Project Cooling Fans

[thedudex2]

Hello everyone, I am working on a project and could use some reassurance on my math. I have three PC fans from different companies.
Cyber Cooler Ball Bearing DC 12V 0.19A
Top Motor DC 12V 0.20A
Yate Loom DC 12V 0.14

I am connecting the three fans with a USB cable I cuted to expose its wires. Pinout on a USB wire cable told me to +5 VDC. I have with me a 1-kohm 1/8 Watt Carbon Film Resistor.

Question: When I connect everything together and hook it up to my computer will I be ok?

 

[MikeMl]

Are you expecting 12V fans to run on 5V? The USB supply in your computer has limited current capacity (~1/2A). Why not just get a proper power supply?

 

[thedudex2]

I do not expect the 12v fans to run on 5v. I am a noob and this is my first build. I was not clear on what the power output on the USB cable was but now I know its 5v from your reply. I could hook up a power supply to it but I figure to connect it to my labtop. This rig is a cooling pad beefed up in size. Im at a crossroad now, I know 36v wont run from 5v properly...what should I do at this point then?

Edit: Ok so I did a little more research and found that if I want to draw power from my computer that my fans need to have another power source. This could be powered with four 9v bateries....what are some other options to take in?

 

[MikeMl]

Go to a thrift store or a surplus store or scrounge a 12-VDC-1.0-AMP-SWITCHING-SUPPLY. Wire the Fans in PARALLEL (not series).

 

[thedudex2]

Will try it out. Thanks MikeMI for helping me with this. My labtop thanks you, now it can cool down while on lol.

 

[Boncuk]

Hi thedudex2,

you might check at your local computer shop for a notebook cooling fan.

It plugs directly into a USB-connector and has a fan diameter of 19cm (7.5"). Put your notebook on top of the cooler and you're done.

The fan is super silent.

Boncuk

 

[thedudex2]

That was something I planed to go for. I was going to hook up three pc fans and have them run from my lab top as a beefy cheep cooling pad. Further research told me that my USB cable would only put out 5v to run. So I did not think that it would work. Unless told otherwise. But my goal was to try to connect the power of the fan to my lab top via usb chord I proudly chopped.

 

[Boncuk]

But my goal was to try to connect the power of the fan to my lab top via usb chord I proudly chopped.

PC-fans normally consume 150 to 250mA at 12V which is a maximum of 3W per fan. Connecting 3 of the same kind you might overload your laptop power supply.

As already suggested use a separate power supply for the fans.