2
\$\begingroup\$

After enough YouTubing and self educating, I decided to take the plunge and purchase a soldering iron. It took me two attempts (apparently the cable of the charger that has the grey dashes on it is the hot side and not the ground), but I managed to solder an old 12v phone charger to a 120mm case fan used for a computer. Everything wrapped up and it appears to work okay in my homemade keezer. Unfortunately though, as large as my keezer is (5 taps worth), one 120mm fan may not be enough to circulate the cold air throughout the entire chest freezer. My thoughts were to add a second fan, but don't want to have two power cables leading out if possible.

What would happen if I soldered both fans to the same, single 12v phone charger? What about more than two? Would the fans run at the same RPM or would they run at a lesser speed? Are there any issues with this I may encounter past potentially reduced RPMs if that is in fact the result? Should I just plan to use separate identical power sources to power however many fans necessary? Thanks for the help!

\$\endgroup\$
2
  • \$\begingroup\$ I feel like lifehacks.stackexchange.com would be a better place for this, since it doesn't sound like have much interest in the Why? and just want to have someone else guide you on this particular project. This site is for "electronics and electrical engineering professionals, students, and enthusiasts" \$\endgroup\$
    – Ben Voigt
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 2:08
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ It should work fine if you wire them in parallel, so long as the combined current doesn't exceed the 12V supply's capacity. \$\endgroup\$
    – pericynthion
    Commented Mar 11, 2015 at 2:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5
\$\begingroup\$

Take a look at the 12 volt power supply and it should have printed on it the specifications. You already know that it provides 12 volts, but how many amps is it capable of?

Then take a look at your fans. They should also have printed on them the voltage and required amperage to run.

If the combined amperage of the two fans is less than the amperage that the power supply is capable of supplying then you are OK to power the two fans via the one power supply.

Of course both fans must be 12 volt fans.

As far as RPM is concerned, I don't know a lot about how fan speed is generated, but I believe that RPM is dependent on voltage and since the voltage will be the same for both fans, RPM won't be affected.

Good luck.

\$\endgroup\$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.