Powering exhaust fans - Simple, but uncharted territory

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stdesign
 
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Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 1:10 am

Powering exhaust fans - Simple, but uncharted territory

Post by stdesign »

This is really a simple thing, but it isn't working out quite like I thought it would... I'm new to Arduino, and have bought a couple of kits to play around with. One of the kits included a Proto shield kit, and it looks like I'll need to do some soldering. I've read that it's not good to inhale solder fumes, so I'd like to build an exhaust hood to get rid of the smoke. I bought a couple of 12v computer cooling fans for the job and I had an extra PC power supply hanging around, and I want to use it to power the fans (plus maybe some lights and stuff for the rig). Now that I have all the parts in, I tried testing the fans with the power supply and... Nothing. I've built PC systems before, and I'm thinking that it's the mobo that tells the fans when to turn, but I'm not using a mobo in this application, so how do I just have the fans come on when I turn on the PSU? Even the cooling fan on the PSU isn't powering on either (it's set to 115v for U.S.). Possibly I'm over complicating the power supply; maybe I should just use a 12v plug adapter and be done with it? Any help will be appreciated.

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chelmi
 
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Re: Powering exhaust fans - Simple, but uncharted territory

Post by chelmi »

The PSU needs to be turned on. It's usually done by the motherboard but you can hack the PSU like this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/ATX-->- ... onversion/

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stdesign
 
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Re: Powering exhaust fans - Simple, but uncharted territory

Post by stdesign »

chelmi wrote:The PSU needs to be turned on. It's usually done by the motherboard but you can hack the PSU like this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/ATX-->- ... onversion/

Excellent :-) . I'll give it a try. Thanks!

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stdesign
 
Posts: 8
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Re: Powering exhaust fans - Simple, but uncharted territory

Post by stdesign »

Ha! I didn't know that adafruit had a Breadboard power supply kit. Possibly this would be a smaller, easier solution... But I'd have to solder up the kit first, so I'd need to use a desk fan for that, LOL! Aww BANNED, I AM over complicating this. But at least I'd have the satisfaction of having a portable venting hood in my tool bag.

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