The ultimate beginner's guide to PC FANS

[Huggie bear]

Okay today's discovery is the Sanyo Denki counter rotating fan.

300 cfm
48.9 mmh2o
7.2 amps
70 dBA

Looks like directly stacking counter rotating fans does work after all!

Holy crap man I have a 135 CFM 300 RPM Fan and it had taken to chunks out of my finger and almost my thumbnail!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

I will put it like this I have the same fridge as Melkor which I am running a 100 watt CMH 24/7 rite now.
The fridge is in another wardrobe and as such vents in to the chamber
My ambient chamber temp is 103 to 105 because of the CMH ballast but my fridge temp has never gotten above 80 thanks to that fan.
I forgot to mention it vents through a scrubber as well.
With that thing I could stick my 150 watt HPS in the fridge as well.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Can someone point me to a fan speed controller that is proven to work with an AC axial type fan. Price is an issue I would hate to spend more than $10-$15 for a speed controller

Ive looked around and have found a few but Im not sure if they will work with my fan since they are setting type controllers (with low,med,high) and not a continuous knob.

Any insight anyone has would be great.

Sorry that I can't help more. I probably mentioned it already but have you browsed D.I.trY's computer grow thread? He uses one to control two AC sunons. I did ask on his thread for details but couldn't make much sense out of it if I recall right.

Holy crap man I have a 135 CFM 300 RPM Fan and it had taken to chunks out of my finger and almost my thumbnail!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054

I will put it like this I have the same fridge as Melkor which I am running a 100 watt CMH 24/7 rite now.
The fridge is in another wardrobe and as such vents in to the chamber
My ambient chamber temp is 103 to 105 because of the CMH ballast but my fridge temp has never gotten above 80 thanks to that fan.
I forgot to mention it vents through a scrubber as well.
With that thing I could stick my 150 watt HPS in the fridge as well.

Hehe, just remember 70db is around loud hair dryer level I think. I do like the Ultra Kaze 3000. It's pretty nice specs for an easy to find fan. Your cab sounds very well designed to get those temps inside a cab inside a wardrobe - well done

 

[DollarsAndSense]

Hey Scrub,

Wanted to throw a big thank you to you for compiling this info. Helped me put 3 x 120mm fans in my new box. Works amazing. Thanks again


-Dolla$ out

 

[Huggie bear]

Hehe, just remember 70db is around loud hair dryer level I think. I do like the Ultra Kaze 3000. It's pretty nice specs for an easy to find fan. Your cab sounds very well designed to get those temps inside a cab inside a wardrobe - well done

my cab is a very simple by design and thus far it is working very well. I will have a thread up once I get something a bit more fun to look at.

 

[ScrubNinja]

My new fans turned up, and my controller, and the bits to make a carbon filter!

Here are the 80mm & 92mm Delta fans and the Vantec controller. I thought the controller was DOA at first because I was trying to power it from a 12v line. This one, at least, needs to be hooked up to a PC's PSU, or otherwise wired to supply the other voltage/s, otherwise it won't work.

Here are the carbon filter bits:

The fan there will be cut up to use only as a spacer and where it's blades were, will be packed with carbon, surrounded by the screens either side. The 80mm to 120mm adapter serves to raise the surface area, while still being genuinely micro. This is for a pc or something like that. The bits go together like so:

I realise there's not much surface area but what can ya do, I'm lazy and have good fans. I will bolt it to the outside of the case so since it's all pc parts, it doesn't look too wierd I hope - just looks like an external fan. I'll do a proper DIY when/if it's up and running. I also plan on a vented heat shield by the way, so there is less demand on the filter.

PS: Delta fans are the shit. I agree wholeheartedly with Aero - they're not loud at all considering how much power they have. I think for my cupboard I will get the PFB1212GHE and have it blowing into the carbon, no other exhaust fans.

2.7 amps (enough for my adjustable voltage 3 amp power supply)
217.80 CFM
27.30 mmh2o
64 dB-A

I think it will be much quieter and much more effective than the 2 x Smart Fan II's.

 

[Huggie bear]

My new fans turned up, and my controller, and the bits to make a carbon filter!

Here are the 80mm & 92mm Delta fans and the Vantec controller. I thought the controller was DOA at first because I was trying to power it from a 12v line. This one, at least, needs to be hooked up to a PC's PSU, or otherwise wired to supply the other voltage/s, otherwise it won't work.

Here are the carbon filter bits:

The fan there will be cut up to use only as a spacer and where it's blades were, will be packed with carbon, surrounded by the screens either side. The 80mm to 120mm adapter serves to raise the surface area, while still being genuinely micro. This is for a pc or something like that. The bits go together like so:

I realise there's not much surface area but what can ya do, I'm lazy and have good fans. I will bolt it to the outside of the case so since it's all pc parts, it doesn't look too wierd I hope - just looks like an external fan. I'll do a proper DIY when/if it's up and running. I also plan on a vented heat shield by the way, so there is less demand on the filter.

PS: Delta fans are the shit. I agree wholeheartedly with Aero - they're not loud at all considering how much power they have. I think for my cupboard I will get the PFB1212GHE and have it blowing into the carbon, no other exhaust fans.

