How Do I Use a PC Fan With a Wall Outlet?

[harrystam]

I have extra pc fans lying around along with some carbon media for my fish tank. I want to make a little air filter for when I smoke, so it doesn't ruin my room in the long run.

I've looked up "how to" video's on this, but they are vague and unhelpful. I can build a pc but cant wire a wall outlet.
So as plainly as possible, can you tell me how I can use a standard 20mm pc fan with a wall outlet?

Thank you,
Harrison

 

[t53186]

You need a power supply for the fan, maybe even one of those universal all in wall ac adapter, like used to charge various devices. Something like this-but NOT this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q5Q2P4C?ref_=ams_ad_dp_asin_1 can be cheaper, just needs correct output voltage.

 

[Eximo]

Most fans will run on 5V so I have made a few USB to fan header cables and just use old cell phone chargers. Mostly for testing to see if fans work.

I'm not sure if anything like that is commercially available though.

A cheap 12V power supply is what you need to get the max RPM of a computer fan, but that is likely to be way too loud to have constantly running. You could get some of those resistors that they sell for running fans slower, a bit inefficient though.

9V power supply would be a nice middle ground.