USB Cooling Fan (from a broken drive)

An easy step to step Tutorial explaining how you can build an "USB Cooling Fan" for your notebook/desktop/whatever from an old or broken cd-rom drive. Enjoy.

You can follow that Instructable or just watch the video version:

Step 1 Dismantle the drive

Dismantle the (broken) cd/dvd player. You'll find a lot of interesting parts (e.g. the lens), but in this tutorial we need just one of the motors (usually are 2, and the damage is somewhere else, so they works). Take it out.

NOTE: every drive is different "inside", so it's a bit useless show you where is located. But you can see the picture to know what you are looking for.

Comments

[Minifig666]

Cool. I have an idea to combine a USB fan into a laptop stand to cool the RAM 'cos mine doesn't have a fan and it keeps overheating and shutting it off.

[rocyahsoul]

RAM doesn't normally have a fan. The processor is what usually causes over heating. Almost definitely your processor already has a fan. You probably just need to clean the fan that's cooling your processor. If it gets caked with dust, it will be less efficient at moving air, thus less efficient at cooling your processor.

[rrubera]

Hey!
This is a really a nice fan and really want to make one! But the thing is when i dismantled the CD ROM (got it from my old Pentium 3 PC) i couldn't find the motor (similar to the image shown here). I removed everything I COULD. Below are 2 photos of both side of my CD ROM. Hope someone can help me with finding the motor....

[divudi2]

nice fan,
but add some more guide on fan blade making and shaping ..

[riverreaper]

my laptop pooped so i had the swisscooling table laying around , after looking at it for months our heatwave hit i took the swisscooling table apart lined both fans up sameblowing direction taped them together then taped it to the back of desktop computer about half an inch way from its fan an usen a toothpick atached at the bace itsabout inch an 1/2 away , seening it alread had usb plug with on off switch it works well at adding cooling to the desktop durrning our heat wave.

[kbishop]

Cool t-shirt, mate!

 

[ellogan]

Ok, but, what if i want to do it bigger? can i give power trough 2 usb conections? how can i measure the energy it is using? thanks!

[robocrazy155]

Try a digital mutimeter to measure the voltage and current, but I would be causious of wireing two USB ports together, could damage the computer. You may just want to run it off a battery, then you could add more power without frying your hard-drive.

[rravenn]

where do it solder the red wire and the black wire? and will i see any positive or negative in the motor? by the way nice work...

[Minifig666]

Touch the red and black wires to the motor and make sure it blows at you, then solder them that way round.

[aliyevzaur1989]

That one is out of balance :)

[stains11]

nice!

[wee_man]

hehe nice im gna make one. One thing though becareful if you have little kids around.

[thefunktopus]

Nice instructable!! Really clear great pictures!! Even nicer T shirt!!!

[Mr_lonely]

is any possibility to make it work with batteries

[ekulmeekul]

Yes it will work REALLY well with 4 AA batteries just instead of having a usb on the end have a battery pack...

[darknight06]

red wire to the red black to the black one =)
i made it it seems good now
thanx for the idea maybe it will work for me @summer

[IW5 Industries]

cool idea ! :D

[Derin]

no im not

[firefighter1333]

so i only use the red and black wire?

[Kulawend]

I've discovered that you can cool your computer with these fans. prop up your computer with some erasers (the rubber will keep it from slipping) and place a USB powered fan somewhere around the computer to draw heat from the bottom of the computer. You can also put it near the CPU fan vent to help blow the hot air away. I've found my laptop running much cooler during games when I do this.

[samcrut]

Just blow it across the keyboard. I usually blow mine at the back of the keyboard since that's where the exhaust comes out. Keeping that hinge area cool will help cool down everything else as well. Plus the breeze feels nice on my fingers.

[Kulawend]

By the way, when I say "computer" I have laptops in mind.

[Kulawend]

I used a fan from an old power supply unit but I found that it failed to blow enough air to keep me cool. Any ideas?

[pdpmacman]

internal fans in desktops are almost always 12 volts. The power coming from a USB port is 5 volts, so you would be under powering that fan, thus not getting that much movement at all. If you have an old laptop laying around, the cooling fans from those are also usually 5 volts so you could put those to work!

[Kulawend]

It just so happens I do have a laptop fan around! I'll try using that. Thanks.

[casey321b]

you could use a w ire hanger. id ont know if its iron but it still bends nicely

[dardy_7]

That's genius using the iron wires as a movable stand, kudos to you!

[scorpionsf]

Great Instructable. I made one from an old scsi cd drive I was going to throw out. I made my blades rounded though, didn't like the idea of sharp cornered blades whirling around on my desk.

[tempahmental]

this a great instructable....I made one lost night in about 5 mins...without the aesthetic side of it complete just the working circuit... but I like this project...I'm going try find new and cool things to use usb power for that can benefit mankind.(I sound so scientific - for want of a better word - when I say that

[babyboi512]

this motor u can get from a playstation controller or batteri operated cars and similar things good fing tho!

[fadi-the-great]

u can simply add a switch too, so u dont have to disconnet the usb when you want to turn it off:D simply add it in series near the usb cable..

[ichipoodle]

Great Instructable! i wonder, now that it's winter time, how would i make a heater? like one of those ceramic fixed fan heaters?

[Computer Maker 101]

Congrats in making the top 5!

[GorillazMiko]

cool, awesome family guy shirt :-)

[zorro3355]

takin out a cd drive for a mortor is too much of a waste!u could buy a mortor for aas little as 50 cent!

[BlindSight]

I agree with you. Dismantle a working cd drive just for the motor is a real waste, but if the above-mentioned cd drive is going to the trash bin ..I think is better to recycle something than recycle nothing of it :) Thank You zorro3355 for your feedback!

[Doctor What]

Great Instructable!!! Just an idea, instead of a fan, an led would make a flexlight. They have 'em on thinkgeek for like ten bux.

[littlechef37]

You can buy them at the dollar store for 2 bucks !

[Doctor What]

I thought that a dollar store meant that everything was a dollar, not more.