Modding a fan controller for use within shelving

[Riggy]

Hello everyone,

A little bit of back story first:

I'm getting a shelf made up to house my consoles and amp and the way the shelves are made up, the equipment will be enclosed. I don't really want to keep them enclosed without enough ventilation. So I'm planning on using 40mm computer fans either side of each console and amp, so I'll have an intake and exhaust with a couple of fan controllers on the bottom shelf to control all 7 fans in total.

BUT, how do I mod the controller so I can just plug them straight into the wall rather than having to go into the computer to power them?

I have made a few searches on google but I can't find much on how to do it :/

Thanks

 

[Riggy]

I could use a PSU but the gap between each shelf will only be around 100mm unfortunately, so I'm limited on what I can put on the shelf. I don't actually know the dimensions of my spare PSU, I'm pretty sure it's more than 100mm though

Yeah I've got filters in mind, thanks 40mm not that quiet then?

 

[Riggy]

Awesome Doyll, I'm tempted to change the dimensions. I was going for quiet as possible, though I'm pretty sure the xbox's jet engine of a fan would drown any noise coming from them anyway

And Gary, thanks for that link!! That is very near the perfect solution I was looking for If only it had two Molex sockets

 

[Riggy]

Well I'm actually thinking of upping the gap to 150mm, so I can fit 120mm fans in. but that's 7 of them then. Isn't it a little overkill? I don't think it'll be overkill for the amp as that does get pretty hot.

 

[Riggy]

You can get 12v 5A 60W power supplies (intended for things like laptops or LCD TVs) for around £7 but if you want to spend £22 to have it with a Molex shoved on the end then that's fine too.

Your amp may get hot but then it's probably designed for passive cooling and will therefore get hot.

If you get a fan controller with thermal probes you could have it so that they speed up and down in relation to the temperature.

Could you hint at where I could look at these power supplies? I'll try a google search in the mean time, no doubt that'll work.

The amp itself has a fan on it to remove the heat, so I'm putting a hole above that with a grid. So that eliminates the build up of heat there.

I know maybe having an in and out for each consoles seems a lot, but I kinda want the project I get bored quickly you see

 

[Riggy]

So if I was to use a laptop supply how would I connect that molex socket?

Molex has the 12V, Ground x2 and the 5v line. The laptop has live, neutral and ground right? (Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm kinda guessing here with very limited research I've done in the spare 5 minutes I've got at work )
How would connect the live and neutral to the molex? Or is the L,N,G wiring set up only from the wall socket TO the power supply which then changes to some other wiring set up?

Sorry about all the questions. I think I'd rather wire up a supply with a molex and give it a try myself. It sounds fun!

 

[Riggy]

Thanks Blackjack, but I think I'm gonna use the laptop PSU method. It's exactly what I'm looking for.

Ahh yeah, I didn't think you'd need the 5v line. Thank you VERY much Tealc, really appreciate your effort. Well roll on payday so I can get started on it. Now I've got to decide on what fans and controller I want... the one's I've wanted on Overclockers are all sold out. Bad times!

 

[Riggy]

Noted I've got an old Dell laptop supply. I'm going to see if that outputs 12v's before I buy one.

 

[Riggy]

So I've bought a 12v 5a power supply ready for modding this weekend (Hopefully) and I've also gone for the 92mm Case fans (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-002-FD). I've managed to get 5 of them for 4.99 each on a popular auction website along with free delivery.

I'm still going to up the shelf gap (up to 150mm from 100mm) but I'm going to go for 92mm due to amount of room that'll be left at the back of the shelves for PSU's and wires from the amp. I'm also predicting that I'm going to need the 3 pin extension cables to get the fans connected up to the controller.

I think this is controller I'm going for... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BB-000-LP&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=189

I really can't wait to get started on it! I'm going to take my shelf plans over to my local joiner on saturday.

Thanks for your input guys, really appreciate it. It's time to buy the controller!

 

[Riggy]

You do deserve the pictures to be fair

When taking some sort of plans to a joiner do you include the depth of the actual wood on top the height of the gap you want for a shelf?

So for example, if I was using 15mm thick mdf, and I wanted x4 150mm gaps for the shelves...
Would I say it's a total height of 675mm (Including the depth of each piece of wood) or 600mm in height? (Not including the depth of each bit of wood)

I've made even more adjustments to the actual shelf dimensions as well... (Again )
This would be a left hand side view of the shelf:

This is an example of what I want each shelf to be like. Wiring will have access between shelves etc

This will be the top of the shelf, with a fan directly on top to dissipate the heat from the amp.

p.s. I'm really sorry about the picture quality of the plans, Bad light and camera phone don't help.

