Ever take a Smart Fan 2 apart??

crull · Aug 19, 2003

I'm wondering if anyone has ever taken a smartfan 2 apart to see how it works. The fan is rated for around 8.4 watts, but comes with a low wattage pot...how does it manage this?
The reason I want to know is because a Tornado fan is rated for around 9 watts, wondering if there is any way to use the thermal control circuit from the smartfan with the Tornado.

Posidon42 · Aug 19, 2003

my vote would be for you to spend the $10-15 on a spare fan, take it apart and let us know how it works

crull · Aug 19, 2003

I think I'm gonna do that. I already have a plan in mind. I'm gonna take the guts out of the smart fan. Wire a molex connector to where the internal connections were going inside the smart fan. That way I'll have a thermal adapter hopefully. Plug the power for the smart fan to power from the power supply, and the other end with the molex will be were the Tornado plugs into. I might have to mess with the circuit a little bit as fas as resistance goes....but I think it will work.

Stephan · Aug 20, 2003

I knew I shouldn't have thrown that broken SF2 away!!! I had the perfect donor! Brand new with a broken fan blade.......Sheesch

Amorphus · Aug 20, 2003

taking it apart isn't going to help you, dude.

and as for the low wattage pot... maybe it uses a transistor as an amplifier?

crull · Aug 20, 2003

Amorphus said:
taking it apart isn't going to help you, dude.

and as for the low wattage pot... maybe it uses a transistor as an amplifier?

Unless you have a background in electronics don't tell me its not gonna work, I think it might just work and well at that. I have a background in electronics and I am just about sure it will work. I need to take some resistance measurements from the smart fan, to compare to the Tornado. Then I am gonna open the smart fan to take out the circuit board leaving the power connection. and thermal probe connection intact. There has to be a positive and negative connection off of the circuit board for the fan. This positive and negative will end up being power for the Tornado, wired to a molex. The other side of the circuit I don't have to do anything to. The only way it might not work is if the resistances are way off between the smartfan and the tornado, because the circuit for the thermal probe was designed around the resistance of the smartfan.

Sniperboy · Aug 21, 2003

crull said:
I'm wondering if anyone has ever taken a smartfan 2 apart to see how it works. The fan is rated for around 8.4 watts, but comes with a low wattage pot...how does it manage this?
The reason I want to know is because a Tornado fan is rated for around 9 watts, wondering if there is any way to use the thermal control circuit from the smartfan with the Tornado.

The reason you don't need a pot rated the same as the fan is because the pot doesn't need to dissapate 8.4 watts. Brushless dc fans will stop running around 6 volts, so you don't need to go much lower than that voltage. therefore, you really only need roughly4.2 watts of dissapating power in your pot.

crull said:
Unless you have a background in electronics don't tell me its not gonna work, I think it might just work and well at that. I have a background in electronics and I am just about sure it will work. I need to take some resistance measurements from the smart fan, to compare to the Tornado. Then I am gonna open the smart fan to take out the circuit board leaving the power connection. and thermal probe connection intact. There has to be a positive and negative connection off of the circuit board for the fan. This positive and negative will end up being power for the Tornado, wired to a molex. The other side of the circuit I don't have to do anything to. The only way it might not work is if the resistances are way off between the smartfan and the tornado, because the circuit for the thermal probe was designed around the resistance of the smartfan.

You don't need to take resistive measurement ratings. Ohm's law is all you need. You should know that, with your background in electronics. For the smartfan 2, which is 8.4 watts. We convert that to amps by using P=IV 8.4w=12I=.7 amps. Then, using r=V/amps we get r=12/.7=17.14 ohms. Rinse and repeat with the tornado, and you get 16 ohms.

crull · Aug 21, 2003

Yes I know OHM's law, but I don't trust written information on a side of the box. I would rather test to get true readings so If I decide to mess with any resistance values I know for sure what I am gonna end up with.

"You should know that, with your background in electronics."

Sniperboy I'm probably around 3 times older then you....lets be a little bit more respectful to your elders.

altec · Aug 21, 2003

We are all equals here...or thats what I thought...and therefore we should all be treated with the same ammount of respect...elder or no elder.

Stephan · Aug 21, 2003

altec said:
We are all equals here...or thats what I thought...and therefore we should all be treated with the same ammount of respect...elder or no elder.

I concur. We are all experts in our own realm but none of us knows everything about everything. I may be an Avionics Tech on aircraft dealing with multiple intergrated computer management systems but that doesn't mean I know squat about thermal dynamics of a computer case. (Just a silly example concerning the case)

crull · Aug 21, 2003

I only started because I asked for some reasonable input on a question, but instead I'm told don't bother. That's not being the least bit helpful or constructive. So if anyone wants to get on me for anything go right ahead, because I'm not gonna put up with any crap from anyone here. I always try to be helpful when I can with questions that are asked in this forum dealing with electronics or computers anything I might know about. There hasn't been too much I haven't been able to do when I put my mind to something. Anyone gets wise with me I'll get wise right back. I'll treat you the same way you treat me. I especially don't need someone that could be son being a smart *** with me. And last but not least I will end up with a thermal controlled Tornado using the smartfan circuit...and I doubt I will share anything about how I did it in this forum.

