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Need help wiring fans. Please take a look.

Discussion in 'Micro Grows' started by ixBeachbumxi, Oct 2, 2010.

  1. I currently have 3 fans.
    A DC 12v 0.18A fan
    A DC 12V 0.14A fan
    and A DC 12V 0.19A Fan.

    I was thinking of using my old phone charger from my verizon LG phon. It is:

    Input:
    100-240 VAC
    50-60 Hz 0.2A

    Output:
    5V 1A


    Will my charger work? Can I hook up all the fans to one? Will I need more chargers? Help please GC engineers :D
     
  2. you will need more than than if you want to hook up all 3
     
  3. 5v is definitely not enough, you will need at least 12v or maybe more. The fan speeds will be pretty low, i would suggest hitting up radioshack or any store really and grabbing another adapter.
     
  4. ya i figured as much. Do you know of anything else I can use that would provide the power source that might be lying around my house? I really dont feel like putting more money into this grow.
     
  5. Well just look for any old electronics you never use, i found like 4 ac adapters yesterday while wiring up my fans for a new micro box. I can almost guarantee you have a old cd player or some other audio equipment that's out of date and using ac adapters. But if all else fails, head to a thrift store, they are honestly the cheapest thing you can get for your grow.
     
  6. just go out n buy like a 20 dollar power supply box n wire it from there =)
     
  7. Better make sure the output is DC not AC.
     
  8. This.
    Do this.
    or your fans might explode. Jk. :smoke:
     
  9. yeah a 5v power adapter is very inadequate for a 12v fan let alone 3 12v fans. You need to get a 12v power adapter with a minimum of 500mA to power all 3 of those fans at a 100%. here is a link for a 12v 500mA adapter for $10.95 + shipping and its pre-wired with a 4-pin molex connector or you might be able to find one around the house but 500mA is a little bit harder to find with consumer electronics. Hope this helps good luck:smoke:

    edit: sorry i was stoned and forgot the link!! http://www.coolerguys.com/840556087977.html
     
  10. actuallu 500 mA would be slightly less than enough to power all three fully as to total current draw(if the specs are correct and accurate) is 510 mA. .18 A = 180 mA, .18+.14+.19=.51=510 mA. They will still work, but 510 would be the proper minimum, more would be better to give you a bit of headroom should they get dirty and start to pull more amps to make up for the resistance. I`d rather buy 1 power supply too big, than buy a second one and start over cause the pwr sply bit the dust and your plants cooked.
     
  11. Yeah yoro is on the right path. 5V will definitely run pc but as you go up in voltage the fans will run faster. 12 Volts is ideal but I use a 6V adapter for lower noise for stealth.

    Now about the Amps. Your adapter is 1A which is 1000mA. The fans mA ratings add up to 510 mA as yoro said. You always want to have headroom of around 200-300 mA more than the sum of your fans. So in you're case 1000 mA - 510 mA = 490 mA. So you have more than enough headroom to run all the fans on the one adapter. They will all not run as fast as only one hooked up to it would, so play around with the adapter and maybe others and find which speed you like, but make sure your adapter is safe to use as I explained.
     
  12. Agree with Yoro and Sweetbud. Your 1A adapter won't burn the house down, but some fans won't even start at 5V. And if they do start, you won't get much air from them. Judging from the amp draw of your fans, they are pretty weak to begin with, so undervolting them wouldn't give you much ventilation.

    As to whether or not you can hook all 3 up to one adapter, it depends on how far apart the fans will be. You may have to splice in extra wire, which IMO is not worth it. Much better to find more adapters.

    Rule of thumb is to always use an adapter that can handle more amps than the draw of the fan(s). I like to have a margin of at least 25% extra amps on the power supply. If you overlaod the power supply, it will get very hot, melt, and could catch fire. If you're lucky it would just fry and die and not catch fire.

    After you wire the fans and put them in use, check the adapters periodically to make sure they're not getting too hot. Some adapters are crappy and overheat. Some have been recalled for this reason. I had a DSL modem for which the power supply was recalled because some had caught fire. The company sent a replacement.
     
  13. There is some good advices allready.

    Just to make it clear. That 5v is just enought for one fan. 12v one will make a hell of an lot noice. Even if you have like ~16db cpu fans the noice will be too much for a stealth grow.

    12v would probably be good with 2 fans.
     

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