electrician advice needed for fan adapter

[dheinze]

I've been building a canopy for my T5s. It will hold the lamps close to the water (about 4"), and I need some small fans for cooling. The only fans that fit the size requirements are computer cooling fans, but these run on DC power. I'm wondering what kind of AC/DC adapter I need?

I've looked at the "universal" ones made to run "any" kind of digital camera, etc., but felt a little leary of them...although some of them say they can handle the amps..

[smcdonn]

how many fans are you running? And how many watts or amps is each one rated at?

[DarG]

Walmart sells a 12 volt AC to DC converter. Coleman brand. It would run a boatload of 12 VDC fans. Sold in the camping section, about 20 bucks. You need to splice into the wires, it has a cigarette lighter jack on it. Also, the AC to DC converters sold to run MR 11 and MR 16 halogen lamps will run a boatload of computer fans. These are usually called low voltage lighting transformers.

[AZDesertRat]

Wall warts or AC/DC adapters are fine for computer fans. I run two Vantec Stealth 4" fans on a Harbor Freight Tools power supply and have done so for probably 10 years now, 3.5 years on my current system and before that on my old FOWLR system.
Power supplies can be found at Radio Shack, Wal Mart or just about any electronics dealer for anywhere from $5 to about $25 and in mA ranges from 300 to 1000. My 500mA adapter will safely run 3 fans.
All you do is cut the DC adapter plug off the adapter and wire it to the red and black wires on the fan(s). Ignore the white or yellow wires on the fans, they are not needed. I also use an adapter that has variable voltages so I can vary he fan speed and noise according to how hot it is.

[dheinze]

smcdonn, I am planning to run 3-4 small fans (1.5"). They are each rated at about 160mA, and about 1.9W if I remember correctly. Sounds like I should check out walmart:).

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10530326#post10530326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dheinze
smcdonn, I am planning to run 3-4 small fans (1.5"). They are each rated at about 160mA, and about 1.9W if I remember correctly. Sounds like I should check out walmart:).

THe Walmart converter I mentioned is a Rubbermaid brand not Coleman. It is rated for 12 VDC and 6 amps. More than plenty.
Most walworts are rated high enough to handle atleast 2 or 3 fans of the rating you stated. You can get them cheaper than the rubbermaid. But the Rubbermaid will give you plenty of headroom.

[dheinze]

Cool. Sounds like for once it's as easy as I hoped it would be!

[carlos_fb]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1173361

[dheinze]

thanks carlos, those are some of the exact things I was looking at in frys the other day. guess they do work afterall:).