just a quick tip for your next time soldering, you get a better connection if you heat up the thing you want to solder and than apply the solder to that piece. if you melt the solder and drop it on a cold piece, you might get a weaker connection.
Asked for tips, so here's mine: When cutting off a connector leave yourself a few inches of wire, you never know when you'll suddenly need a 3pin fan connector for example and you'll thank yourself for leaving that spare when you do :) Random vid, but enjoyed :)
If you weld a fan connector instead - like from a Molex to a 2/3 pin adapter - you can switch out the fan whenever you want. Depending on how many amps your fans pull, you could even use a fan splitter to hook up multiple fans. Edit: USB 1 and 2 can supply 500mA (0.5 amps) and USB 3.0 can supply 900mA (0.9 amps).
I made my own portable one to cope with the outside heat. It's made out of a steel plate. Bended to an E shape. With two 120mm fans. For the power source I used 3 laptop batteries (18650) in series to create 12V. Works great and it's portable!
@ Nick just take longer screws and make sure to leave a small gap between the fans and the ceiling? if the fans are 25mm thick, then 50mm or longer screws will get the job done... But I dont know if screws that long exist :D
I just finished with my desk fan project as well. I modeled and 3D printed the fan shroud with venturi effect that we saw at computex to mount mine on. I used an old 12v power plug from my broken handheld vacuum to power it. It works pretty well.
TechTuberTV I know but you could use a the same device he used for the 12v conversion to power. Cablemod rgb controller, then bam rgb . But it was for the pun sake tbh
Actually this would be really easy. an old cooler box. bag of ice, some cold water, some soft tubing/fish tank pump, Radiator and mounted fan/fans. Tools needed a jig saw that cut through plastic and a screw driver. Pretty straight forward DIY AC.
Use water, and ice in a cool box and an AllInOne liquid cooler with the radiator out of the cool box and the block/pump inmersed in the water. Set the diy fan behind the radiatior and pointing towards you and voila. All you need is a ton of ice and time to refill the cool box every hour.
if someone wants to donate an AIO i would be more than happy to do this! i'd need fans as well, but yeah, whatever the cheapest aio is would be perfect, or an old leaky one would work too! I've got a tempereture probe and i can buy a small ice box and ice!
HOT TIP: I recently got a step DOWN DC-DC Buck convertor for a different project, but I thought it was broken because the potentiometer turning didn't change the voltage output. I found out that some brands when brand new, have to be turned many many many times before the voltage will adjust. You'll think it's broken, but keep turning. I think I had to turn mine about 30 times! This was EXACTLY the tutorial I was looking for! I bought one of those cheap USB powered twin fans to mount on a hole in the back of my PS3 cabinet. I got it all hooked up but it sounds too loud... So I got a low noise 120mm NOCTUA that should help. But I didn't know about these step UP convertors.
You should mention how voltage, Ampere and power are related. Since you are boosting the voltage, in order to keep the input and output power same, you must have a higher current on the input side. For example. If the fan need 12V 1A to work properly, then the input need to be 5V at 2.4A to supply the necessary power. Which finally leads to the conclusion that the USB should be connected to a good socket, which can output a larger amount of current
You can use an RGB extension wire to connect either R, G, or B to the same 12v output powering your fan to turn on the LEDs... presuming that these are standard 12v RGB fans and not the addressable 5v fans.
If you want to take it a step further, take 3 leads from the 12v side, 4 from the ground side and get 3 potentiometers. Set up your RGB connection to the fan placing 1 potentiometer in each of the R, G, and B leads. Wire up (and test) the potentiometers as described in this very strange video where the RGB-to-fan is the circuit: ruclips.net/video/wUAiBnPg3TU/видео.html These will allow you to adjust the color of the fan by turning any of the three knobs.
Your step further is a good way to waste energy... (Assuming you want to use this with a powerbank) A potentiometer is basically a "modifiable" resistor and as we all know, a resistor turns electric energy into heat energy.
I'm in the process of doing something similar right now. I'm building a 19" rack cooler for my amp out of 4 80mm fans that I mounted to a steel sheet I cut out of an old PC case. I was going to use a 12V power brick with a molex to 3 pin adapter, but after seeing your video I might just buy on eof those step up boost converters and solder it on directly. This way it saves me from having to hide all cables that are too long
I did the same thing a few years ago as a cheap alternative to a fume extractor for my soldering activities. I didn't use a SU Boost Converter or anything, I just cut off the end of a USB plug and soldered the wires together, and just used a $1 5v USB power adapter. Worked fine for years until I managed to save enough for a proper Fume Extractor.
in a class me and a partner made a dc to dc step up circuit and had a pcb made to mount everything. ours was about twice the size of what you have there. and we were able to run computer fans, large led arrays, and even an electric motor. we did find that by stepping up the input the trade off was less current in the output so larger motors for like rc cars were a no go.
This is AWESOME!!! A couple thoughts... If you reverse the polarity of the fan wires attached to the step up converter, it will push air out of the display side. Maybe put fan screws into all holes on each side for a nice finish. Hope this helps! :D
I do that all the time but just not as creative as you did, like I will take the propeller off the 200mm case fan drill a hole in the middle of it and stick it on the desk fun spindle, you did the right thing because usually the more blades the fan has the less noise it makes when it spins and it won't shudder as much, the fans I use have to be 5 blades or more I once tried it with a 200mm aerocool 13 blade, it worked way better than the original 3 blade propeller!
I did something similar recently when the heat was killing me. Just took the rear fan of the PC next to my bed and pointed it at my face using some duct tape on the bed. I bought an actual USB powered fan for the same purpose now, but it was nice to get some immediate relief from the heat keeping me awake at night.
