Cooling an amp with a computer fan...??
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 640 Registered: Aug-04 | ok i went to office depot and bought 2 computer fans to cool my amps. im goin to be making an amp rack with the amps being inside with plexi glass over them to see them. so i know i want to put fans in there to cool em. ok so my real question is how do i wire them? i know since they r for computers they prolly run off of 120v source from the house. obviously my truck bat will do 12v-14v. that is similar to the fan i bought, the one i bought is not thermally activated. mine does have 3 speeds though, but same power connections. 3 wires come out of the fan, red, black and white. red and black to one plug, and the white goes to another plug. can someone explain wiring schematics to me so i can wire them up? thanks to anyone who replies. |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 328 Registered: Dec-04 | actually computer fans are 12 volts usually. You'll need a relay to hook them up. Look right on the fan, it should say 12 volts on it |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 642 Registered: Aug-04 | yep ur right eric, i just called marshall white and he explained, i didnt even see the 12vDC labeled on the back of the box, thanks for replying man. i just ran the fan off of my amp terminals for a sec to see if it worked and it did. ill prolly run the white wire to the remote terminal on the amp and power and ground to their spots, that way the fan comes on with the amp. anything worng with? thanks again eric. |
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Silver Member Username: Safe_crackerChicago, IL US Post Number: 697 Registered: Jan-06 | Ya, you may get feedback and noise into your amp, may need a small cap for it but you better ask the electronics guru's Polo..  |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 643 Registered: Aug-04 | really? i never thought of that polo, but good point. well anyone have any ideas on that? thank yall for all the input so far. |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 329 Registered: Dec-04 | im not sure exactly how to hook it up, but when i was going to do this i was told to use a bosch relay. You use the remote wire for the main power, and then a wire out for the remote and then the fan. I believe you also have to ground it. I do have this though. it shows the terminals on the relay. http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm that should also help, because that uses the remote wire as the source of power. |
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Bronze Member Username: 2pacalypse1971Sandusky, Oh Post Number: 60 Registered: Jul-05 | i did this before years ago when i was first gettin into car audio and i'm not sure how it goes but mine only had two wires and i hooked the red to the power wire and the black to the ground and it worked and stuff, but make sure you hook one of them up to the remote because i didn't and the fans just stayed on all nite and drained my battery....so just my warning...im sure you prolly have more knowledge then me but just a warning.. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 647 Registered: Aug-04 | ok i get how to hook up the fan to the relay and i understand how the relay works. i deal with them often in a/c repair, i wasnt trained in school to do it, but im learning from experience and my couisn, and the demo things on bace1 were a great help for me to understand them more. but y exactly do i need the relay?? does it protect the fans or something?? i mean i was just gonna jump power from my amp or just run a separate power wire from my bat, with a fuse, and ground the fan(s) and run the remote wire for the fan from the bat also and put an inline switch to it. |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 330 Registered: Dec-04 | you need the relay because the output on the remote wire is very small, and if you try to pull too much out of it ( you can only turn on 2-3 amps with one) it will burn up. The relay just protects everything. |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 332 Registered: Dec-04 | you need the relay because the output on the remote wire is very small, and if you try to pull too much out of it ( you can only turn on 2-3 amps with one) it will burn up. The relay just protects everything. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 652 Registered: Aug-04 | oooo ok i gotcha eric, thanks alot man. if i run my remote off of my bat (12v source) and my power wire and just put a switch on the remote wire for the fan, would i need a relay? |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 333 Registered: Dec-04 | nope. if you do that, i'd get a switch with a little led or something so you know when its on. I used to have an amp hooked up like that and i forgot to turn it off all the time. But that would work fine. The relay is just for turning it on and off with the car. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 653 Registered: Aug-04 | ok thanks eric uve been a big help. i think im just gonna run the wires like that from the bat instead of using my HU's remote. thanks agian bro. |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 334 Registered: Dec-04 | no problem. I'd do the switch thing too... it seems easier to do. i'd run one fused wire from the battery to the switch, and then another wire from the other prong on the switch to the fan. And then find a ground in the back for the fan, you could prob use your amp ground spot. I would also try to get a LED rocker switch so you can see when its on or not. To make that work all you need to do is ground the switch too. Good luck |
