Putting a PC fan inside a Mini-Fridge? (pic)

[spaceyaquarius]

After seeing several photos of mini-fridges with the cool blue light PC fans in them on HBT, I got one off Amazon. They are supposed to be able to stabilize the temp more inside the mini-fridge/kegerater so that they beer will be a more consistent temperature.

Cooler Master Sickle Flow 120, 2000 RPM, 12 volt, 0.37 amp, blue LED PC fan.

One problem, the connections are for a PC, so how do I plug this thing into the wall? One person mentioned buying an adapter from DC to AC?

 

[AT-JeffT]

the red and black wires are the only ones you will need. Find a AC to DC wall converter from an old small electronic. It must be 12v and try and match the amperage to just above what the fan says.

Many people use pc fans for stir plates, check out those threads too.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

the red and black wires are the only ones you will need. Find a AC to DC wall converter from an old small electronic. It must be 12v and try and match the amperage to just above what the fan says.

Many people use pc fans for stir plates, check out those threads too.

Note: typically in a PC, the 12V is a yellow wire. Red is for 5V. If you repurpose an old PC 4-pin power header, don't be surprised if the yellow wire lines up. Black is always GND either way.

 

[spaceyaquarius]

Ok, wait...is it the red or the yellow wire then?

 

[AT-JeffT]

Ok, wait...is it the red or the yellow wire then?

You have a 2 pin-to-4pin(molex) adapter there. Just cut the black/red wires coming from the 2 pin. Use those.

 

[iAmReynolds]

The extra wires on there are only as an extender, so you can put it in a loop between a HDD and the power supply so you don't take up an extra power cord from the Power supply. You should cut that off and have only the 2 thin wires. Look on ebay for a AC (to DC) power adapter that give you 12v at 0.37amps.

Quickly I found this (12V at 0.5amp): Power suply

Now that's extra amperage that could possibly break your fan, so you'll want to put a resistor in the loop too. My calculation give a value of 92Ohm . R=12/(difference in power supply to 0.37amp)

I did not find the cheapest thing on the market, so you'll have to look around.



EDIT: See bwarbiany's Comment

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Now that's extra amperage that could possibly break your fan, so you'll want to put a resistor in the loop too. My calculation give a value of 92Ohm . R=12/(difference in power supply to 0.37amp).

I'm an electrical engineer. This step is unnecessary. The power adapter won't supply .5A unless the fan draws that much, which it doesn't. The power adapter will only give as much amperage as the fan needs.

Think of it this way. In your PC, you may easily have a 450W or higher power supply. Yet not a single fan in there has an inline resistor hooked up, and none of them fry themselves.

 

[spaceyaquarius]

OK, big dumb question coming...

So I have this fan...


And this power supply...


So I just take the red and black wires from the fan and cut them. Then I cut the black wire at the end of the power supply. And I just splice them together and put electrical tape over it? Should the red and black wires from the fan really be twisted together like that?



(Btw Bwarbiany...my gf is a structural engineer.)

 

[FordForever]

You need to split the black and red wires apart from one another. I lay the wire flat on a hard surface and press down with a blade or sharp knife exactly in between them where they split(sometimes you can just pull them apart like you do new headphones). You only need them split apart an inch or so near the end.

After you split them, do the same with the two wires on the adapter. The adapter hot is usually the black wire with a white stripe. The adapter negative is solid black.

Strip some off the end of each wire and connect:

Twist the black wire on the adapter to the black wire on the fan. Twist the black/white on the adapter to the red on the fan. Tape them up individually making sure to cover all of the wire. Plug it in an it should spin.

 

[spaceyaquarius]

Sounds good FordForever. Just making sure.

Thanks everyone!