fredart : blogbits

Did you check the Zippi “Vornado”? At least the name is cool – http://www.amazon.com/Vornado-FA1-0007-06-Zippi-Desk-Black/dp/B000E19MQ8/ref=pd_sim_k_img_1

Piro… dude..
that fan you got is running directly from the current in the wall, rigth?
no fancy converter inside it but a resistor wich you can put in preset levels where the lowest isn’t low enough…

here’s what you do..

you get your hands on an adjustable resistor, kinda like the one you have for lightbulbs wich dims the light, and you place it between your fan and the wall.

I actually have one lying around (set for 220V though since I’m in Denmark) and I’m sure that somewhere in the states you can purchase such a thing, maybe as a set you solder together yourself.

by placing such a box before the fan you will be able to adjust the input current and lower the lowest level on your fan to what you prefer.

hope this proves a possible sollution, keep up the good work

forgot to read the finishing remark concerning it running from the cpu.. got an idea though, hit me up on the mail and I’ll explain

As for making one, just buy that fan component, get a variable resistor (one of those little sliding things), and a battery holder of some kind, wire them together, and ta-da, you have an adjustable fan.

Perhaps a desktop ionic breeze. Not sure where to find one but its a thought none the less.

Hmm…everyone seems to be pointing in the same direction…specifically, hook up an existing fan to a dimmer switch.
The nice thing is that is a fairly easy project, and you don’t really even need to modify the fan itself. Just get yourself a double-gang electrical box for wet environments, a wall outlet, a dimmer switch (analog or digital, it shouldn’t matter…analog would be less expensive) and a lamp cord. Wire them together, plug your new dimmer control into the wall, then plug your fan into the control. Viola!

Slightly different variation, but yes, it’s the same concept.

Depending on the dimmer you get (think ceiling fan controller), heat won’t be much of a concern, and you shouldn’t have much fire hazard concern as long as you follow basic wiring safety. Considering the galvanized switchbox that DIY link uses, you can get cable clamps (which I notice he doesn’t use) to hold the wire in place so you won’t pull it out accidentally.

Hm… There’s a Radio Shack at Briarwood.

I had a similar problem to this once. I solved it by buying a dimmer switch (Available at any hardware store that carries electrical supplies) and installing it so that it controlled the outlet my fan was plugged into, the dimmer switch worked perfectly and cost me no more than $20, a couple of hours work and a rather nasty cut on my hand where the screwdriver slipped (my fault)

Maybe something similar would help here?

Well, I don’t know how adjustable the fan is, but there’s this:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/gadgetscomputing/9573/
And it’s on sale right now, so who cares if you don’t need the crappy webcam that comes with it!

Too much voltage on your Honeywell? Voltage divider it down with a resistor connected between the two prongs.

Fred:

FWIW, the Owner’s Manual for that particular fan says “To Reduce The Risk of Fire or Electric Shock, Do Not Use This Fan With Any Solid-State Speed Control Device”. Also, pretty much any of the ready made slide style dimmers, like http://tinyurl.com/ad3q7 are made only for the load that a lamp would put on them. Not the load that an AC motor, such as the kind in the fan you’re thinking of, would put on them.

That said, putting a varistor in the fan’s power cord is a good idea. You’ll probably want to use something rated for fans, as Knightsabre recommends, rather than lights. Get one like http://tinyurl.com/58jm8a (the variable speed one) and to put it into a case like http://tinyurl.com/3lztzf. Or, for a bit more electrical safety, please take a look at http://tinyurl.com/4obfzw. Of course, you’ll need to put it in something like http://tinyurl.com/3zmrmc.

Your idea of using a variable voltage control on DC powered fans is a very workable solution if you don’t mind putting in the work. Here’s the rub. You’ll need an AC/DC adapter to change the 120vAC house voltage to the 5-12vDC that most computer fans look for. http://tinyurl.com/66ctzy should turn the trick. Just put your variable speed control device between the adapter and the fan(s). For putting together a variable speed DC controller may I suggest that you have a look at http://tinyurl.com/58jqxe or http://tinyurl.com/3pzt2r?

Happy motoring.

Get a small 12v solar panel and a fan that uses 12v power. To make it go faster or slower, cover and uncover part of the panel or re-aim more or less directly at the light source. This solves the variable speed problem and also makes it a simple do-it-yourself. It would run off being place in the window during the day and under a strong lamp that’s probably already used when drawing at night.

I have absolutely nothing to contribute to your search. However, the idea of calling a fan “seksi” absolutely kills me.

The end.

Just a word of caution before attempting speed control of a cheesy little portable fan motor DON’T speed controllers must be suitably matched to the motor and a dimmer is for lights. mismatching them will turn wasted energy to heat (motor heat) and well you get the idea.

Hmmm, light dimmer… Think burning. Lights are not fans are not lights. Key difference here is that one is a resistive load, the other is an inductive load. Put an inductive load on a light dimmer and turn it on, voila! Instant smoke and, if you’re lucky, flames, too. There have been some lovely house fires doing that, as well. It’s supremely stinky, too, and the smell gets into everything. So much for your money. Maybe a fluoro dimmer would work? Doubt it.