If you wanna make it look cooler, you can wire the positive and ground backwards so the fan spins clockwise instead of counter clockwise, then you can put the fan on the stand the other way so your not looking at the backside of the fan
So I know this video is 5 years old, but if you wanted to go the non usb stepper route AND have RGB, all you need is a simple cheap LED controller for an RGB strip, they run off 12 volts, use compatible LED ports, and if you just hook up a toggle switch, you can have it set up perfectly. And if you did still want it to be usb, throw the usb stepper in to replace the DC barrel port and it should still work (assuming your laptop is out putting enough amps) I have the same exact fan and it got it all working after googling a ton. Also if you want to control the fan speed, find a fan speed controller like the ones from noctua, and put it between the fan and the LED controller, and wham, adjustable speeds
you should've calibrated the voltage output with the fan on, as you did it the 12V will drop when the fan starts sucking up some current... One more thing, watch for the power output, USBs only outputs 2.5W of power and the booster has some draw too, so the fan needs to be less that 2.5W - (booster drain)W. about 2W
You might consider some sort of grille / finger guard, and perhaps even a filter just for the heck of it. I know we sell them for 120mm fans, I’m sure they make larger ones too
Was going to say the same thing. I've been planning something similar myself and ordered parts before discovering the Noctua 5V range. They seem to come with everything you could possibly need, including a USB adapter.
Good job mate. Looks the business. Tip for you, always tin the cables first as in put some solder on them before you join them onto whatever you solder, and always clean the tip after every application. You ought to do more stuff like this.
I recently bought a Gigabyte aorus RX 580 8gb with stock speeds of 1365 and 2000Mhz for core and memory respectively but whenever I am on desktop of doing any task like watching videos and surfing (idle) other than gaming it drops to 300Mhz on its own. Is this how it’s supposed to behave? This is my first AMD GPU. Do Nvidia cards do the same??? Btw love ur work💙
Glad that down here in Brasil temps are actually LOWERING, since, y'know, winter! Ha! I live in a beach city and temps are hitting as low as 10° C! Woo
If you're going to use this fan to cool you down some while you're on your [desktop] computer, how about just using some extension cables and just plug them in the tower itself and have those wires sticking out of the case to the fan? If plugged into the motherboard/PWM fan hub, you can control the fan RPM as desired (I guess you can do it with that potentiometer-like doodad you got to up your USB voltage, and even pump more than 12V to make the thing spin faster). You can extend the RGB cable too so your fan can give you more FPS.
First of all Flux is your best friend. Flux removes oxidized metal from the surfaces that are to be soldered, allows for improved wetting of the solder connection. I would typically apply flux to the wire after it has been twisted then apply solder to the iron then to the wire then use a very tiny bit of solder to the wire for tinning. Do the same steps to PCB pad for tinning as well then solder the wire to the PCB. Use either Flux remover or a q-tip with rubbing alcohol to remove the residual flux. Also a solder connection, depending on how much surface is being soldered, can take up to about 5 secs ( Approx 2 sec to heat the pad, and 2 to 3 secs of applying solder). Again depends on if it is a through hole or how large or small the component or surface mount connection needs to be when applying heat. Too much heat can cause measling or blistering between pads. It just takes practice to get the technique down depending on whatever solder connection needs to be done.
In addition to Coalition Gaming, you can see that he didn't tin the wires nor did he twist the wires (which I find gives an even better connection and makes tinning that much easier)
Hey Kyle... I'd like to share something with you: If you connect a PWM fan with inverted polarity, the fan won't spin. If you then connect it with proper polarity, the fan will spin at very low RPM (propably only 25% of maximum potential). If you experince something like that, worry not! Just invert the polarity once again and then invert it back to proper polarity. The fan should spin at 100% now :3 (Please note that this may be a "lie" xD Because I have only experienced that once, and after "fixing" the fan speed, I didn't try it again, because I was afraid I might fry the fan :3 )
exactly. there was not much point in this video, the amount of effort and money you would have to put in just to do what Kyle did isn't worth it. Just buy a simple desk fan and be done with it.
I think you're both missing the point(s) of this video. If you already have spare fans, and already have a soldering iron, a DC step-up converter like the one used costs like $1, and if you already have a soldering iron, you are likely to be a person who likes tinkering with electronics.... or.... this could be a very basic intro into tinkering if you're looking to get your first soldering iron.
Chris James ok so I can see one plausible part of this, and that's a spare fan laying around. Otherwise you would have buy a soldering iron, a pair wire strippers etc. Even then there's no guarantee it'll work. You could buy a desk fan, plug it into an outlet and done you have a fan on your desk during the summer.
Yeah, tbh I think it is mainly aimed at those people who want to buy their first soldering iron, as it is a rather good and very very simple intro into tinkering around with electronics. Because if you already have a soldering iron, you almost certainly would already know how to do this, and if not, I would be worried haha.
You could hook it entirely up to a Raspberry Pi: IIRC they have a 12v pin and if you connected the 4 pins from the RGB input for the fan to outputs from the Pi, you could code your own RGB lightshow.
how i made my fan and parts needed. btw all my parts came from my spare parts bin from older systems! parts 1: any junk left over fan 2: any 12v power brick you have left over . 2: vairable power brick also called a universal adapter 3: 2 wire nuts 4: what ever stand steps 1: strip wires on fan and adapter. 2: splice wires 3: place wire nuts on wires screw on 4: attach fan to what ever stand you have. enjoy the breeze!