2.7 amps (enough for my adjustable voltage 3 amp power supply)
217.80 CFM
27.30 mmh2o
64 dB-A

I think it will be much quieter and much more effective than the 2 x Smart Fan II's.

Yes please I am still sitting on a case like Aero's that I am just kicking around ideas on..

 

[CloudNine]

Great idea for the carbon filter. So simple.. I bet it will work great.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Tested!

Tested!

It doesn't work yet, sadly! But I think it would work if I use a thinner spacer fan. 25mm is pretty damn thick for micro, plus the screens bulge a bit giving it a few more mil, you can see in the photos. A 10mm spacer would be the next size to try. I know they make smaller fans that thickness, not sure about 120mm's. Otherwise I can get this one cut down maybe. The fan pushes a little bit through the carbon but nowhere near enough as is.

In my pc the fan is probably going to be on the inside, but this is just to show you kind of what it looks like at the rear of a pc

 

[420.se]

Just a tip for anyone using a PC power supply if stealth is an issue. Using a molex you got two blacks 0v, one red +5v and one yellow +12v.

Putting the fan between the +5v and +12v gives 7 volts reducing the noise while still keeping the airflow higher than if you run the fans on 5v. Connect the negative wire from the fan to the +5v and the positive to +12v.

In the ATX connector there is a 3.3v wire aswell but i would not use it as the load it can take is really small.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Just a tip for anyone using a PC power supply if stealth is an issue. Using a molex you got two blacks 0v, one red +5v and one yellow +12v.

Putting the fan between the +5v and +12v gives 7 volts reducing the noise while still keeping the airflow higher than if you run the fans on 5v. Connect the negative wire from the fan to the +5v and the positive to +12v.

In the ATX connector there is a 3.3v wire aswell but i would not use it as the load it can take is really small.

Excellent info! I didn't know that. I bought a little molex adaptor that slowed the fan, maybe that's how it works...lost it somewhere.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Hey I found some more info on that, 420se. Seems it can be used the other way to overclock your fans! I'm going to give it a try (safely) I think and see how long it takes to burn one out. I was thinking of using a wall wart with only slightly more volts than 12, instead of the 17v. Gut instinct says 17 would burn out too quick. I would be scared to even try 24v I do have a lot of adapters and old fans though, so I may.

The drawbacks are that I am sure your fans life will decrease, and I have no idea if they can run at 24v for a useful period of time. Things also get damn noisy.
I would recommend you give 17v a shot, especially if you have good quality fans. If you have a spare fan lying around, juice it with 24v and see how many days/weeks/months it lasts for, then maybe you can try it with more of your fans if you think its safe.
Just don't be a moron and write to me saying "I ran my cpu's fan at 24v and last week it died overnight and my computer caught fire and it set my house on fire and now my parents are DEAD!!"

Also, on a different topic, I asked someone about the overhead needed for adaptor vs fans, and he claims 1:1 should be fine. One important thing he mentioned though - the power supply must be continuous rated. Are any of the wall wart adaptors we use rated for constant load? Is there some way to establish if a particular adaptor is rated continuous?

 

[Rouxdy]

Have you thought about trying a carbon fabric filter in that spacer?

 

[grouchy]

How about bulging the screens inward instead of outward? That would narrow it down some.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Have you thought about trying a carbon fabric filter in that spacer?

Well, no. We did cover it earlier in the thread Maybe as a spacer/prefilter so the carbon isn't so thick.

How about bulging the screens inward instead of outward? That would narrow it down some.

Yes you're right because I was high and glued the weatherstrip on the wrong side! : But it did give me enough of an idea that it's just not gonna work at all unless it's ~1cm thick or maybe less

You guys will flip out when you see the cooling in my new project. I have nearly as many watts cooling as the watts lighting, and as it's a round cab, it's like a tornado

 

[Rouxdy]

Well, no. We did cover it earlier in the thread Maybe as a spacer/prefilter so the carbon isn't so thick.

That's what I was thinking, it might draw easier. And yep, I read the thread while trying to figure my cab out. Good stuff!

 

[ScrubNinja]

Word, I would try it except I ended up abandoning the server case rebuild again. Most of the parts will now be used on the highpod mini, and I ordered a Phat filter...so I probably won't be going any further with the PC filter idea. Here's a pic of the highpod in development for anyone who may have missed it:



Strain in pic is Roma Tomato, lol.

 

[ShamelessJames]

 

[ScrubNinja]

You should see the new bulb setup. It's like looking into the eye of God.... on a spaceship. And that's before I've plugged it in.

 

[jonkanoo]

fans rewiew

fans rewiew

.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Thank you for the review jonkanoo!! I agree, if I needed true stealth, I would start with noctuas. I think the price is not too bad considering they're a specialist fan.

Here are some photos from another thread. This is the Thermaltake XB Pro I mentioned earlier.

It's painted white now! I'm hoping to push through a commercial Phat filter with it! Dunno how it'll go but we'll find out soon. Specs are pretty good on these apart from the CFMs, and they are dirt cheap. If it doesn't work, I have the 92mm Delta, and then some more progressively larger fans as extra backup, lol. This is all for a 35w grow...talk about overkill.