Vornado makes continuously variable speed fans but stupid retailers won’t sell them.

There are motor speed controllers that should work well with most fans. I’ve heard that people have used Dremel add-on speed controllers to control small fans. I have a motor speed controller from a big HEPA flow hood that works well with muffin fans. At Fry’s, they have little fan controllers with pots for manual control of the PC’s case cooling fans. I’m sure some other places have them, too. Try places that cater to hardware hackers and overclockers.

If you have an electronic surplus (or junk) store nearby go check them out for motor speed controllers. They just may have some for a good price. You could check places like Halted.com and WeirdStuff.com here in Sunnyvale, CA to see if they have any. They ship. (Maybe you could bug Dom into going to both of them for you?)

If you want to get heavily industrial with it, you could use a variable transformer, aka an “autotransformer” but it uses quite a bit more power. And they’re heavy. The most common ones are made by Superior Electric.

Using a diode in series with the fan might work. For a while. Diodes don’t really do well with inductive loads. Not without protection.

A resistor could also work. You would need to have one big enough to dissipate all the power, say, about 100 watts in size, 150 or 200 just to be safe. The only practical variable resistors that come in that size are rheostats. They’re pretty big: A 25 Watt rheostat is about the diameter of a small Red Bull can. If I recall correctly, a 100watt rheostat is bigger than a dinner plate and about 70 times as heavy. You’d need to build an enclosure for it and put a fan on it to dissipate the heat it produces.

i had the same problem for a long time but me and some of my friends cut open a porton of the desk then put a small fan in it then covered it up in a thin piece of wood now i press a butten when im drawing and it gets warm or hot there is a nice cool breeze coming from the desk, if you ever have the time you should try it

Before taking on any daring DIY projects and suffering some nasty electrical burns, take a gander over yonder:

http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00278&dept_id=015&cat_id=035

I personally cannot vouch for this product, but it looks like it just might suit your needs. A bit smaller than your current fan, soft plastic blades so as not to mangle those talented fingers of yours, powered via USB or 4AAs, and it appears to have an analog speed switch. Also pretty affordable! ^_^

Good luck!

Here’s exactly what you were asking for: a USB-powered case fan with a variable speed control — no need to cobble it yourself!
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/accessory/casemods/a1888/a1888.asp
You can buy it here:
http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/SearchDetail.asp?productID=6718

Call it Ricky Bobby. | :0 Or Unibrow Guy.

Yet another idea (and simple):
Take some paper, pinch some holes into it and glue it around your fan. It should reduce the airflow. If you get the right paper/holes-ratio, you’ll be fine.
Advantage: don’t need to go shopping, no dangerous electric wiring.
Disadvantage: haven’t tried it out and it’s not l33t!

Plenty of people have discussed the fan problem (I have an accidental solution in that my new Antec low-noise case has two 120mm low-speed fans that cool my entire desk).

But a note on the comic. Yes, I’m still reading and still buying your stuff (wearing the ‘zilla stomp shirt as I type)

— really, really unexpected mood shift to end Chapter Nine with. Leaves me completely clueless about the direction chapter 10 will go. It takes the comedy factor completely out of Ed’s persona.
Other than that, I can’t say much because you’re left Miho in an as-yet-undefined-but-looks-finished state.

(why do I get this “if you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine” moment? or at least I can hope)

Fred,

What you may want too look into is a room fan. It basically is large and sits in a corner or under a desk and blows air (some very quietly) at a wall. What this does is gives the whole room a barely noticeable breeze which cools by convection. So you avoid the over heating problem without a constant hard draft over your workspace.

(Similar idea to water being circulated in a fish tank)

– Tesseract

How about you aim the fan a little faster at the back of the Cintiq? It should also help things last longer because you’d be keeping delicate parts cooler. No need to even buy anything else. Plus, if you curved a piece of cardboard around the right way, you could direct some of the airflow from the back to the top of the screen and down across the viewing surface. So just a bit more airflow to keep hands dry and comfy without being too frigid, and you’d be cooling down the whole tablet to boot. You could even just try one of those laptop mat coolers attached to the back to cool the whole thing too.

Why not get one of these: http://www.improvementscatalog.com/home/improvements/792912856-dryer-heat-saver.html

and duct tape it to the front of the fan. You can control the amount of air passing straight through – the rest would go up.

(You might need to cut some cardboard to a circle, tape that to the fan, then tape the dryer vent thing to the cardboard.)

This is about the easiest (and with no wiring) thing I can think of. (We have one attached to our dryer – in winter time, we direct the warm, damp air from the dryer into our house, in summer, it goes outside.)

Cheers, and keep drawing.
Dan.

By the way of drawing! That’s it, Fred-kun!

I had the same problem so what I did was pick up a cheap $5.00 engraver, It works off an ‘AAA’ battery, most are variable and work quite well. I cut a fan shape out of lightweight cereal box cardboard, as well as a stand and 2 minutes with a glue gun and voila! And the added bonus is now you also have an engraver if you’re the type to draw using one. Hope it helps.

simple answer is buy the fan, no messing about with computers or resistors, its a simple but affective choice.
remember simple is best after all ^^