You should do another one where you use 2 or 3 120 or 140 fans and use the mounting holes with one fan in the back and use the mounting holes and nuts and bolts to put them together. Solder the wires together and connect to the usb hub you used and have the 2 or 3 fans running together, for the people out there that have multiple 120 or 140 fans but no 200 fans. I like this diy project and more would be awesome.
I did this with a phanteks case fan because I didn't want to go to the store to buy a fan, I used a Laptop charger hardwired though so it definitely spins faster than what it's rated for.
All pc fan connections are standardized. You could have just looked up the pinout for a 3-pin fan header to find out which is the positive and ground. The motor is probably brushless (they usually are) and it's possible to damage it if the wires are flipped.
Cant say ive tried anything like this, but i am working on a DIY cell singal booster with an old sattelite dish thr project is apmost done, but this DIY pc desk fan would be so helpful in my hot ambient environment i already have an AIO cooler in my chasity, and on my floor have a box fan blowing towards me and my pc at all times on high. I love to tinker Kyle i love this idea! I have no idea how to solder myself either but i am going to be working on another diy project by taking apart an hdtv and replacing a dead capacitor i just need myself a ifixit kit,soldering iron,and multimeter.
one thing i would suggest , look up the pinout of a 3 pin fan header , cause theyre always the same . better to do a little research then to potentially fry a component or usb port , and not have so many bare wires laying around ,.......or you can do what i did , hook up a fan controller to a spare psu, and plug in as many fans as possible!
Great job! I purchased a small battery driven handheld fan, that charges via USB, with the intent of replacing the fan part with a 120mm be quiet! fan, as i have so many of those laying around for some reason. The stock fan is unbearably loud, and i can't have that! :) Besides, it started rattling after just a few days of use. I planned to do the mod right from the start, but these facts just makes me want to do it even more. Good thing is that it has 3 settings. I haven't measured the voltage yet, but i'm betting it's around the 12v mark for the highest setting. If not i'm not really bothered, i'm making it so that replacing the fan will be plug and play, and even still, a high quality fan should be fine with a higher voltage for a good long while. It'll definitely shorten the life span, but when it's easy to just replace the fan, it's fine. :) I already widened the base enough, that it'll also stand on it's own, so i can use it both handheld and stationary.
Not if you already have a spare fan or two laying about....... I think that was the idea.... I don't think anyone would buy one just to do this, unless they wanted the newbie DIY experience.
I bought my computer with 6 fans because the case support 6 fans ... why would you have ''parts lying around'' ? unless you are a youtuber with plenty of spare parts to make build, this is VERY impractical.
Fans are usually comparatively one of the least expensive things when buying new parts for a new build, one usually buys new fans because they're better performing or just look better or one just wants new fans. So over the years things like fans accumulate, I got loads of stuff in my spare parts collection in my 15+ years of building.
I actually wanted to do this myself but was to lazy to lookup a tutorial. This is also a good budget option for those who want to start soldering and need a fan to blow away the possibly toxic fumes.
1. Interesting multimeting* technique when adjusting the voltage. I'll have to remember that one. 2. I'd be reluctant to check the polarity of the fan wires by applying power, because it could (though shouldn't) kill it if it's reversed. I'd check the pinout of the connector before cutting it off, and mark one of the wires. 3. Twisting the wires' strands and then putting the wires through the holes in the PCB and folding them back before soldering will make it more durable. 4. Heat-shrink tube instead of electrical tape would be cleaner-looking (after using a solvent to remove the markings on the tube maybe) and more durable, and wouldn't leave adhesive residue on the parts when you open it. *Chrome doesn't say it's misspelled, so I'm calling it an acceptable word.
Not a bad Idea to use a small Step-Up Converter. I think I may Upgrade my DIY PWM Fan Controller for USB use instead of using an additional 12V Supply. It already needs a 5V Supply (Linear Regulator in my case) for the PWM signal. Fan Speed Control is just awesome for times when you want more performance or silent operation. Edit: Be careful about pulling to much power, USB 3.0 can normally supply at most 0,9A which would be 0,375A at 12V with an 100% conversion rate. This would be only 0,5A for USB 2.0 which translates to about 0,2A. This should be enough to keep most normal PC fans spinning but not necessarily to get them going (inrush current is probably to high) this could lead to the failure of an improperly protected USB supply or fan. Best to use an 5V 2A supply at the least (0,83A at 12V).
Hey Kyle, Walmart sells an RGB strip with a usb controller for ~$5. It's made for adding ambient light to the back of a TV but it should have no problem controlling that fan.
*judges your soldering* That said not a bad job for someone who's never soldered before. I've used that exact board for some other projects. Cool little project.
Step 1: Add a radiator behind the fan Step 2: Run one coolant line to faucet Step 3: Run drain line to well...drain. Step 4 Enjoy your liquid cooled PCMR glory, who cares how practical or effective it is.
Now flip the fan, put a HEPA filter on top and you got yourself a vape vapor filter. Avatar VapeNut vape filter costs 90$ and is basically the same thing in a case with an on/off switch. Ordered my step up boards for 0.48$ a piece, have an extra fan and an extra USB cable. To quote Ron Swanson: "People who buy things are idiots". Huge thanks for making the video!
AWESOME!!! question: if i wanted to run (3) 200mm rgb fans, using 1 single usb cord, would i need to get 3 step up boost converters, 1 per fan? also would i be able to plug this directly into a power strip using something like a cellphone charging nugget? and actually get cooling results? (i need to create a fan-panel to put into my apt. sliding window for cooling of a 2nd bedroom/game room). thank you!!!!
pro solder tip, solder the tips of the wires first to get an easier bond to the other bit of solder. also you could have hitched the 12v rgb up to the stepper too....
