Beener

Excellent M.R., It was this thread that hooked me up also. I bought the comp. fans, and I was looking around to see if anyone was just wiring them up with a 12V adapter. When I saw the Fan Controller though, I almost S***. It was perfect

I built some cabs out lg. of plastic tubs. Dirt cheap. I had a lot of things laying around, and only needed a few missing links to put them together. When all was said and done, I think it cost me about $35 to $40 a piece, and I think I could squeeze out a another 1 or 2 for $10 a piece. The 1st one was the most expensive, but with the left over pieces, the others are cheaper as you go.

They're only 3' tall, but I already came up with a very inexpensive way to extend them another 12" to 16". Good Luck

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Beener

alteredego

After reading through this thread a couple of times I figured this was the way to go! So I hopped on ebay and picked up 3 Black Typhoon 80mm fans and a 3 fan control panel all for around $25. I should be receiving them within the next week.
Curiosity got the best of me so I took a cruise into town to see what a comp fan would cost at radio shack and they charge $25 for a 65 cfm fan!!
Thanks again for the sound advice!

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alteredego

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Beener

Alterego, Excellent... Buddy, I seriously shop prices to death. I don't mind spending money if I want something, But I truely hate spending a single penny more then I have to

If you see my name near anything that has to do with buying something. It's a good 95+% chance that you wont find it cheaper

Of course that doesn't mean that a good price tip off on something wouldn't be appreciated And on that note, thanks again StOney

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Beener

n_d_shadows

12v computer fans are the .... well you get it. I use these in every type of ventilation/circulation I need for my closet. 2 4" fans pull air through carbon filters, 1 provides circulation in the flower box and I have 2 rubbermaid veg boxes each with 1 fan forcing air in and providing circulation. They work great and are very easily mounted due to light weight. With 5 of those fans running in my closet, you wouldnt know it from the outside.
Before I was using the ac/dc adaptors to power the fans but I kept having the same issue, 2 fans on 1 over a period of 5 months would separate the housing of the adaptor making it very unsafe around a metal grow box. So recently I got a new computer and 2 fan speed controllers. Took a little time to figure out how to jump out the power supply so the 12v leads would work but I got it(tied a green wire into a white wire). Anyway, Im much happier with the computer power supply as my power source. I feel much safer this way as well compared to the ac/dc adaptors. To top it off I now get actual voltage to the fan. With the adaptors, if you wire 2 fan to it then turn it on and disconnect 1, the speed increased. Each additional fan caused a voltage drop at all fans connected, thus making my adaptor work harder and eventually fail.

St0ney, if you havnt already get that controller hooked up to an old computer power supply. Being the computer savey guy you are Im sure it would be a simple task that would save you lots of issues in time.
also, the biggest ac/dc adaptor I could find was 1000ma, and most my comp fans were higher then that with required amperage. so even 1 fan hooked to it was a risk. and to finally finish it off, the 1000ma adaptor was 20.00 dollars, I paid that much for 2 controllers that has 3 adjustment knobs each and should handle many many fans per connector. its just safer IMO

great thread BTW, people using this method please remember to be safe. make sure your connections are secure and insulated before walking away.

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alteredego

Okay, so the 3 cpu fans and the 3 fan control panel are on the way. Now I am looking at power supplies to power the fans/control panel. First thing I would like to know is how many watt power supply should I be looking for? The second is, Do I need to do any spicing of wires or will the control panel have have an adapter that plugs directly into the power supply?

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Beener

Alteredego, a 12V adapter will cost you at least $5 bucks and would need to be spliced in. That can be found back in the thread.

n_d_shadows post before you is a good one. You can use a PC power source. A small one can be purchased for $20 bucks. If your fans came with plugs (and if you ordered the fans I had posted a few posts back, they did).

Then the fans will simply plug into the controller. The controller will plug into the power scource. The power source into the wall. Nice and neatly

I'm parting out a computer on Ebay right now. I kept the power source. But I agree with n_d_shadows regardless of whether I had the source already or not. When I was looking at power source prices to see if I could get any money for mine on Ebay. I saw them for $20 brand new at the computer store (CompUSA) At that price, you can go with that and just plug it all in.

Subtract the price of the adapter, and your paying $14/$15 bucks to skip all the splicing. Otherwise you can find the power hookup on the controller and splice it in....but I found the power source to be better, And "still" a whole lot cheaper than any other fan set-up.

*** if you buy a comp power source, the smallest would work fine. It will only be used for fans...Power sources are made to run cd burners etc.

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Beener

alteredego

Thanks again Beener!

You seem to always have an answer for me. Props to ya!
I have been checkin out power supplies and other computer accessories to tie in to my grow op. Is the wattage of the power supply very important? I've seen them from 145 watt up over 500 watts.
I found a couple of nice digital fan controls, thinkin I might pick up another one and maybe a few more fans.

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alteredego

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"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death."

Migz420

thanks to everyone who posted in here. Came in tonight to do a search on "wiring comp fans" for my veg chamber. Didn't even have to search, right at the top of the forum. After reading through it, I thought hey I have a couple old PC's in the garage gathering dust...

cut the tip off an old 12V DC adapter, took a comp apart and stole the fan out, drilled out a hole and now I have through ventilation.

total cost: $0.00
total time: >30 minutes

muchos gracias
migz

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Beener

Alteredego

OK, it works like this Volts x Amps = watts. So the fans are 12V 0.14A (thats what mine are) so thats only 1.68 watts. I don't know the Voltage/Amperage of my controller right now because it's upstairs in the dark, and my wife's sleeping. The chances of me not waking her up are almost impossible

But check out the controllers themselves. You can hook up an awful lot of fans without making much of a dent in the wattage.

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Beener

n_d_shadows

My power supply is 250watts and for the 10 fans it will eventually hook up, will work fine.
no need to spend the extra dough on digital speed controls, heres mine and it was only 9 bucks


Search this model number through google ATN-TP-02E and you'll find them pretty easy.

Also if noise isnt a big concern but you want a high volume of air from a small fan, try one of these

Partsexpress.com has them for 4 dollars, heres their part number 259-132m


Alterego, this is the same fan I had on my Kitty liter odor scrubber. Its only rated at 25cfms @ 12v, but the drop off for static pressure is way less then whats seen on the 4x4 fans.
Good luck with it.

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