7812 circuit, small circuit boards, etc.
Circuit City all over the place
-wire, shrink wrap, circuit boards, soldering equipment -go to the other places first although the wire and soldering stuff is reasonably priced
Any questions, just ask
I have the experience and the spare parts to make it cheaper to build my own circuit with a fixed wallwart rather than using a more expensive variable wallwart.
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Post by calorchis on Jan 24, 2008 22:42:33 GMT -5
Thanks lloyd! I'm going to check it out next week - this is great info (and I live right by all these places)
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Post by lloyd on Jan 25, 2008 11:57:00 GMT -5
No problem, if you need any help let me know. You're not too far away. We walk down to College & Spadina area all the time.
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