HOW-TO: Make a geeky USB fan
As I was pondering my next HOWTO while roadtripping, a few things crossed my mind. Then I came back, got the flu, and approached near-death with the hot temperatures here in Philadelphia. So I got to thinking: "How can I keep the cool down....GEEK STYLE?" My question was easily answered after digging through a box of junk for 10 minutes. A geek fan! It's not too hard to make and it does a nice job of keeping you cool. If you dare make this atrocity, read on.
Allright, what do you need? You need only a few things: A male USB cable, a little motor that has two connectors for a ground and power connection, something to use as the propellers on your fan, wire strippers, and assorted tools.
So. Take that USB cable and use wire strippers to get to the center wiring. Youll get through a layer of silver wiring and then youll see 4 different colored wires: White, Green, Red, and Black. You can hack the green and white ones off if theyre in your way. You only need the red and black ones for power (the others are for data). Strip them down like speaker wire then connect it up to your motor as shown below.
Sweet Deal. Now make sure it works by plugging that sucker into a usb port. Technically you could make a switch for this right now, but its supposed to be a fan for laptops, not a desktop. Next, find something for your propellers. You can use a multitude of items such as toys, beer bottle caps, paper, or what I used, broken pieces of a CD. I then drilled a hole with a dremel tool to let the motors rotating stub fit onto it. I used a little glue to fill in the space in between the hole and the motor then gave it a go.
Sure enough, it worked! Its nice and ghetto and actually kept me a bit cooler than normal. You might not like the ugly way its done so I encourage you to do the following:
A. Throw it in a case of some sort. Use a Radio Shack project box or something. Anything goes.
B. Add a clip for the top of your laptop to clip on. I personally wouldnt do it to my Powerbook but you Dell owners shouldnt worry one bit.
So youre done. Go out, cool off, and enjoy your entirely geeked-out fan.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
PeeGee @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
yo... what happened to your powerbook? looks a little beat up!
Daryl @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
the piece of cd must of flew off and hit your powerbooks keyboard, the keys are missing!
Benny @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
OR...you could just buy this one for 11 bucks and save yourself the bloody fingers...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/5dee/
Timmah! @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
^^^ but where's the fun in that? :)
Jimmy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
that's the crappiest fan I've ever seen in my entire life...
adam @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Yeah... worst fan ever. Looks like it could cause a serious laceration too. Back to the drawing board, man.
Brian Peiris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Isn't this dangerous in some way? you could easily fry your usb port, if not your whole laptop.
Nice hack (in every sense of the word) but I wouldn't try this unless I had money to spend on a new laptop.
Alan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Or... You could just go to xoxide.com and pick up a nice looking usb fan for around 5 bucks...
adam @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Also, you talk about your Powerbook like it's a gift from God yet it's missing the shift and caps lock keys... Personally I'd rather have the Dell, heh.
Casual Observer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
This would be great on Hack a Day, but seems misplaced here.
Also replace "geeky" with "dorky".
strider_mt2k @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Sorry man, this just ain't doing it.
Please tell us this was posted on a dare, or as the result of drug use or blunt-trauma injury?
Frode @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
@3
My girlfriend gave me one of those, it's nice but too noisy.
calbear81 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Theoretically, instead of putting a fan blade on it, you could tie on a strip of bare wire and it would become a weed wacker. Wait... mount the Powerbook to a RC car with the USB powered weedwhacker and voila, a remote controlled Apple Gardener.
mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
If you touch them together, wont somthing short out.
Russell Christensen @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Replace geeky with weapon.
Caius Durling @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
So you build a fan to cool the laptop when your previous attempt at cooling failed.
Previous attempt = removing caps lock and left shift key to allow air to the hard drive :)
Kim Laughton @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Fails.
john @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
its a cool project if your bored but it turns out really crappy unless you can get it looking like the one in the link
Jake T @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
If you feel better, I thought it was cool.
And to #16, it's to cool yourself, not the computer.
nubule @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
This is the stupidest hack I've seen in a long time. It should be posted on hackaday with all the other stupid hacks. Give me a break.
Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Please tell me thats a blue chair youre sitting on, and not your enormous stomach covered in a blue shirt
http://img.engadget.com/common/images/1364049858437927.JPG?0.3156530384595845
petro @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
After perusing the above pics, I can't help but get an image of an engadget editor with a shard of broken comapact disc sticking out of their neck.
Adrian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
How much air can this p.o.s. actually move? i mean there isn't even an angle to the 'fan' blade. seems like there would be almost no air movement at all. This looks like it should be titled 'usb cheese grater' or something.
proee @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Engadget - this is the most retarded post you have made to date. I've been a devoted reader for quite sometime and this is the worst! I mean seriously... And are you saying this piece of garbage is cooling you off to the point where it made you feel better? I think cracking a window open in your pad would do more than turning this on. I think you should consider removing this post to save your dignity. Maybe you were feeling a little to hot and were not thinking straight - happens to the best of us!
