Trying to cool my new AV cabinet

[gdunbar]

Hello,

Im trying to cool my new AV cabinet with a new 80mm fan and im having problems trying to power the fan. I have tried running it from USB but the 5v power is not enough to move air out of the cabinet. Im using a Noctua NF-R8 which uses 4-13v & 0.12A. Im thinking of using a 12V 1A power adapter to power the fan. Is this amp rating of this power adapter too much for this fan? Im no electrical expert, so any advice is greatly received.

Many Thanks,

Glyn

 

[timtheenchanter]

the amp rating doesnt matter much, the fan will use what it needs.

an 80mm fan should run off between 6 and 12V I would think about using either a fan contoller, or the cheap option (that I have done) is use a variable power supply, then you can reduce the fan speed by reducing the voltage, I have 2 80mm fans in my server cupboard running form a 500mA supply, in supper they get turned up, in winter on tickover...

 

[Monkeh]

the amp rating doesnt matter much, the fan will use what it needs.

It matters with an unregulated supply. 12VDC fans don't react well to being fed 17VDC or more.

 

[plugwash]

If your power brick is regulated it will be ok, if it's unregulated then as under such light load you may overvolt the fan (the fan will probablly work at first but running long term at overvoltage is probablly a bad idea).

Also depending on the power brick you may be wasting quite a bit of power keeping it turned on just to power a fan.

What equipment do you have in this cabinet? which if any of it will be left on? when do you intend to run the fan?

 

[gdunbar]

The power supply is a DV-1280-3UK from what I can find on the internet is a regulated one. Im planning on plugging the fan and ps3 into a seperate surge protector so the fan only comes on with the PS3. I think I will get one of those intelligent plugs or panels to make controlling everything easier.