Really, REALLY Easy USB Motor!

At long last, my 2nd instructable!!!

This is fan for you or your computer that runs off any avalable USB port. I reccomend it for beginners into electronics, right up to the pro's.

It is easy and fun, you can make in literally five minites!!!
REALLY FAST AND EASY!!!

Step 1 Parts and Stuff

First you'll need to find the parts and stuff.Basicly, you'l need:

1 3-9v motor with blades (out of mini fan) (pictured below (without blades)

1 USB cable (can be ANY of the three types shown below, as long as it has the same wire layout

Some (tiny amount) solder

Switch (optional)

Nescessary tools (wire stripper/cutter, soldering iron, tape)

Comments

[ac1D]

put 3 motor, no need of resister:)

[smeezekitty]

2 Motors (USB voltage 4.5-5.8).

[Musicman41]

you are complaining about your 3 year old computer???  Mine is 5 years old and still works just fine!  Many people in other countries would be glad to have you computer.  You should be thankful for what you have!  You dont need a new computer every year!

[dawsonj]

COOL WITH A CAPITAL 5

[chrisg1711]

I am not an electrical engineer,yet this will work. What I am not sure of is the effect on the internal circuitry without voltages being a constant.So in essence, it works, but prolonged usage may have consequences,( unless there is an engineer that can reiterate on this). My modem was overheating, so I placed a USB fan next to it and it works great! Your homemade version is the same thing, except I know that my fan was engineered for this purpose. See attached photo:

[joinaqd]

pretty good i must say..but what if you accidentally stop the fan with your hands?the motherboard will get burned and you cant use ur pc anymore...happened to my laptop when i plugged in my flash drive with twisted leads.my laptop usb drive works nomore.

[dagenius]

No, the motherboard will not fry, the usb section has a current limiter, and all of that safety stuff, so that if you were dumb enough to put your hand in the way of the fan in the first place, then it wouldn't cost you a comp.

[neardood]

the fan blades I used were flexible plastic ones that were held out by the centrifuge of the rotating motor shaft.

[tanmanknex]

Isn't a computer USB 5 volts, not 9?

[Patented]

This instructables prove that you dont need to put a lot of efforts to win contest...

[neardood]

I think that the reason why this 'ible won was because it was simple and wrote it for people who did not know how to do do this kind of stuff. It simple and practical, and I spent a bit of time writing it.

[lolcat360]

i have a 1.5 volt motor and i used a 9 volt battery and it works fine it just goes faster

[neardood]

trust me, if you leave it on it'l eventually get really hot and die

[Banduan 9]

anyway it will not die if you put some resistor or make a case to put a 2 AA battery with a motor in it and a fan~~! :)

[ReCreate]

Unlikely.

[dagenius]

try it.

[ReCreate]

Ok, Just tried 60V on a 5V motor, Still works fine.

[lolcat360]

60 volts!!!!!

[ReCreate]

Yep, 60 Volts Worth of half-dead 9V Batteries.(tested with a multimeter) It spun superfast, and smelled kind of bad, but it still worked :)

[DrCoolSanta]

I have a 1.5 volt motor and 9 volt battery, it used to work, but now it only works with a 1.5 volt battery. And it sometimes needs to be rotated to start the movements.

[ReCreate]

it seems to be a cheap motor...

[neardood]

see?

[TheTrustedOne]

Just add a resistor between the fan and the usb cable and it can short out any more, added effect, if you use a POT instead you have a variable speed fan :)

[alextricity]

The usb voltage is 5.2 volts and it should not deviate more than +-.2 volts. A computer power supply will have outputs of 3.3v, 5.2v, 12v, and the corresponding negative voltage. The only difference is in VERY old power supplies, way before AT's, and in server power supplies. It is not possible to change this with a program, heh it'd be awesome if you could..., only by rewinding the transformer in the supply itself. If you put the motor on the signal wire then you will probably burn up your motherboard... If you are wanting to vary the 'voltage' by emitting a 5-10 kilohertz square wave signal then I would recommend using the C programming language. You can acquire code snippets from http://www.cheat-sheets.org/

[fuzvulf]

Nice instructable. I would definitely add 3 small non-electrolytic capacitors to limit the amount of brush noise fed back to your 5 volt rail. All you have to do is solder one leg of the first cap to the motor housing, the second leg to the negative terminal, the first leg of the second cap goes to the negative terminal of the motor the second leg of the second cap to the positive terminal, the first leg of the third cap to the positive terminal and it's remaining leg goes to the motor housing. this is a cheap easy noise filter and will keep your 5 volt rail clean. Its not 100% required as there are caps in the power supply but if you are running a lot off of your USB ports, it can help to limit the spikey noise that is generated from hobby motors.

[PKM]

"Since I used a 3-Volt motor, and the Computer's Output is 9 Volts" I believe the power rail in USB is at 5 volts, not 9, so your 3V fan can probably deal with it for a while at least. If you want it to run slower you might want to put a resistor (a variable resistor would be better) in series with it to limit the voltage.

[knoxarama]

motors can't take in any more power than they can at max speed. it won't die from having to high a voltage. it just won't conduct the rest. of coarse, that doesn't mean motors can't die but...

[PKM]

... what? If you increase the voltage above the rated voltage, the current will also rise (and therefore the power) until the motor windings overheat and fail or there is a mechanical failure. I don't know where you got "it just won't conduct the rest" from, especially as you were talking about voltage- where is it meant to go? I have personally burned out a motor by overvolting it (along with a lot of other components :$), I know it's possible.

[knoxarama]

and i've never burnt out a motor, even going at 3x the voltage. the motor went no faster either way. really, it didn't even heat up. so there.

[fuzvulf]

Funny, I don't remember that from theory and priciple of electric motors or application of theory and priciple of electric motors. SOME motors will generate enough CEMF*(counter electromotive force) to self limit, but the extra Voltage across the resitance of the windings generates heat. If there were not science behind it then the motor manufacturers could use the same tiny little wire which is used in the little hobby motors in the electric portion of a Prius and save a ton of money. When I was working for Strasburgh engineering labs we were testing different motors. On one, as a final test we fed a 12 Volt DC blower motor 120 Volts DC to test it's overheat/overvoltage capabilities. It sounded like a jet engine for 2 minutes and 7 seconds before the field windings melted and it seized like an epileptic at a rave.*(I have epilepsy so don't even start with the flames) AC motors behave differently than DC motors. Synchronous AC motors are speed controlled by the frequency of the supply voltage. Greater voltages only increase torque, to a certain point, then you let the smoke out and it don't work no more. There are young hobbyists who come to this board for advice. If you are going to make statements, do some research. Just because you happened to experience something a little different, check what you're saying, google it, wiki it, go to school for it, something...

[neardood]

i know

[awang8]

Don't resistor's limit the current?

[PKM]

Erm.. yes and no. People seem to be most familiar with current limiting resistors used with LEDs, but in a circuit with a resistive load like a motor or a lightbulb, they are actually controlling voltage. The current then decreases because of the lower voltage. Your nearest physics or electronics textbook can probably explain it better than I can.

[awang8]

Hmm.. I'm 10. I wonder where I can... Umm... Borrow... A physics book.

[ReCreate]

im sure anyone will be more than glad to let you borrow one

[awang8]

Well, I don't know anyone that has one!

[ReCreate]

some teacher at school

[toogers]

i'm 11. i have one.

[ReCreate]

...lucky you?

[jehan60188]

google