Kim Laughton @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Fails.
Varun @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Wow. If I saw someone trying to use something like that out in public, I am certain that I would laugh my ass off.
Oh and then I would have to punch them in the face for abusing a perfectly good powerbook. Come on man, lets get some keys on that thing!
Me @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
What if the author was trying to stop himself from overabusing CAPS?!!?!?111111ONEONEONE!!!!!!ELEVEN
Ben @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
I would like to see one of you nubs, try to make your own fan.
CrystalGeyser @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
or you can get a cheap $2.99 usb fan at xoxide
http://store.yahoo.com/xoxide/sunbeam-usb-fan-silver.html
petro @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
#26 - Please, if Vince used this in public, Homeland Security would have him shackled-up in Gitmo by now.
Ed Tapanes @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
How come there aren't any pictures of it in operation? C'mon, really, there's not even a picture that doesn't have a finger holding it on to the motor!
And he with mangled PowerBooks should not cast stones...
BTW, what's the deal with the freakishly long thumb (http://img.engadget.com/common/images/2633176863139497.JPG)?
TimmyIchwill @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
HOLY CRAP you guys complain alot about the littlilest fuckin things wow man its a homemade fan from basicly scratch if you can make something better using only things you found around your house then please be our guest and submit the fucking thing or stop your damn complaing lol....awesome idea on a hot day with nothing to do good work
Joe Schmoe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
oh my f'ing god.. that thing looks like it can seriously injure someone. i imagine that piece of SHRAPNEL you stuck on the motor to fly off and poke someone's eye out the moment you plug it in!
theWHIPPINGboy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
ha! i love it.
100000 eprops to you.
tristan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
I think it would work a lot better if you glued the USB power wires to your testicles.
DaffyDuck @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
> I personally wouldnt do it to my Powerbook but you
> Dell owners shouldnt worry one bit.
Oh yeah, considering you took such care of your PB's keyboard, I can understand your concern.
Daffy
Michael @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
You people really get worked up over nothing. Sure, it is probably a health and safety hazard as well as an opportunity to short out your usb port, but there's not much point whining about it. Whoever runs this site is just trying to keep you all interested and a single article won't appeal to everyone. It is unfortunate that people flame cetrain articles that arent so great because it doesnt help the writer's motivation to submit a article next time.
Flabby Boohoo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
#35: I tried your suggestion and it worked great! My scrotum acts as a large (and I do mean large) Peltier cooler.
Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
props on the DIY project.
because of this article (and @32) i grabbed an old processor fan and usb mouse and whipped together a fan. i'd take pictures, but it looks exactly like it sounds.
Lew @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
After seeing this I'm seriously thinking about removing the caps-lock key of my laptop to put an end to my repeated accidentAL HITTING OF IT. d'oh.
Pauly @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
this post is so bad, it makes me cut myself!!!! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!
S @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
guys... it's a fan. I'm a fan. Let's all be fans of the usb fan... fantastic.
Treosmith @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Life is short. Have fun. Stop complaining or come up with a better solution, ehh?
hydrogen_wv @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
Everyone that complained about it should make one using razor blades, and accidentally forget to fasten them down.
themole @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
the keys are missing because he has stubby fingers and inadvertently hits the shift and caps lock while typing, usually in your favorite unix type text editor. i've thought about this a few times.
-the mole
Ben N @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
I would like to try this with an Antec 120mm fan. How would this work? Also, is there a way to just get the power out of the cable by connecting or soldering cables to the end because I'd rather not strip a cable. This is a good idea because the fan is perfectly designed and works very well. I can take this with me if I ever get too hot...lol. How much power can the usb port provide, anyway? Isn't it a really small amount. I wonder how it would work with a big 120mm fan as described above. I actually am interested.
fulcrum @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
hey give him a break, he does suggest the use of something more appropriate in place of what you whiners have so unkindly termed as 'shrapnel'. but those missing keys, vince, i'd suggest proof reading with the pics alongside next time
Seige @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
I did this a couple months ago, but it didn't actually work out perfectly. My Dell laptop constantly report "Power Surge" on the USB port.
It would be wonderful if someone could explain the powersurge scenario and provide a solution to it.
I used a table-clock-fan and a male USB connection just as described in this article. Below is a picture of it.
http://seigey.blogdrive.com/archive/173.html
http://img151.echo.cx/img151/4520/usbfan5cj.jpg
yuppicide @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
I think a better way is just to buy a PC Case Fan that runs on 5V. Cut the molex connector off the end and attach the USB wires. Red to red, black to black.
Anyone know how to make a Windows program that will sit in tray and you can right click to turn the fan on or off?!
USbe this @ Dec 19th 2005 2:43AM
OK, great idea, but if you've got a powerbook why the hell are you using the USB and not the iLink. USB only provides 5V where as the iLink gives 12V. Plug your scrutum on that and you'll be 'shooting shrapnel' in no time.