Ok just out of curiosity if you would have reversed the poles from the fan connection would that make the pc fan spin backwards? thus you could flip the fan the other way around so it would look nicer?
Use a solarpower phonepowerbank on a watercooled 12volt USB poort Coolingfan & Tunnels should double as watercooling facilities for large Cities, also produce electricity via motionflow pumpgenerators in Sequence
Literally perfect timing. I'm moving to Las Vegas in 2 weeks so thank you!! Also side note, anyone have advice on getting my PC out their from the east coast? I'm shipping my car then flying out their. Please keep in mind its ave 115 degrees Fahrenheit there now.
Funnily enough it's a good method to use if you want to see how well a fan performs even at 5v instead of 12v which helped me find out if something works before connecting it into something you value too much.
i would not connect a power booster to a PC/laptop USB socket, there is a chance that the booster will try to draw more amps that the PC/laptop can provide and could cause some damage to the PC/laptop, its much safer to use a powerbank as most of them can provide 2-3 amps output.
I did this year's ago with a 120mm Delta fan. I'm looking at it right now, but I used a wall adaptor instead of USB. I had to put a grill on it because I accidentally touched the blade and tore off my finger nail. Ironically, I have this fan too , the blue LED version not rgb. I installed into my pc just today.
because the stepup u gotta solder, u could just get a simple wire shoe (Or crown) and hook it up directly to the cable, or a phone charger, giving the lower RPM (like u said) but also less NOISE !
My husband did this much easier by just digging a 12v ac adapter out of our box-o-cords to use. He experimented a bit to figure out which wires to put where to get the fan to spin the right way and the led to light up, soldered them together and put some heat shrink around the joint. Voila, they can now plug into any wall outlet anywhere, and the blue leds add extra cool!
Did you know that Deep Cool has a cheep RGB strip kit that has a remote control? they come with a molex adapter, however you could just plug in a 12 volt wall wart....Viola RGB control and 12 volts they retail for around $ 16.00 plus the wall wart.... others have the wall wart included but i dont know about pricing...
one thing you can use for a stand is a metal rod that fits through the screwholes , bend it 90! twice in the right spots, poke it through the holes, angle it upwards, done
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
just a quick tip for your next time soldering, you get a better connection if you heat up the thing you want to solder and than apply the solder to that piece. if you melt the solder and drop it on a cold piece, you might get a weaker connection.
aka cold joint
plus flux is your friend
also put those wires trough those holes first
Arty Beats no
And reduce the length of the stripped wires. As someone who solder at work it hurt. ;-)
Asked for tips, so here's mine: When cutting off a connector leave yourself a few inches of wire, you never know when you'll suddenly need a 3pin fan connector for example and you'll thank yourself for leaving that spare when you do :)
Random vid, but enjoyed :)
It is summer so temperatures are... *RYZEN*
Eh! I see what you did there!
Ha! Underrated bro!
Thank you for the intel
“You’ll need a wire cutter and a stripper, no not that kind of stripper”
-Kyle
This is why I love this channel.
And that is why wifeysauce love it too.
Tinkering with your hardware....
cry me a river, it was a normal joke, nothing special
Yeah that's as close as to a stripper we can get.
If you weld a fan connector instead - like from a Molex to a 2/3 pin adapter - you can switch out the fan whenever you want.
Depending on how many amps your fans pull, you could even use a fan splitter to hook up multiple fans.
Edit: USB 1 and 2 can supply 500mA (0.5 amps) and USB 3.0 can supply 900mA (0.9 amps).
0:37 - Another reason is I made my own soldering exhaust fan by watching this video. Installed a carbon filter and more. Thanks Kyle!
Will this give me more fps?
No, but it makes you cooler.
+15% FPS
Yes
Better room air circulation -> ambient temp lower -> lower CPU temps -> less CPU throttling -> more fps.
Due to the decrease of room temperature, you will get approximately +%0.0000002 FPS
I made my own portable one to cope with the outside heat. It's made out of a steel plate. Bended to an E shape. With two 120mm fans. For the power source I used 3 laptop batteries (18650) in series to create 12V. Works great and it's portable!
Just get a bunch of rgb fans and cover your ceiling in them, and badabing badaboom, you have cooling and lighting
Brilliant... just brilliant.
But will they be able to move any air when they're against the ceiling?
Nick sshhhhh
@ Nick just take longer screws and make sure to leave a small gap between the fans and the ceiling? if the fans are 25mm thick, then 50mm or longer screws will get the job done... But I dont know if screws that long exist :D
GENIUS.
Now, just wait for RGB Power banks.
Nate wu imma make a prototype
You sir, have the spirit of a rainbow unicorn (The spirit of RGB)
rbg desk
I have a power bank with an led screen and a flashlight.
I just finished with my desk fan project as well. I modeled and 3D printed the fan shroud with venturi effect that we saw at computex to mount mine on. I used an old 12v power plug from my broken handheld vacuum to power it. It works pretty well.
No rgb, well Im not a fan of this video ^.~
Dennis Rigdon ha fan
he has the G tho
8:53
Ha! Puns.
TechTuberTV I know but you could use a the same device he used for the 12v conversion to power. Cablemod rgb controller, then bam rgb . But it was for the pun sake tbh
Cool. Now make a DIY usb air conditioner with a liquid cooler...
I don't know how but just do it.
Actually this would be really easy. an old cooler box. bag of ice, some cold water, some soft tubing/fish tank pump, Radiator and mounted fan/fans. Tools needed a jig saw that cut through plastic and a screw driver. Pretty straight forward DIY AC.
