Miserly Muffin Fan

10 to 20 years ago Rotron made Muffin Fans for super hot computers and electronic gear. These fans are very powerful and quiet. They are rated over 100 CFM's. Finding them in old equipment is the cheapest way to find them. They normally sell for $6 to $15 for a used one, a new one from Digi-Key is $40!!!!. I would never pay that much.

Step 1 What to Look for

Muffin by Rotron is the best. Newer ones are made in Mexico, older ones in the USA. Make sure it says 110 volts, not 220 volts, unless you have 220v. This one only consumes 14 watts!! There are quieter, less powerful ones that use only 7 watts. 10 to 20 year old ones will normally work fine.

Comments

[zack247]

where can i get one?

[gcrdcn]

Anyplace with old or surplus equipment, just google fans or surplus electronics.

[zack247]

old post, sorry.
i realized the other day that my dad has not one, but 2 of these things in his garage!
he has it hanging above his heater to blow warm air around the garage.

[Wimzy]

 I actually use one similar to this as the exhaust fan for my kitty litter box.  

[junits15]

I just realized, iIhave two of these just laying around! I never really took the time to try them out!

[Rob K]

Delta makes a fan that looks like that with the 3 blades but they are way to loud. 141.96 CFM @ 3700 RPM 52.5 dBA and they have a 12 blade one. 220.01 CFM @ 4600 RPM 65.0 dBA What you have there might be around 40 dba

[gcrdcn]

For a Muffin XL MX2B1 its 47.6 dBA 15 watts .18 amps. 100+ CFM No other mfg. come close, but for $40+ list price is too much!!

[TheScientist]

how big are these roughly? and what sort of things can we find them in? do you know if they can be found world wide or just in the states?

[gcrdcn]

4 mm deep 12mm square. They should be inside old 20+ old electronic equipment. Old mainframes, military hardware, old telephone switching equipment and electronic junkyards.

[shooby]

Are you sure you don't mean 40mm x 120mm, looking at the last photo, that must be the case. (40mm = 4cm = ~ 1 11/16")