RE: Home-made USB fan for receiver

Discussion in 'Main' started by Phragg, Jun 19, 2013.

RE: Home-made USB fan for receiver

Discussion in 'Main' started by Phragg, Jun 19, 2013.

  1. Phragg

    Phragg Donating Member

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    OK so, some of you may remember me coming in TS asking for ways to cool my receiver down, as I was not comfortable with the heat levels during high volume and mid-day heat in my workshop.

    So, following some guides from you fine NNG'ers, I made use of an old USB phone charger and an extra wall socket to USB converter that plugs into one of the two available outlets in the rear of the receiver. It works beautifully, it is roughly room temperature where it used to be hot. Love it. Thank you guys so much.

    Here's a shot of the underside before, sans fan. The thin wood on top is to keep dust from settling inside.
    [​IMG]

    After
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The thin wood is just 'wedged' in there, supporting the fan. Filter coming soon. I check it every few days to make sure it's not rattling out. I didn't have any electrical tape handy at the time, so I spread the +/- as far apart as I could and hot-glued them that way.

    I have two self-powered subs hooked up to this bitch, the siding on my house shakes so bad it scares my children when they are in the back yard playing. They think the house is 'going to fall down and hurt you' - exact quote lol...

    My neighbor (who plays BF3 on PS3, briefly on PC - the one I built the PC for) has asked me to turn down the bass at night as it keeps him up. In my defense, I had always kept it down after 9PM but I guess it wasn't enough.

    Just thought you guys might like to see my ghetto build :D
     
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  2. eod_punk

    eod_punk .

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    Nice job Phragg. Are you pulling air through it or pushing air into it with the fan?
     
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  3. Phragg

    Phragg Donating Member

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    pushing air into it
     
  4. GhostSheets

    GhostSheets Opus Eponymous

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    Cool you got it working! I remember you came into TS and asked me how to do it and I was pretty much like "i had no fucking idea" lol.

    When it comes to making sure audio shit works right and sounds good, you have to jury rig stuff. Sound over fashion :D

    Do you worry about the saw dust getting in there at all?
     
  5. Phragg

    Phragg Donating Member

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    I have a used dryer sheet as a filter on it for now, works for the 'puter so why not.

    The wood is on top to keep what little saw dust does get in the air out of the receiver, but I have plumbing rigged to my shop vac on both my belt sander and the sliding compound miter saw. It isn't perfect on the saw, but I'm getting there. It throws a lot under the collector and I haven't gotten around to fabricating a larger collector.

    The belt sander throws HUGE amounts of dust without the vac going... I'll make a vid when I get my new phone here in a week or so, my kids dropped my camera with the lens out and now its stuck in a half-assed in-out position. My shop isn't fancy, it isn't the Taj Mahal, but it is mine. ;)
     
  6. eod_punk

    eod_punk .

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    Do you notice any air coming out the bottom near the fan or is most of the air going around the circuit board that is on the bottom of the receiver? If your getting air coming back out the bottom you could seal up some of the bottom vents with aluminum duct tape to make sure the air does not come right back out of the case. If you need more air just use a bigger power supply. I assume that's a 12vDC fan from a PC, your USB charger is only providing 5vDC.

    Overall I think its a great little project that gets the job done.

    Phragg I'd be happy to help answer any questions on electronics you have in the future for projects similar to this. Drop send me an e-mail, PM, or start a thread.
     
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  7. Phragg

    Phragg Donating Member

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    Awesome, thanks. And yes, it does the job, everything is nice and cool. I'm still not sure why there weren't any fans in it from the factory, as it does get quite hot without it, even at room temperature (~70C). Plays my jams nice and loud with clear highs and mids, deep rich bass - that's all I wanted. Happy Phragg is happy.