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Step 3Cut the cable & add the fan
cut the USB cable making sure you have enough length from the "normal" USB connector (which will power the fan). the USB cable will have 4 wires inside. you need to use the RED (+5 volt) and black (ground) to connect to same color cables of your fan. ignore the green and white wires. test before you make the final setup to confirm the fan is spinning. add the electrical tape over the connections.
make a note of the direction of the airflow! then check your laptop's fan. the cooler needs to drive air in the same direction as the laptop's fan. this is very important!
mount the fan in the appropriate direction (inlet or outlet).
Important note about the fan: USB ports can support up to 500mA (0.5A). your fan needs to be below this limit or it could damage your computer. most fans are rated 100-150mA (0.1-0.15A) which should be fine. fans that include LEDs may have higher power requirements however.
make a note of the direction of the airflow! then check your laptop's fan. the cooler needs to drive air in the same direction as the laptop's fan. this is very important!
mount the fan in the appropriate direction (inlet or outlet).
Important note about the fan: USB ports can support up to 500mA (0.5A). your fan needs to be below this limit or it could damage your computer. most fans are rated 100-150mA (0.1-0.15A) which should be fine. fans that include LEDs may have higher power requirements however.
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May 9, 2009. 11:38 PMnabeel18
says:
i have a fan with rating 12 v Dc and 0.5A. but the USB port gives only 5 v. wont the fan damage the laptop
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2
Jun 11, 2009. 4:54 PMATG
says:
fan wont run at its full capacity
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2
May 11, 2009. 7:16 PMDIYSlacker (author)
says:
it should be OK. the fan can't draw more power than is available.
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Jul 7, 2008. 5:08 PMNealCrosby
says:
I've been looking for instructions on how to do this! thanks for posting! So my laptop is going to need at least 2 fans, she's big and runs HOT. Will I be safe wiring both fans on a single USB cable?
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Apr 17, 2009. 8:32 PMdrats666
says:
that would depend on the power used by both fans? also another thing you'd have to take note of is not all laptops provide 500ma to a single usb, some provide to the set of usbs. example my laptop has 4 usbs total. 2 on left 2 on right. the 2 on the left have 5ma combined, the 2 on right have 5ma combined. Therefore I'd have to run 2 250 or lesser ma on fans. I hope this helps
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