Stupid fan wiring...

[Myka]

Thanks guys! I'm actually pretty good at soldering and connecting and working with shrink tube and all that. I had to re-wire lights on my logging truck trailer every month or so (they vibrate around and wear off the coating and short out on the frame eventually...always fun finding exactly where the problem is with 110 feet of truck and trailer). The difference is that I just had to cut out a bad section and re-connect, so I knew what I was doing. As long as I know which wires do what, I'll be fine. The only reason this isn't completed yet is because B&E isn't open on the weekends. The guy at OTV Technology where I got the fan told me to go to B&E for a power supply. I didn't want to wait, so I tried about 6 other places, and wasted a bunch of time. I can't believe how hard it is to find a simple 12VDC power supply these days! I'll use the Molex power supply if the price is reasonable, if not, then I'll just buy a power supply with a barrel connector, cut it off and splice in my fan.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Myka

As long as I know which wires do what, I'll be fine. The only reason this isn't completed yet is because B&E isn't open on the weekends. I can't believe how hard it is to find a simple 12VDC power supply these days!

You don't have a Can Tire or Wal Merde in Saskatoon? $s to donuts they'll have a 12 volt wall wart. They will probably also have a cheap digital multi-meter for sale. A useful tool for figuring out polarity, i.e. which wires do what. You're not really going to hurt anything with 12 volts DC if you get the polarity wrong, especially with the 9 volt battery scenario. If you reverse the polarity, the fan will either run in reverse or not at all. LEDs as well, they are essentially diodes, so correct polarity, they'll conduct (light up), reverse polarity, they won't. You'd have to apply a very high voltage to cook them in reverse polarity.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by mike31154

You don't have a Can Tire or Wal Merde in Saskatoon? $s to donuts they'll have a 12 volt wall wart. They will probably also have a cheap digital multi-meter for sale. A useful tool for figuring out polarity, i.e. which wires do what. You're not really going to hurt anything with 12 volts DC if you get the polarity wrong, especially with the 9 volt battery scenario. If you reverse the polarity, the fan will either run in reverse or not at all. LEDs as well, they are essentially diodes, so correct polarity, they'll conduct (light up), reverse polarity, they won't. You'd have to apply a very high voltage to cook them in reverse polarity.

Neither Crappy Tire nor Wally's had a 12VDC power supply. So you owe me donuts!!

[GoFish]

First thing that comes to mind when looking for 12vdc power supply would be "surplus" section in princess auto. Looks like you have one in Saskatoon
Sorry havent read the rest of the thread or if this will help.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Vancity

First thing that comes to mind when looking for 12vdc power supply would be "surplus" section in princess auto. Looks like you have one in Saskatoon
Sorry havent read the rest of the thread or if this will help.

I tried there too. They had one 12VDC, but it was 3A with alligator clips on it.

I'll get to B&E sometime this week.

[mike31154]

12 volt 3 amp with alligator clips! That would work great. Just because you only need 1400 mA, doesn't mean a 3 amp power supply can't be used. It will only supply what the fan draws, no more. Better to have a larger supply working at 15-20% than a smaller one at 90%.

[MKLKT]

Just as an FYI, I'm pretty sure the yellow wire is strictly RPM/monitoring, doesn't actually control anything. I remember having red/black molex fans with fan control.