Kino · Aug 21, 2003

crull.... 2 things:
1. age is but a number, one can be a 800 years old and still be a n00b

EDIT:

And last but not least I will end up with a thermal controlled Tornado using the smartfan circuit...and I doubt I will share anything about how I did it in this forum.

see what i mean?

2. chill man!

and yes, before you throw it on my face, i could easily be your grandson or whatever since im 14 years old

- Kino

crull · Aug 21, 2003

- Kino

This has nothing to do with anything you wrote, it has to do originally with someone being a little jerk. I don't claim to know everything, thats why I posted my question to begin with...but instead of getting help I got people being jerks and acting ignorant. So whether your 14 or 40 maybe you should scroll up to the top of the page and read every post so you understand a little bit more then you do about the this topic.

crull · Aug 21, 2003

Kino...one last thing, seeing how your only 14 and lack the experience of life, I'm not really interested in your oppinion.

unreal · Aug 21, 2003

lol.. yeah if u have a spare to tinker with and do have a background E.E. degrgee than yes go for it,,, if not,, burn baby burn,,

emericanchaos · Aug 21, 2003

crull said:
Kino...one last thing, seeing how your only 14 and lack the experience of life, I'm not really interested in your oppinion.

i read the whole post and i didn't see anyone being ignorant except you, crull. i saw sniper boy whip out the calculator and crunch some numbers.

your statement about inaccurate numbers from manufacturers is warranted because OEM's will fudge the numbers to meet a price point or market demographic. but if it's being printed on a label on the fan i'd say it's accurate. you don't see CFM and Dba measurements on there and i beleive your opinion on OEM's and their reliability on their numbers is the reason why they don't.

you were given an answer according to the information given. you never mentioned anything about a background in electronics in your initial post. had you mentioned that sniperboy would probably have wrote his post differently.

Originally posted by sniperboyThe reason you don't need a pot rated the same as the fan is because the pot doesn't need to dissapate 8.4 watts. Brushless dc fans will stop running around 6 volts, so you don't need to go much lower than that voltage. therefore, you really only need roughly4.2 watts of dissapating power in your pot.

by that i would say it sounds like it will work. no need to get angry with anyone here.

i doubt you'll get an accurate answer now because of the way you acted earlier. good luck though

Kino · Aug 21, 2003

crull said:
Kino...one last thing, seeing how your only 14 and lack the experience of life, I'm not really interested in your oppinion.

see point #1 of my first post, you sound like a stubborn kid

*covers ears* *hums i wont listen, i wont listen*

and btw, i never.... EVER post in a thread without reading all the posts, one thing i gotta say is good luck with that fan youre making, cause with that attitude youre gunna need it if you expect to get help from people here

Sniperboy · Aug 21, 2003

crull said:
Yes I know OHM's law, but I don't trust written information on a side of the box. I would rather test to get true readings so If I decide to mess with any resistance values I know for sure what I am gonna end up with.

"You should know that, with your background in electronics."

Sniperboy I'm probably around 3 times older then you....lets be a little bit more respectful to your elders.

I meant no disrespect, it just seemed odd to me.

Zoilo · Aug 22, 2003

*waits for this thread to blow up*

seriously, though, I don't think you should be taking out your crap on everyone. Amorphus was the only one who probably made a somewhat uneducated remark with

taking it apart isn't going to help you, dude.

but he still tried to help:

and as for the low wattage pot... maybe it uses a transistor as an amplifier?

Also:

Kino...one last thing, seeing how your only 14 and lack the experience of life, I'm not really interested in your oppinion.

He may be young, but he very well could know more about electronics/computers than you do. Just because he's 14 doesn't mean he doesn't know anything. He's apparently more mature than you, though. :eh?:

I've been through my share of experiences, and I've learned a lot of things the hard way. I'm 22, but I would consider what a 14/12/10-year-old has to say. There are a few "adults" who I can't say the same about, though. My point...consider everyone's view unless that specific person gives you a reason not to. I'm done with the subject. Good luck with your credibility here.

DeadSmiley · Aug 22, 2003

Yep...

I took my son Dustin to see a friend of mine (Mike) race his car, a '67 Chevy II, at a local drag strip. The car was not running well, it was launching fine but losing power at the end of the run.

My son started asking questions about the car while Mike had the hood poped open. One of the question/answers was like this:

Dustin, "What's that?"
Mike, "It's my fuel pressure gage."
Dustin, "Have you checked it? Maybe your fuel pressure is too low."
Mike checked the pressure and sure enough it was low.

My son was 8 years old at the time.

Sometimes all it takes is someone changing your focus form where you are looking to find the answer. Mike was impressed and still talks about that day and it was three years ago.

</story mode off>

Ever take a Smart Fan 2 apart??

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