Use water, and ice in a cool box and an AllInOne liquid cooler with the radiator out of the cool box and the block/pump inmersed in the water. Set the diy fan behind the radiatior and pointing towards you and voila. All you need is a ton of ice and time to refill the cool box every hour.
if someone wants to donate an AIO i would be more than happy to do this!
i'd need fans as well, but yeah, whatever the cheapest aio is would be perfect, or an old leaky one would work too! I've got a tempereture probe and i can buy a small ice box and ice!
HOT TIP: I recently got a step DOWN DC-DC Buck convertor for a different project, but I thought it was broken because the potentiometer turning didn't change the voltage output. I found out that some brands when brand new, have to be turned many many many times before the voltage will adjust. You'll think it's broken, but keep turning. I think I had to turn mine about 30 times!
This was EXACTLY the tutorial I was looking for! I bought one of those cheap USB powered twin fans to mount on a hole in the back of my PS3 cabinet. I got it all hooked up but it sounds too loud... So I got a low noise 120mm NOCTUA that should help. But I didn't know about these step UP convertors.
You should mention how voltage, Ampere and power are related. Since you are boosting the voltage, in order to keep the input and output power same, you must have a higher current on the input side.
For example. If the fan need 12V 1A to work properly, then the input need to be 5V at 2.4A to supply the necessary power. Which finally leads to the conclusion that the USB should be connected to a good socket, which can output a larger amount of current
like a usb hub that i have from TP-Link that also has 2 usb ports for 2.4A rated for charging :)
What is your cpu fan cooler in your nzxt case at the back ?? Also do you use that one for editing and rendering ?
You can use an RGB extension wire to connect either R, G, or B to the same 12v output powering your fan to turn on the LEDs... presuming that these are standard 12v RGB fans and not the addressable 5v fans.
If you want to take it a step further, take 3 leads from the 12v side, 4 from the ground side and get 3 potentiometers. Set up your RGB connection to the fan placing 1 potentiometer in each of the R, G, and B leads. Wire up (and test) the potentiometers as described in this very strange video where the RGB-to-fan is the circuit: ruclips.net/video/wUAiBnPg3TU/видео.html
These will allow you to adjust the color of the fan by turning any of the three knobs.
Your step further is a good way to waste energy... (Assuming you want to use this with a powerbank)
A potentiometer is basically a "modifiable" resistor and as we all know, a resistor turns electric energy into heat energy.
The point is to be able to adjust how much power is going to each of the rgb leads, changing the color of the fan.
Bamfhammer nice jon
@@davetruong7775 Why use the potentiometer for the RGB light switching, when it can be utilized for a more effective purpose: adjust fan speed. :)
I'm in the process of doing something similar right now. I'm building a 19" rack cooler for my amp out of 4 80mm fans that I mounted to a steel sheet I cut out of an old PC case. I was going to use a 12V power brick with a molex to 3 pin adapter, but after seeing your video I might just buy on eof those step up boost converters and solder it on directly. This way it saves me from having to hide all cables that are too long
6:07 DO NOT randomly choose the wires to connect... one has stripes and is the frequency signal wire and will fry your fan controller
I did the same thing a few years ago as a cheap alternative to a fume extractor for my soldering activities. I didn't use a SU Boost Converter or anything, I just cut off the end of a USB plug and soldered the wires together, and just used a $1 5v USB power adapter. Worked fine for years until I managed to save enough for a proper Fume Extractor.
Why didn't you get a 3 pin fan extension cable so you didn't need to cut the connector off the fan?
in a class me and a partner made a dc to dc step up circuit and had a pcb made to mount everything. ours was about twice the size of what you have there. and we were able to run computer fans, large led arrays, and even an electric motor. we did find that by stepping up the input the trade off was less current in the output so larger motors for like rc cars were a no go.
This is AWESOME!!! A couple thoughts... If you reverse the polarity of the fan wires attached to the step up converter, it will push air out of the display side. Maybe put fan screws into all holes on each side for a nice finish. Hope this helps! :D
I do that all the time but just not as creative as you did, like I will take the propeller off the 200mm case fan drill a hole in the middle of it and stick it on the desk fun spindle, you did the right thing because usually the more blades the fan has the less noise it makes when it spins and it won't shudder as much, the fans I use have to be 5 blades or more I once tried it with a 200mm aerocool 13 blade, it worked way better than the original 3 blade propeller!
You should have had Lyle build this.
Chris Baker i don't see Lyle much anymore. Maybe he felt it was being to offensive. Idk. I would have liked it too tbh. Lol
I did something similar recently when the heat was killing me. Just took the rear fan of the PC next to my bed and pointed it at my face using some duct tape on the bed. I bought an actual USB powered fan for the same purpose now, but it was nice to get some immediate relief from the heat keeping me awake at night.
If you wanna make it look cooler, you can wire the positive and ground backwards so the fan spins clockwise instead of counter clockwise, then you can put the fan on the stand the other way so your not looking at the backside of the fan
But the blades are designed to be unidirectional. They have a concave curve facing the intended direction of airflow.
So I know this video is 5 years old, but if you wanted to go the non usb stepper route AND have RGB, all you need is a simple cheap LED controller for an RGB strip, they run off 12 volts, use compatible LED ports, and if you just hook up a toggle switch, you can have it set up perfectly. And if you did still want it to be usb, throw the usb stepper in to replace the DC barrel port and it should still work (assuming your laptop is out putting enough amps)
I have the same exact fan and it got it all working after googling a ton. Also if you want to control the fan speed, find a fan speed controller like the ones from noctua, and put it between the fan and the LED controller, and wham, adjustable speeds
Exactly what I was looking for!
you should've calibrated the voltage output with the fan on, as you did it the 12V will drop when the fan starts sucking up some current... One more thing, watch for the power output, USBs only outputs 2.5W of power and the booster has some draw too, so the fan needs to be less that 2.5W - (booster drain)W. about 2W
Right. And stepping up voltage means current (amps) will go up too. Should test power draw, not just voltage.
