Wiring pc fans to a 3pin socket

crazy619

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
501
Reaction score
0
Hi guys for a personal project I would need to wire a bunch of 12v pc fans and have them hooked up to a 3pin socket. Psu is not an option for me in this case thus the need for 3pin socket.
I tried wiring the red and black to my live and ground wires respectively but when I plugged in the socket(switch was off) somehow still managed to trip my house and the fans literally had sparks and burnt up. I must have done something wrong there. Any pros can give advice pls?

Many thanks in advance!


-edit-
After sourcing for quite a while I finally found the right keywords to search. I will use a hard disk ac/dc power supply that has a molex head and I will connect that to a molex-sata adapter. And have the sata end connected to my fanhub. Believe once I receive all my items they should work as intended.

Thanks all!
 
Last edited:

shadow84

High Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
34,147
Reaction score
360
First time first, if you are an electrical student, you should know the diff between AC and DC?

Your house power socket is 230VAC. Your fans are rated 12VDC. And you are saying it should work by plugging in 2 wires? Count yourself lucky you nvr get burnt.

You will need an AC/DC converter from 230Vac to 12Vdc, similar to those USB power plugs (although their output is 5Vdc for phones). But concept is the same.
 

wwenze

Great Supremacy Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2002
Messages
73,375
Reaction score
18,273
Hi guys for a personal project I would need to wire a bunch of 12v pc fans and have them hooked up to a 3pin socket. Psu is not an option for me in this case thus the need for 3pin socket.
I tried wiring the red and black to my live and ground wires respectively but when I plugged in the socket(switch was off) somehow still managed to trip my house and the fans literally had sparks and burnt up. I must have done something wrong there. Any pros can give advice pls?

Many thanks in advance!

Wow, just wow

If this forum followed diyaudio's standard of moderation this thread would be locked right here for safety reasons.
 

crazy619

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
501
Reaction score
0
First time first, if you are an electrical student, you should know the diff between AC and DC?

Your house power socket is 230VAC. Your fans are rated 12VDC. And you are saying it should work by plugging in 2 wires? Count yourself lucky you nvr get burnt.

You will need an AC/DC converter from 230Vac to 12Vdc, similar to those USB power plugs (although their output is 5Vdc for phones). But concept is the same.

No I'm not an electrical student.

Ah I see where I went wrong then. I'll need a AC/DV converter... Indeed I felt like I escaped a good one when I saw the sparks and my fans burnt up. Thanks for the clarification!
 

shadow84

High Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
34,147
Reaction score
360
No I'm not an electrical student.

Ah I see where I went wrong then. I'll need a AC/DV converter... Indeed I felt like I escaped a good one when I saw the sparks and my fans burnt up. Thanks for the clarification!

Just curious, why you wanna start this personal project? There are a lot of USB powered fans in market, just get those will do? Unless its for learning purposes.
 

crazy619

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
501
Reaction score
0
Just curious, why you wanna start this personal project? There are a lot of USB powered fans in market, just get those will do? Unless its for learning purposes.


Does this mean I can actually just cut off any usb cable, connect the usb and fan wires together and have them powered up via a fast-charging 3pin usb(eg apple fast charger) socket? The socket should act as a converter already as mentioned earlier by yourself.. Wow game changer..

Anyway its a side project where i want to have 4 cooler fans permanently blowing at an object and I dont want to specially get a PSU just for 4 PC fans.
 

shadow84

High Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
34,147
Reaction score
360
Does this mean I can actually just cut off any usb cable, connect the usb and fan wires together and have them powered up via a fast-charging 3pin usb(eg apple fast charger) socket? The socket should act as a converter already as mentioned earlier by yourself.. Wow game changer..

Anyway its a side project where i want to have 4 cooler fans permanently blowing at an object and I dont want to specially get a PSU just for 4 PC fans.

Based on my understanding, if you do that, you will be supplying 5Vdc into the 12Vdc fans (presuming you are using PC fans for this project). But, for most of these fans, their startup voltage may be higher than 5Vdc (7Vdc onwards in general). So even if you connect successfully, it may not spin at all or spin very slowly.
 

crazy619

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
501
Reaction score
0
Based on my understanding, if you do that, you will be supplying 5Vdc into the 12Vdc fans (presuming you are using PC fans for this project). But, for most of these fans, their startup voltage may be higher than 5Vdc (7Vdc onwards in general). So even if you connect successfully, it may not spin at all or spin very slowly.

Hmmm interesting.. Gives me something to think about for the rest of the day. Thanks a lot for the explanation and clarification brother!
 

shadow84

High Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
34,147
Reaction score
360
Hmmm interesting.. Gives me something to think about for the rest of the day. Thanks a lot for the explanation and clarification brother!

You can go read up more. Im not an expert in AC/DC conversion but concept is there.
 

NicedayIntl

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2009
Messages
278
Reaction score
0
You can get those AC/DC adapters they use for house lightings / LEDs / Laptops. Even those 3 pin adapters that output a 12Volt DC, you can cut off the connector head and daisy chain the fans. Add some 100ohm resistors and diodes just in case.
 

crazy619

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
501
Reaction score
0
Ok so I did manage to find ac/dc converter for 12v which has a barrel output. I would need to hook this output with a fanhub which uses sata input.

So I have been searching for ways to settle that linkage. Any suggestion on how I can get this done? Starting to get very costly also..


-edit-
After sourcing for quite a while I finally found the right keywords to search. I will use a hard disk ac/dc power supply that has a molex head and I will connect that to a molex-sata adapter. And have the sata end connected to my fanhub. Believe once I receive all my items they should work as intended.

Thanks all!
 
Last edited:

ahwei91

Supremacy Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
6,552
Reaction score
496
4pin-molex-to-6x3pin-fan-adapter-02.jpg~original
 

ahwei91

Supremacy Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
6,552
Reaction score
496
USB Power 5V to 3Pin/4Pin Fan Male Cable
usb-to-fan-cable-04.jpg


or just use this type of usb fan???
usually few dollars per fan....
 

shadow84

High Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
34,147
Reaction score
360
Oh wow is that like a smaller mini fan hub?

5V not enough output for me. I need 12V cause all are high performance LED fans in which 2 are high static pressure fans.

That is just a Molex to 3 pin adaptor for powering of up to 6x 3-pin fans.
 

ahwei91

Supremacy Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
6,552
Reaction score
496
yeah....
can get from t258jgn...
Molex to 6x 3Pin 12V Fan Power Distribution Block
$7....
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts.

Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards, Terms of Service and Member T&Cs for more information.
Top