[Colleen53]

I have this DC fan that is DC 5V for a lap top to cool it down so it does not over-heat. My son never uses it, so I would like to convert it to a fan in my 55 gallon tank. Here is a picture of the fans. There are 2 5V fans mounted on a clear hard plastic stand. This will go outside of my tank as I do have a 3" by 9" screen in the top back to lay it on.

Here is the piece that plugs into my computer. Notice it has 2 sides, which are both different. Sorry it is fuzzy!!

I believe I need a AC/DC converter? And if I am right, where can I purchase one? Appreciate your help. Thank you

 

[boabab95]

what about a USB to wall outlet converter??? you can get them for like $5-20...

 

[james67]

cut the connector off. look at the amperage draw of the fans. purchase or find a wall wart which has a minimum of 10% more amperage than your fans combined. for your use you must also make sure the power supply/ wall wart has no more than 5V as using more will turn your fans at a speed higher than they were designed to do. now splice the 2 wires from the wall wart and the 2 wires from the fans and your good to go. you may need to temporarily attach the wires to ensure the polarity is correct.

you can also get variable voltage wall warts at radioshack for $20 or so which will let you select the voltage output (again dont select more than 5 as these will give you 12 if you choose)

james

 

[Colleen53]

cut the connector off. look at the amperage draw of the fans. purchase or find a wall wart which has a minimum of 10% more amperage than your fans combined. for your use you must also make sure the power supply/ wall wart has no more than 5V as using more will turn your fans at a speed higher than they were designed to do. now splice the 2 wires from the wall wart and the 2 wires from the fans and your good to go. you may need to temporarily attach the wires to ensure the polarity is correct.


you can also get variable voltage wall warts at radioshack for $20 or so which will let you select the voltage output (again dont select more than 5 as these will give you 12 if you choose)[/ ]james[/quote

Thanks James for the info. Not sure what you mean by your last paragraph. Please explain.

 

[james67]

here is a variable voltage wall wart that goes from 3-6.5V:

its one from radio shack. but usually they go from 1.5-12V. just select the 5 or slightly under voltage and hardwire it to your fans. choosing less voltage allows you to slow down the fans.

james

 

[Colleen53]

Perfect! Thanks James. I did a search on here to find what I was looking for, but nothing came up. This will help me now, as I printed the picture out to show someone at Radio Shack.

 

[james67]

make sure to look at the amperage of the fans. its the most important thing. the wall wart must be able to supply a minimum of 10% more amperage than the fans draw combined.

james

 

[mike35]

As james was saying keep an eye on voltage and amperage. On the fans there should be an label that statates volts, amps, and hz. Most important being volts and amps; example you have two fans at 5VDC, 100mA each (mA - milli amps) the transformer needed would need to be 5VDC 220mA or higher.
I hope this helps

 

[Colleen53]

idotConnect Notebook Cooling Pad

I hope this website works. This page is where the fan pad is. It tells what specs it has. Does this help? If this doesn't highlight, I will post the specs. Thank you so much for helping out guys!!!

YES, IT WORKS!! PLEASE SEE WEBSITE AND COMMENT. THANK YOU

 

[james67]

it doesnt say on that page the info that you need. it should be printed on the fan. it may be on the reverse so you might have to take a fan off to see. if that doesnt work, and you still really want to use your fans (which honestly you could replace w/ non light up ones for a couple bucks a piece on-line) then call the manufacturer and ask them for the voltage and amperage of each fan.

james

 

[Colleen53]

I did take the fan cover off and JUST put it back on. There is nothing on the small tag that you are asking for. That is why I had to google and research this little contraption and finally found this website. What know

 

[james67]

5VDC 60MM COOLING FAN | AllElectronics.com

12VDC 60MM COOLING FAN | AllElectronics.com

james

 

[Colleen53]

Are you showing me 2 fans from the websites that would work? In other words, don't use the one I have? Thanks James.

 

[james67]

if you cant find the amperage on the fans or by calling your product's manufacturer (i looked for a # and couldnt find one) then you have 2 choices, get new fans, or get a wall wart that has obviously higher amps than the existing fans could possibly have (id guess in the 3A+ range would be safe).

james

 

[Colleen53]

Gotcha! Had no idea how hard I made this for myself, but as you and I have found out, they don't have much info on the fan. Appreciate your help James on this. It will only cost about $10.00 including shipping for 1 fan. I may end up doing that route.