"let the solder dry" 😂
That is the correct term
You might consider some sort of grille / finger guard, and perhaps even a filter just for the heck of it. I know we sell them for 120mm fans, I’m sure they make larger ones too
BitWit ad: *Compromise nothing, with the Enermax Saberay*
Me: *Except size lol*
You can change the positive and ground wire to make it spin the other way, by doing that you could rotate the fan and put the logo in the back.
Noctua has 5V fans listed on their website. those would be perfect.
Was going to say the same thing. I've been planning something similar myself and ordered parts before discovering the Noctua 5V range. They seem to come with everything you could possibly need, including a USB adapter.
What rpm do they have? Noctuas usually run at 1500. I'm planning to build something like this.
Good job mate. Looks the business.
Tip for you, always tin the cables first as in put some solder on them before you join them onto whatever you solder, and always clean the tip after every application.
You ought to do more stuff like this.
This should be in one of those over complicated life hack videos!
I literally did this by taking the power wires from a USB and tieing them together to a case fan. No solder or anything. Literally works just as good
I recently bought a Gigabyte aorus RX 580 8gb with stock speeds of 1365 and 2000Mhz for core and memory respectively but whenever I am on desktop of doing any task like watching videos and surfing (idle) other than gaming it drops to 300Mhz on its own. Is this how it’s supposed to behave? This is my first AMD GPU. Do Nvidia cards do the same??? Btw love ur work💙
Yeah definitely. Would you like your car to rev at 6000rpm while you're waiting at traffic lights? It's just power saving : )
Glad that down here in Brasil temps are actually LOWERING, since, y'know, winter! Ha! I live in a beach city and temps are hitting as low as 10° C! Woo
I will be cooler if the fan has RGB right?
How does rgb work with this?
If you're going to use this fan to cool you down some while you're on your [desktop] computer, how about just using some extension cables and just plug them in the tower itself and have those wires sticking out of the case to the fan? If plugged into the motherboard/PWM fan hub, you can control the fan RPM as desired (I guess you can do it with that potentiometer-like doodad you got to up your USB voltage, and even pump more than 12V to make the thing spin faster). You can extend the RGB cable too so your fan can give you more FPS.
The MacGyver of PC hardware. The original version. You know...The good one.
YES, look at the Great Scott! youtube channel ;)
First of all Flux is your best friend. Flux removes oxidized metal from the surfaces that are to be soldered, allows for improved wetting of the solder connection. I would typically apply flux to the wire after it has been twisted then apply solder to the iron then to the wire then use a very tiny bit of solder to the wire for tinning. Do the same steps to PCB pad for tinning as well then solder the wire to the PCB. Use either Flux remover or a q-tip with rubbing alcohol to remove the residual flux. Also a solder connection, depending on how much surface is being soldered, can take up to about 5 secs ( Approx 2 sec to heat the pad, and 2 to 3 secs of applying solder). Again depends on if it is a through hole or how large or small the component or surface mount connection needs to be when applying heat. Too much heat can cause measling or blistering between pads. It just takes practice to get the technique down depending on whatever solder connection needs to be done.
"12 volts of power" - you didn't do electronics or physics at high school did you Kyle? 😂
Thanks! Gonna add a case fan to an acrylic box and stick a NUC in there, leaving the back side out. Should give it a bit of extra cooling
How is it possible that this was your first time soldering??
His background isnt in computer repair or electronics repair in general, so it makes sense to me imo
In addition to Coalition Gaming, you can see that he didn't tin the wires nor did he twist the wires (which I find gives an even better connection and makes tinning that much easier)
Maybe "first time soldering" on camera. But hey he got the job done now it will look better when it's UL listed.
Soldering is not that hard.
Because he never needed to solder before?
Hey Kyle... I'd like to share something with you: If you connect a PWM fan with inverted polarity, the fan won't spin. If you then connect it with proper polarity, the fan will spin at very low RPM (propably only 25% of maximum potential). If you experince something like that, worry not! Just invert the polarity once again and then invert it back to proper polarity. The fan should spin at 100% now :3 (Please note that this may be a "lie" xD Because I have only experienced that once, and after "fixing" the fan speed, I didn't try it again, because I was afraid I might fry the fan :3 )
It's cheaper to just buy a dedicated USB desk fan when you consider all the extra bits you need lol.
exactly. there was not much point in this video, the amount of effort and money you would have to put in just to do what Kyle did isn't worth it. Just buy a simple desk fan and be done with it.
I think you're both missing the point(s) of this video. If you already have spare fans, and already have a soldering iron, a DC step-up converter like the one used costs like $1, and if you already have a soldering iron, you are likely to be a person who likes tinkering with electronics.... or.... this could be a very basic intro into tinkering if you're looking to get your first soldering iron.
Chris James ok so I can see one plausible part of this, and that's a spare fan laying around. Otherwise you would have buy a soldering iron, a pair wire strippers etc. Even then there's no guarantee it'll work. You could buy a desk fan, plug it into an outlet and done you have a fan on your desk during the summer.
Yeah, tbh I think it is mainly aimed at those people who want to buy their first soldering iron, as it is a rather good and very very simple intro into tinkering around with electronics. Because if you already have a soldering iron, you almost certainly would already know how to do this, and if not, I would be worried haha.
