I've taken some photos which i'll post some time. It basically looks like a child did it, but it works fine!
I'm not sure now that I want to leave it on 24/7 anyway. The Dick Smith power supply hums a little when it's turned off, so I might want to get a good quality 6V power supply, maybe even one that switches off if there's no current draw.
The way I have it wired I can plug the USB into the power socket and run it from TV power, or run it from a standard 6-12V power source. I have no idea how much current it'd draw from the TV, and I don't have the motivation measure it. It's taken waaaaay more time and effort than I expected!
Seriously that jaycar unit I posted back is not a bad idea, especially for the price. A guy at my work put me on to it as he is using it for exactly that purpose.
$6 is stupidly cheap. It will be kinda loud though, and ugly. I probably spent $150 or so all up, but it's a decent, quiet solution, except for the dodgy DSE power supply.
So I've been running my solution for a little while, but a fan failed, it's messy, and it's time to revamp it a bit.
These days I have a unit from Jaycar that turns off power to my whole AV system when I turn off the TV and receiver, so I don't need any kind of switching, just a power supply and fans. The simple system is just fans wired to a single variable voltage power supply, but I'd like independent fan speed control.
Ideally I'd like to make something like this. Basically you use a 12V power supply going into a fan controller that lets you control each fan speed separately. I can't find a standalone fan controller that's not built to go inside a PC case, can anyone point me at one? I could buy that one, but they use 120mm fans and I have 140mm holes.
The other thing is I want to have things neat and tidy, including connectors. Computer fans have those little white plugs on them, so I can either use those or cut them off and solder different plugs on. Note that I suck at soldering but I can get the job done.
Help finding a fan controller and with connectors would be appreciated :)
Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly
to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.
Trusted