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Bronze Member Username: Kevin420Gilbert, Az USA Post Number: 21 Registered: Apr-06 | I run 3" fans, bosch relay, off remote wire from H/U on dist. block. Will send wiring contact desc. on bosch relay if needed. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 686 Registered: Aug-04 | if its not too much trouble, kevin. but i think when i do build the amp rack im gonna run from the bat with an in line switch. |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5433 Registered: Nov-04 | You don't need an inline switch to the battery. It's quite simple. Use the 12v relay with the HU's remote wire to trigger power, so that the fan and the amp will be under one control. Last thing you want to do is turn things off manually. |
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Silver Member Username: Safe_crackerChicago, IL US Post Number: 718 Registered: Jan-06 | Why don't you just use a thermister and let it turn itself on at a predetermined temp? Polo.. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 693 Registered: Aug-04 | i bought the fans with 3 speed on it, they had some with that temp thing but i didnt want it. i dont mind havin to turn it off manually, i dont want to run it from the remote on the HU cuz i already have bookoo stuff running off of it, and i didnt want to put a relay on the remote wire. |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5440 Registered: Nov-04 | Johnny, if you have 2 or more devices on HU's remote wire, you NEED to have a relay. If not, you will blow the HU. That remote wire only puts out 200ma the most. Not enough power to be shared. Think about it, a $6 relay vs $200 HU. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 699 Registered: Aug-04 | oh sh!t. i think i need a relay then. do u know where i could get a relay for my needs. as of now i have 2 amps, an audio control xover, and an audio control EQL running off of the remote wire. maybe radio shack or some other place has them?? thanks for bringing that to light for me dude. |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5444 Registered: Nov-04 | Radio Shack should have one for $6. If not, visit any electronics store. Most will sell for under $10 for quality parts. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 700 Registered: Aug-04 | thanks alot isaac. im not exactly sure how to wire it though. is it like a distrobutin block basically? like one remote in and a bunch come out, but with something internally to protect the HU? |
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Gold Member Username: SouthernrebelMonroe, Louisiana USA Post Number: 2681 Registered: Mar-04 | are relay is a switch basically. you run a power wire from the relay back to your batt...the remote on the amps/cross over's will feed off the batt. the relay will be 'switched on' they it get voltage from the HU...it will be the only thing that actually feeds off the HU. |
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Bronze Member Username: Van_manPost Number: 13 Registered: Mar-06 | I am running six amps and a EQ. All amps are fed through relay with individual switches too. This way I can turn on just front amps, Mid amps Back amps or Sub amp in combonations or all at once.. I found that the led swithes draw too much power when using multiples, so opted for rockers with visual red on markinks. Still everthing is controlled thru HU so when its off, all systems are off. By the way here is directions for wiring in a relay.... All you have to do is connect 85 to your decks remote output wire, and 86 to ground. Then, connect 30 to a fused 12 volts source, and 87 to your outgoing remote line. Remember that the relay can carry up to 30 amps, but if your wire can only handle 10 amps, you should use a 10 amp fuse. 87a is not used, but I recommend taping up that pin, or pulling the wire out of the base, so that it does not short out. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 701 Registered: Aug-04 | thanks marshall and mark. ill go to radio shack tomorrow and get a relay. o marshall i dont think we r gonna make it to the comp this weekend, i put it in map quest and its gonna take 3-3.5 hours to get there and nobody wants to make that ride with me. so ima have to sit this one out.  oh, dude, please sell my XXX 12 if u can, i found a XXX 15 and i really want to make the upgrade. call me for the price or IM me. |
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Silver Member Username: Sony224422Deep River, CT US Post Number: 339 Registered: Dec-04 | how much do you want for the xxx12 haha |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 704 Registered: Aug-04 | dude i need to sell it. i want a 15 bad. i sent u a message on here. hit me back if u get it. or if u have AIM, my SN is crabmaster596. |
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Gold Member Username: SouthernrebelMonroe, Louisiana USA Post Number: 2684 Registered: Mar-04 | man...you gotta be kidding me! tell everyone to take one for the team and come to the show!!! i was planning to make it rain, sh!t, or shine...but if no one else is gonna show, damit! i have a friend from jonesville supposed to come...we are gonna stay the weekend. we are gonna stay in whatever hotel the other competitors stay in...sometimes they do discounts when a group gets like 10rooms. prolly get like $40 a-nite rooms anyways though. come on....if no one else is gonna come, just make the drive yourself...i might end up doing that anyways (if josh pusses out on me) i gotta go to sleep man...get ahold of me tomorrow. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnnylemoineLaPlace, Louisiana United States Post Number: 705 Registered: Aug-04 | dude ill see wut i can do, but i doubt it. i know of one person that wants to come, FATTY, and he is too aggrevating. wut day is the comp? cuz i know its a 2 day thing. |
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Gold Member Username: SouthernrebelMonroe, Louisiana USA Post Number: 2685 Registered: Mar-04 | the comp is sat and sun...i think trophies will be handed out at like 2pm on sunday. if you dont get to make it, try to make the show in McComb, miss, on the 22nd. cya |
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