 

[Riggy]

Ahh yeah, I did think it was overall like that. I was just doubting myself due to lack of experience

So yeah, each 'shelf' will have a fan at the back on each side. One will be an intake and the other will be an outake. So the air flow created by the fans will effectively just carry away the expelled hot air from the consoles and prevent a build up of hot air within the shelves. If that makes sense?

 

[Riggy]

Yeah, except it will be moving air from intake fan to exhaust fan. If a component isn't running as cool as you want can always put a baffle on intake fan to direct air to component's intake.

Yeah very true, but with the amount of air flowing through the shelves, I think they will be running cool enough.

A 50mm gap at back of each shelf and out top would be all the airflow you would probably need... No fans...

But that isn't any fun is it? I know it's overkill, but I like the idea of them. I'm even considering the LED mod that Tealc has done. With the white fins on the fans, blue LED's would look smashing It would even go with the rest of my kit. I tend to go with blue lighting on equipment if I can you see.

 

[Riggy]

Actually Doyll, how do you find that Define R2 case? Cooling in particular? I really wanted that case when I first bought my set up, but budget prevented me from doing so and ended up getting the Antec 300

 

[Riggy]

Doyll, this R2 talk is making me want to buy one! The missus wouldn't be too happy about that
I can see my next build being a fractal case with black and white components with Blue LED's!!
Yeah I can't moan at the Antec case to be fair. My case in constantly cool, regardless of what I'm doing, it just looks damn ugly!


That fan does look smashing Tealc, I'm definitely going to put the blue LED's in my fans. As long as my PSU mods goes well that is

A few component's has arrived!

That controller is actually a looker in my opinion.

I did get fan filters, but I'm not sure I'm going to use them if I'm going to put the LED's in my fans. If I was to put them on, it'll make fans look terrible (I imagine anyway). I'll see, when I've done all the modding, I can see how they look. I can always sell them in them end.

Got my PSU...

My questions is (Might sound stupid...) Which one is the positive and which is the negative?

I also went to my local joiner, and after about half an hour of trying to explain the layout and measurements (Probably my fault, my logic just seems to be different from everyone else's), I got the price. using 18mm MDF, £59! I thought that was quite cheap to be fair, I was expecting more than that but I wasn't going to tell the guy that
It should be ready around wednesday, and I'm expecting the fans, extension cables and a couple of the molex sockets tomorrow! Though I won't be able to play around and get the fans going tomorrow. Got plumbers round to quote for work and a damn funeral! Life getting in the way eh? Bad times!

 

[Riggy]

Well, turns out I do have some of the correct molex sockets! Found them in the cupboard
I took a chance and tried to get the controller working... The red was the positive

The blue LED's are actually same brightness. BLISS!

 

[Riggy]

The filters inside! Now that is an idea! If all my measurements were correct, I should have enough room within the shelves to go further than the 2.5cm thickness of the fans.

I got the fans yesterday and managed to grab five minutes to get them all going...

They are TOTALLY silent, I'm really tempted to replace all the fans in my computer now. I can't believe how quiet they are on full power.
And the blue LED's would look amazing as well!

 

[Riggy]

That is true Doyll! I'm going to see how they are when put on the inside of the shelving first. Talking of the shelf, it's done!! The other half is going to be picking it up after she finishes work today! So I can finally get started on getting the shelf finished and all put together.

I'm going to be painting the shelf a matt black, so it's just an extension of all my equipment rather than a shelf on the wall that has to match the furnishing's. As well as the LED's being put into the fans, I've got an LED strip light that I'm going to attach to the back of the shelf, so out the front of the shelves there will be shining blue light. I'm hoping the light will be subtle rather than overbearing and too much. We'll see how it goes, I'm going to experiment with light a little and see what I think is best.

I'm like a child on christmas day... It's only a shelf for god sake!

 

[Riggy]

The LED strip is actually quite long, about a metre long with 36 LED's and has it's own little PSU and mains plug. Will the 12v PSU I'm using actually power that amount of LED's?

 

[Riggy]

Well well well... another mod knocking on my door! I can't wait until the office is all painted and ready to be occupied! I can start putting everything in place

Here is the shelf in the flesh

 

[Riggy]

Excuse the mess, currently redecorating the house/new water supply/cantral heating. Living in a building site at the moment.

Also, the red carpets aren't staying