Fan lead extension

wussboy · Post by **wussboy** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:18 pm

Anyone know if it's possible to extend the wires on a fan? Could I just go get some thin speaker wire and twist it onto the existing wires? I want to take my 120mm case fan and extend it about 3 feet so that it can blow on my watercooling radiator. Or, is it possible (read: easy) to run a 120mm fan from a standard wall jack?

Any help appreciated.

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:35 pm

You could use any wire meant for 12V, and just twist it onto existing wire ends. Insulate with tape.

Connecting a 12V fan directly to a wall outlet (115V or 230V) would probably result in a VERY fast and VERY noisy fan for a VERY short time! The fanblade section might even tear itself lose from the frame. Who knows... I've never tried it! If you do this, please make a video of it for us, okay?

More serious now: No, I do not recommend running a 12V fan from a wall outlet, unless you connect some kind of 12V adapter in between. With the adapter, however, it should work quite well, as long as the adapter unit can provide enough current (A, ampere).

wussboy · Post by **wussboy** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:12 pm

I didn't think it would be a good idea!

I was just wodering if there was a quick adapter way to do it. Are you sure about twisting the wire ends together? Have you tried it? I'm just a little nervous since I tried that one time with my headphones and I could NOT get it to work. Had to take them in to some shop.

Gorsnak · Post by **Gorsnak** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:21 pm

In addition to using a 12v ac adaptor, you could use a 9v or 7.5v or 6v, if you'd like the fan to spin slower, or an adaptor that switches between outputs if you'd like it to be adjustable. (btw, generally speaking the wire with a white stripe coming from the adaptor is the positive, no stripe is negative, wire to red and black fan wires respectively.) I suspect household current wired directly to a 12v fan would result just in one brief spark and some smoke. Waaaaaaay too much current for the electronics in a case fan.

Winston · Post by **Winston** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:22 pm

If you make sure the wires are properly connected, it should work. Of course, soldering the joint is a better solution, if you have the equipment.

Gorsnak · Post by **Gorsnak** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 4:27 pm

Oh, and yeah, just twisting the wires together should be fine (you did cut back the insulation a little ways to bare the copper, right?

). I've got an ac adaptor that switches from 3v to 9v in 1.5v increments that I've been using to check out fans recently. I just clipped the jack off the end and bared a bit of wire, and then just hold the wires against the fan leads. Easy as pie. For a more permanent connection you could use some marettes or crimping connectors, but twist and tape is sufficient.

wussboy · Post by **wussboy** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 6:24 pm

Thanks Winston and Gorsnak. I'll do that. Yes, I did plan on baring the copper bits of the wires!