A Poor Man's No-Frills Cooling Fan.
(from a computer fan, power adapter and some tape)

Cooling fans are great for controlling the heat in your tank. Whether it be a larger tank or a smaller tank, computer fans can either help keep the temperature down single handedly or compliment other cooling measures such as a chiller.

So, what do you have to buy for this project. Just like the subtitle states.... a computer fan, a 12v power adapter and some electrical tape.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/1.jpg

Tools you need to buy? Nadda. Nothing. Ziltch. You'll get by perfectly fine with a sharp kitchen knife.

So let's get to it........

Let's start with what type of fan and adapter to buy.

An easy to find 12 volt computer fan. If you buy a few on ebay you can generally get them cheap.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/2.gif

The power adapter needs to be a 12 volt AC/DC power adapter. Again cheaper on ebay.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/3.gif

As you can see the tips do not plug into one another.

Let's cut the fan tips off.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/4.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/5b.jpg

SWEET!

Followed by removal of the adapter tips.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/6.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/7.jpg

Double Sweet!

You can see each of the cords has two wires.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/8.jpg

Grab either side with your finger tips and separate them to about 1 and 1-1/2 inch lengths.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/9.jpg

Now it's time to remove the plastic insulation. The best way to do this, with the tools we are using, is to run a sharp knife around the diameter of each strand. Careful not to cut the wire strands beneath. Grab the plastic sheath and pull it off exposing the wire. Don't worry if a few strands of wire come off with it.... it's of no consequence

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/10.jpg

Come on baby... let's do the twist.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/10b.gif

Okay, not that kind of twist. Grab the tips of the wire and twist them like you would a soda bottle cap so that they look like this....

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/11.jpg

Nice and cleeeean!

Now, which wire of the adapter is to be connected with which wire of the fan? It actually makes a difference if you want the air blowing from the "front" of the fan. Otherwise it will blow out the back. It really won't make a difference which way it blows really, for either way it will be as effective. But, you don't want a bunch of fans that run in all directions.... adds to confusion. Just imagine if you permanently attached a fan to the hood to find it is blowing in an unexpected direction.

So you line up the adapter wire that has the white lines on it with the red wire of the fan.

See the line (which actually looks like dots on the wire). Please note the wire connections at this point are temporary just to make it more easy to see who is connected to what. I will show you an easier way to twist the wires together with the next post.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/12a.gif

Let's look a little closer.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/12b.jpg

Run the cords together with the wire together at the top... back-to-back I guess you could say.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/13.jpg

Then twist the wire together.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/14.jpg

Then "re-open" the wires.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/14b.jpg

Now pull out that electrical tape.

Wrap the wire connection all the way around so that there is no exposed wire. The two sets of wire CANNOT touch.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/15.jpg

Continue to wrap the entire cord with tape.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/16.jpg

And then......

Oh wait!! And then nothing....

YOU ARE DONE!!

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u122/forumstuff_album/fan%20thread/17.jpg

Pretty easy, huh?

Great thread and instruction, thanks for the work on this..

This thread has been STUCK!!! ;)

Awesome Renee! You sure are on top of putting together some good posts.

Now, how would I add a remote thermistor (to put in the tank) to control that? ...:D

I did a similar thing but with a little twist.
I used one of these terminal strips
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2266710w345.jpg
mounted to the inside of my canopy. Mounted two computer fans to the inside top of the canopy, drilled holes for the air to escape and ran the same DC Adapter up to the terminal strip, tied in the two fans and voila. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

I actually considered cutting the heater off of a spare heater with remote thermostat and tying that to the fan leads but wasnt sure of how the thermostat worked exactly and since its not where I can watch it all the time decided against it. Instead I just put the adapter on a timer synched with my light cycle.