How to power fans...

[Particle_man]

Hi everybody,

I'm going to be starting a project log here in the next two or three weeks. I'm going to be building a cooling stand for my Xbox 360. My store bought one is sub-par.:down:

It's going to be made from UV reactive acrylic, and include 3 120mm led fans. The fans will be regular 12vDC pc case fans with the 4 pin molex connector.

I'm trying to figure out what the best way to power them will be. I have a generic 350W 24pin pc power supply right now. Will that work even though it's not gonna be plugged into a mobo? Is there a certian pin that needs to be put to ground? Etc, etc?:?

I know a good bit about computers and electricty in general, I just don't know too much about the actual internal wiring systems of those power supplies.:think:

Any help you guys could give me would be great. All the main parts are on order and I will be posting some concept drawings soon.





:banana: :banana: :banana: ....oh yes it is peanut butter and jelly time

[calumc]

http://www.twistedmods.com/article.php?artid=132
This should explain just about everything

[FrooP]

if you really want to use a psu from a pc then i just have to connect the green wire to a black one, on the atx lane of course
http://www.moddingtech.de/portal/bild.php?src=/portal/pics/content/tutorials/2tesnetzteil/2tesnetzteil.jpg&new_width=288

[Spawn-Inc]

this is the guide (http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/196/1) i followed and it worked/s for me.

[Particle_man]

Awesome, thanks for the help guys. I'm just waiting on my materials from performancepcs.com to get here.

I'm out in Iraq right now, so I'm not exactly sure how long it's gonna take. The stuff shipped last week so I should get it soon.

Thanks agian!

[Crimson Sky]

You can just get a power brick from an old laptop, or heck even an old cell phone charger, or just about any of those small AC/DC converters that put out 7-12 volts. You can easily solder together a distribution box and power several fans, like this:


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/projects/doom3/disto_boxes-(1).jpg

This one was made from a Radio Shack Project Box and some spare fan/molex plugs

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/projects/doom3/disto_boxes-(2).jpg

All ya need is one of these suckas, about 5-$12 bucks:

http://www.powerstream.com/z/gme-5w.gif

[Bucko]

I've just done similar to what Crimson did, except using a PSU for bench testing things.
Have a look at THIS THREAD (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9059) to see how I did it.

[Particle_man]

I may do the project box a later date. When I have more time and access to a Radio Shack. Right now the PS with the stock molex will work. Most of my supplies arrived yesterday so I will be starting soon, although I'll probably wait till I have some real work done before I go and post a poject log.