DIY is always more expensive than just buying something off Amazon. It's more for hobbyist and less for people wanting to get whatever is cheapest.
You could hook it entirely up to a Raspberry Pi: IIRC they have a 12v pin and if you connected the 4 pins from the RGB input for the fan to outputs from the Pi, you could code your own RGB lightshow.
how i made my fan and parts needed.
btw all my parts came from my spare parts bin from older systems!
parts
1: any junk left over fan
2: any 12v power brick you have left over .
2: vairable power brick also called a universal adapter
3: 2 wire nuts
4: what ever stand
steps
1: strip wires on fan and adapter.
2: splice wires
3: place wire nuts on wires screw on
4: attach fan to what ever stand you have.
enjoy the breeze!
Your mind is in the gutter like 75% of the time lol
How would you make this fan speed adjustable? Play with the voltage knobby thingy on the step up converter?? I assume lower voltage lower rpms?
Yes.
Kyle.... You really have to learn how to solder :)
yep, no station xD I remember those days when I used to do that then a master taught me the ways of weller and jbl😂
You should do another one where you use 2 or 3 120 or 140 fans and use the mounting holes with one fan in the back and use the mounting holes and nuts and bolts to put them together. Solder the wires together and connect to the usb hub you used and have the 2 or 3 fans running together, for the people out there that have multiple 120 or 140 fans but no 200 fans. I like this diy project and more would be awesome.
Now make a fidget spinner out of a fan.............
Or a fan out of a fidget spinner................
someone done this already
Coalition Gaming so last year
*stop, you have violated the law*
JayzTwoCents did that.
I did this with a phanteks case fan because I didn't want to go to the store to buy a fan, I used a Laptop charger hardwired though so it definitely spins faster than what it's rated for.
Plz try and put rgb on it on a second video
All pc fan connections are standardized. You could have just looked up the pinout for a 3-pin fan header to find out which is the positive and ground. The motor is probably brushless (they usually are) and it's possible to damage it if the wires are flipped.
DIY figure out a random idea for revenue because I can't come up with a decent one today.
Cant say ive tried anything like this, but i am working on a DIY cell singal booster with an old sattelite dish thr project is apmost done, but this DIY pc desk fan would be so helpful in my hot ambient environment i already have an AIO cooler in my chasity, and on my floor have a box fan blowing towards me and my pc at all times on high. I love to tinker Kyle i love this idea! I have no idea how to solder myself either but i am going to be working on another diy project by taking apart an hdtv and replacing a dead capacitor i just need myself a ifixit kit,soldering iron,and multimeter.
Nice *$100* fan you've got there
one thing i would suggest , look up the pinout of a 3 pin fan header , cause theyre always the same . better to do a little research then to potentially fry a component or usb port , and not have so many bare wires laying around ,.......or you can do what i did , hook up a fan controller to a spare psu, and plug in as many fans as possible!
YOUR STRIPPED WIRE IS TOO LONG< AND YOU NEED TO SOLDER THE WIRE AND THE PADS FIRST BEFORE YOU SOLDER THEM TOGETHER. Lol sorry mini rant
Chill out it still works fine
Jacob Wood lol ik I did it for the meme
TIN DEM CONNECTIONZ!
I thought you said
YOUR STRIPPED WIFE IS TOO LONG
Nathan LOL
Great job! I purchased a small battery driven handheld fan, that charges via USB, with the intent of replacing the fan part with a 120mm be quiet! fan, as i have so many of those laying around for some reason. The stock fan is unbearably loud, and i can't have that! :) Besides, it started rattling after just a few days of use. I planned to do the mod right from the start, but these facts just makes me want to do it even more.
Good thing is that it has 3 settings. I haven't measured the voltage yet, but i'm betting it's around the 12v mark for the highest setting. If not i'm not really bothered, i'm making it so that replacing the fan will be plug and play, and even still, a high quality fan should be fine with a higher voltage for a good long while. It'll definitely shorten the life span, but when it's easy to just replace the fan, it's fine. :)
I already widened the base enough, that it'll also stand on it's own, so i can use it both handheld and stationary.
No thanks ill just buy something premade for 10 bucks... which is less expensive than that fucking gigantic 200mm fan.
Not if you already have a spare fan or two laying about....... I think that was the idea.... I don't think anyone would buy one just to do this, unless they wanted the newbie DIY experience.
I bought my computer with 6 fans because the case support 6 fans ... why would you have ''parts lying around'' ? unless you are a youtuber with plenty of spare parts to make build, this is VERY impractical.
Because if you have been building PC's for years/decades, that is what happens....... I must have a dozen old 120mm and few 80mm fans not in use.
Benoit Levesque My PC case had some fans in it but I bought better ones, so even I with 1 PC build have fans lying around :)
Fans are usually comparatively one of the least expensive things when buying new parts for a new build, one usually buys new fans because they're better performing or just look better or one just wants new fans. So over the years things like fans accumulate, I got loads of stuff in my spare parts collection in my 15+ years of building.
I actually wanted to do this myself but was to lazy to lookup a tutorial. This is also a good budget option for those who want to start soldering and need a fan to blow away the possibly toxic fumes.
First
No
1. Interesting multimeting* technique when adjusting the voltage. I'll have to remember that one.
2. I'd be reluctant to check the polarity of the fan wires by applying power, because it could (though shouldn't) kill it if it's reversed. I'd check the pinout of the connector before cutting it off, and mark one of the wires.
3. Twisting the wires' strands and then putting the wires through the holes in the PCB and folding them back before soldering will make it more durable.
