Cooling fans question

chimmike · 10/06/2008, 08:49 AM

I need 3 3" cooling fans for my hood. I've been looking at various computer cooling fans, but many of them are 3 or 4 wire.

Are these basically 2 power wires, 1 ground? If I wire these into an a/c adapter, am I going to have some issues regarding this?

I'd use aquarium fans but I'm not looking to spend $30 per fan.

AZDesertRat · 10/06/2008, 09:54 AM

The fans have three wires in most cases, red, black and white or yellow. They go into a 4 wire molex plug but only use three pins.
When hooking them up for aquarium use ignore the white or yellow wire and use only the red and black wires.
I use the DC power supplies you plug into the wall like the ones for cell phone chargers and DC appliances. Better yet are the variable voltage ones so you can vary the fan speed by adjusting the voltage. You can get them at WalMart or any electronics store for $8-$15. For fans I like the Vantec Stealth fans myself, inexpensive and move a fair amout of air quietly at only 28 dBa. I get mine at newegg.com in the 4" size for about $11 each.

10/06/2008, 08:49 AM	#1
chimmike oxygen abuser Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Parrish, FL Posts: 5,089 Blog Entries: 2	Cooling fans question I need 3 3" cooling fans for my hood. I've been looking at various computer cooling fans, but many of them are 3 or 4 wire. Are these basically 2 power wires, 1 ground? If I wire these into an a/c adapter, am I going to have some issues regarding this? I'd use aquarium fans but I'm not looking to spend $30 per fan.

10/06/2008, 09:54 AM	#2
AZDesertRat Moved On Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: NW Phoenix Posts: 16,621	The fans have three wires in most cases, red, black and white or yellow. They go into a 4 wire molex plug but only use three pins. When hooking them up for aquarium use ignore the white or yellow wire and use only the red and black wires. I use the DC power supplies you plug into the wall like the ones for cell phone chargers and DC appliances. Better yet are the variable voltage ones so you can vary the fan speed by adjusting the voltage. You can get them at WalMart or any electronics store for $8-$15. For fans I like the Vantec Stealth fans myself, inexpensive and move a fair amout of air quietly at only 28 dBa. I get mine at newegg.com in the 4" size for about $11 each.