Electric fan help

[Wayne]

Hey I am building a canopy for my tank which is going to have 2 electric fans. The fans are 12V, 50/60mhz, 0.24mA. I am wondering what kind of transformer I need to find so I can plug these bad boys in. Perferably wired in parallel with one tansformer. Thanks

[Bloodasp]

Are you sure about the amount of current drawn? It just seems too small for most fans I've seen. Are those ac fans by the way or dc?

[Wayne]

Thats what is on the lable. I believe they are DC. They are about a 5" computer fan.

[ongquang21]

There is something wrong in the label.

At a Frequency of 60 mega hz/second, only IC or... can see the pulse. For the fan? It looks as if as dc.
Again, at a currency of .24 mA (1/1000 Amp) a fan can not even make a turn ( a LED consumes a lot more than that.)

So, i think this label belongs to an IC chip or ...

Suppose it is 12v .24A. then each fan is about 3w. For parallel connection, you need a minimum 2x3w=6w transformer.

Therefore, a 10w 12v DC Transformer is good enough.

Go to the Value Village or Thrift Store buy two AC to DC transformers; one with 12v-10w and the other with 9v-10w.
Try the 12v first. If it is too noisy, try the 9v then.
They are cheap, under $5 each.

[wolf_bluejay]

For a DC fan about htat size, .24A (not mA) sound about right. Computer speaker power supplies are usually 12V and big enough.

It's too bad your not closer -- I have a box of 12VDC 1A transformers that I use for fans and LED drivers that I give away to anyone that needs them :)

[Wayne]

Hum I very well might be wrong about the mA. I will have a look at the few transformers I have (from various phones, motors...) if not now I know what to look for. Can I try Radio Shack?

[ongquang21]

You can try anywhere you feel convenient. I told you those stores because they're cheap. You can look at the Pawn shops and Flee market on 118 Ave .

[Wayne]

Ooo theres a pawn shop on 23rd ave that I get vids from. If they come up empty theres a Value Village a few blocks from there :) Which areas of the store are they located?

[ongquang21]

Sorry, I left Edmonton for Vancouver 10 years ago. Allthing has been changing

[Wayne]

LOL yeah theres still pawn shops on 118th ave! I live on the south side of Edmonton thou, unfortunatly not a whole lot of pawn shops in the 15km radius of my house except the aftermentioned places :) Thanks for the help, now I have some treasure hunting this weekend :lol:

[lastlight]

I bought some fans from a computer store in town. For the power I bought a powered usb adapter of some sort. Don't even recall what it was exactly but it was the cheapest thing in the store that came with a 12V power supply. I threw the usb bit out and the power supply connected directly to the fans right out of the box lol.

[Binare]

If it says 50/60 hz. Its an ac fan, the hz is the frequency the current is alternating at, hence Alternating Current (ac). DC (direct current) does not have a frequency. That fan requires a 12V ac transformer.

[Wayne]

If it says 50/60 hz. Its an ac fan, the hz is the frequency the current is alternating at, hence Alternating Current (ac). DC (direct current) does not have a frequency. That fan requires a 12V ac transformer.

How many amps of output?

[Binare]

Anything rated atleast, or higher then the current draw of the fan. Are you sure on the specs you posted? .24mA seems pretty low to me. Probably more like .24A, double check it, if its .24A, you'll need a 12v AC transformer rated for atleast 240mA output.

[Wayne]

Yeah I checked this weekend and it is .24A. I found a 9v 400ish mA transformer. That should work but spin them slower correct. (would be quieter)

[Binare]

You got it

[ScubaSteve]

My recommendation would be to a) get a 12 VDC wallwart (or transformer as you call them), b) make sure it has atleast 1 A capabilities, c) wire them with a cheap rhiostat knob/voltage splitter and d) wire them in parallel. This will let you run them at full if you want but you can turn them down if they are too noisy, make sure they both run at the same speed (the voltage drop across the first will casue the second fan to run a bit slower and also you won't explode your wallwart because you are over drawing it (0.24A x 2 = 0.48A... more than your unit is rated for. And yes, I realize that is 0.24A at 12VDC).

Head on out to your friendly local electronics supply store and they'll help you out with finding the right part.

[Binare]

My recommendation would be to a) get a 12 VDC wallwart (or transformer as you call them), b) make sure it has atleast 1 A capabilities, c) wire them with a cheap rhiostat knob/voltage splitter and d) wire them in parallel. This will let you run them at full if you want but you can turn them down if they are too noisy, make sure they both run at the same speed (the voltage drop across the first will casue the second fan to run a bit slower and also you won't explode your wallwart because you are over drawing it (0.24A x 2 = 0.48A... more than your unit is rated for. And yes, I realize that is 0.24A at 12VDC).

Head on out to your friendly local electronics supply store and they'll help you out with finding the right part.

AC NOT DC. And ya, missed the part about 2 fans, thought it was a single. So 12v AC (not DC) 480mA transformer. The one you got will be just fine though.

[Wayne]

Awesome will have them running in the next few days :) Thanks guys!