4. Heat-shrink tube instead of electrical tape would be cleaner-looking (after using a solvent to remove the markings on the tube maybe) and more durable, and wouldn't leave adhesive residue on the parts when you open it.
*Chrome doesn't say it's misspelled, so I'm calling it an acceptable word.
Not a bad Idea to use a small Step-Up Converter. I think I may Upgrade my DIY PWM Fan Controller for USB use instead of using an additional 12V Supply. It already needs a 5V Supply (Linear Regulator in my case) for the PWM signal. Fan Speed Control is just awesome for times when you want more performance or silent operation.
Edit: Be careful about pulling to much power, USB 3.0 can normally supply at most 0,9A which would be 0,375A at 12V with an 100% conversion rate. This would be only 0,5A for USB 2.0 which translates to about 0,2A. This should be enough to keep most normal PC fans spinning but not necessarily to get them going (inrush current is probably to high) this could lead to the failure of an improperly protected USB supply or fan. Best to use an 5V 2A supply at the least (0,83A at 12V).
Came just to tell you i love your thumbnails. Best in bizz!
Hey Kyle, Walmart sells an RGB strip with a usb controller for ~$5. It's made for adding ambient light to the back of a TV but it should have no problem controlling that fan.
*judges your soldering* That said not a bad job for someone who's never soldered before. I've used that exact board for some other projects. Cool little project.
I like these kind of videos, you should do more of these lol!
Step 1: Add a radiator behind the fan
Step 2: Run one coolant line to faucet
Step 3: Run drain line to well...drain.
Step 4 Enjoy your liquid cooled PCMR glory, who cares how practical or effective it is.
Now flip the fan, put a HEPA filter on top and you got yourself a vape vapor filter. Avatar VapeNut vape filter costs 90$ and is basically the same thing in a case with an on/off switch. Ordered my step up boards for 0.48$ a piece, have an extra fan and an extra USB cable. To quote Ron Swanson: "People who buy things are idiots".
Huge thanks for making the video!
AWESOME!!! question: if i wanted to run (3) 200mm rgb fans, using 1 single usb cord, would i need to get 3 step up boost converters, 1 per fan? also would i be able to plug this directly into a power strip using something like a cellphone charging nugget? and actually get cooling results? (i need to create a fan-panel to put into my apt. sliding window for cooling of a 2nd bedroom/game room). thank you!!!!
pro solder tip, solder the tips of the wires first to get an easier bond to the other bit of solder. also you could have hitched the 12v rgb up to the stepper too....
They also sell ac to 3 pin fan header adapters, usually with two headers so two fans.
Ok just out of curiosity if you would have reversed the poles from the fan connection would that make the pc fan spin backwards? thus you could flip the fan the other way around so it would look nicer?
I would check if the converter still puts out 12 volts under load. Voltage might drop under load and you might have to crank it up a little more
Would love to see a video on how to get the LED working properly! :)
Use a solarpower phonepowerbank on a watercooled 12volt USB poort Coolingfan & Tunnels should double as watercooling facilities for large Cities, also produce electricity via motionflow pumpgenerators in Sequence
Literally perfect timing. I'm moving to Las Vegas in 2 weeks so thank you!! Also side note, anyone have advice on getting my PC out their from the east coast? I'm shipping my car then flying out their. Please keep in mind its ave 115 degrees Fahrenheit there now.
Funnily enough it's a good method to use if you want to see how well a fan performs even at 5v instead of 12v which helped me find out if something works before connecting it into something you value too much.
Is there a version of the step up that you can vary with like a switch or something because it would be cool to have variable speed of the fan
Awesomeness Hands Down.. You Are A Crazy Man.. But A Great Crazy Science Tech Guy..
i would not connect a power booster to a PC/laptop USB socket, there is a chance that the booster will try to draw more amps that the PC/laptop can provide and could cause some damage to the PC/laptop, its much safer to use a powerbank as most of them can provide 2-3 amps output.
I did this year's ago with a 120mm Delta fan. I'm looking at it right now, but I used a wall adaptor instead of USB. I had to put a grill on it because I accidentally touched the blade and tore off my finger nail. Ironically, I have this fan too , the blue LED version not rgb. I installed into my pc just today.
because the stepup u gotta solder,
u could just get a simple wire shoe (Or crown) and hook it up directly to the cable, or a phone charger, giving the lower RPM (like u said) but also less NOISE !
Would the step up convertee survive continuous use? Let's say 10 hours or more a day? Or do i need something better?
Inplace of taping that part up you can get small boxes that would be better plus some would have added a on/off switch
Great video, if I have a 12V = 3A charger will it work without using the converter?
My husband did this much easier by just digging a 12v ac adapter out of our box-o-cords to use. He experimented a bit to figure out which wires to put where to get the fan to spin the right way and the led to light up, soldered them together and put some heat shrink around the joint. Voila, they can now plug into any wall outlet anywhere, and the blue leds add extra cool!
which is positive and wich is gnd? Well, you can see that on the connector, usually labled 1 and the middle one
Did you know that Deep Cool has a cheep RGB strip kit that has a remote control? they come with a molex adapter, however you could just plug in a 12 volt wall wart....Viola RGB control and 12 volts they retail for around $ 16.00 plus the wall wart.... others have the wall wart included but i dont know about pricing...
one thing you can use for a stand is a metal rod that fits through the screwholes , bend it 90! twice in the right spots, poke it through the holes, angle it upwards, done
Sweet video to come across! We've been tinkering with PC fans used outside of the PC to great success. Fun video! 👍
Looka awesome I would have used heat shrink to cover wiring cable management no pun intended there nice work kyle
This is my favorite PC builder I watch him everyday bc how he does things