A rocker, rheostat, power jack, and fan walk into a bar...

...and this clueless poster asks: How do I set all this up. Here's what I've got:

A DC power jack that has two leads for soldering.
A Rheostat with three leads.
An on/off rocker with two leads on the back
A 120mm DC fan with a black(ground?) and red(hot?) wire

Is there anyone who can tell me exactly what to connect with what? Do each of these pieces have a hot and a ground lead??? If that's the case, can I daisy-chain different parts by soldering wires onto the same lead?? Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

I also bought some hookup wire from radio shack today:

There are number of ways you can hook it up since the exact order of parts isn't critical as everything will be in series, but here's one:

pin on jack that connects to center pin of connector->one pin of switch
other pin of switch -> center pin of rheostat
one of side pins of rheostat ->red lead of fan
black lead of fan -> second pin of jack (connects to outer shield of connector)

The way you turn the knob on the rheostat to adjust the speed will depend on which pin you choose, but frankly, rather than try to explain how to pick the right one, it is probably easiest to just pick one, and if it's backwards, switch to the other.

Hopefully my description will be at least remotely useful, I suppose I'm a bit "druck" as they say, but can certainly help tomorrow if you have questions

Beat me to it.

Ok, so I used this super plastic bonding stuff to attach a large washer to the fan. Then I used the same stuff to attach the magnets to the washer. One problem, I put the magnets on wrong. I need to remove one to flip it over. Anyone have a clue as to how to remove this stuff??? It's rock hard and I really don't want to have to buy a new fan and magnets.

EDIT: The stuff I used is Devcon Plastic Welder.

It will be near impossible to remove that welding agent. Your really better off with a new fan and magnets.

I didn't glue my magnet to the fan, nor did I even use a washer or anything, I just stuck it to the fan (the hub had enough metal/magnets to hold it pretty well) and put a single piece of electrical tape over the top as a small amount of added protection. Zero problems so far. Plus, you're not screwed if you find that you put the magnet(s) slightly off-center.

Funkenjaeger said:

I didn't glue my magnet to the fan, nor did I even use a washer or anything, I just stuck it to the fan (the hub had enough metal/magnets to hold it pretty well) and put a single piece of electrical tape over the top as a small amount of added protection. Zero problems so far. Plus, you're not screwed if you find that you put the magnet(s) slightly off-center.

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Really? The magnets don't interfere with the fan's operation? I think I'm going to try this. I ordered a new fan and magnets. Adds $10 to the cost of the plate but it's still cheaper than buying one. Also, there's the sense of accomplishment. And we all know you can't put a price on that.

ejdischer said:

Really? The magnets don't interfere with the fan's operation?

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I'm sure there's some effect, but it still spins just fine. Whatever effect it may have on its own is a lot less significant than the effect once the stir bar is on there in a flask of liquid