[Q] Laptop cooler pad - DIY

[gladson1976]

Hi All,

I've been working on a low cost DIY laptop cooler pad and have completed it. Its just a rough one with a hard board and two 12v fans with a USB cable from an old mouse. The cost worked out to around $2

The fans work quite fine on 5v from the USB, but I was just wondering if there was any way of boosting the 5v output from the USB to 12v for the fans ?




The black piece of plastic on the top left corner in the first picture does nothing right now, but was planning on a switch or a potentiometer later on.

 

[marsmimar]

Nice project. I like it!

I'm relying strictly on memory so there's a good possibility I'm wrong. But I think each USB port (2.0 and 3.0) is rated at 5V with an actual working voltage of around 4.5-4.7V. A 2.0 port is rated at 500mA per port while 3.0 has up to 900mA per port.

The only way I can think of to increase power to the fans is to use a Y-conector cable and plug into two ports or perhaps use a powered USB hub by itself or along with a Y-cable. But like I said, I could be totally wrong on this.

 

[gladson1976]

Lee,

I'd forgotten about Y-cables . Those should do the trick, but would take up two USB ports
Will check that out today.

On the other hand, there are a few schematics on the net for boosting 5v to 12v, sacrificing the amperage, but I'm a total noob at electronics

 

[jc836]

The answer sadly is that a Y-cable will do nothing except to use up 2 ports. The spec for USB 2 ports is 5 volts @ 500ma max. You cannot make the voltage any higher. You would be increasing the available current-which does nothing to speed up the fans.
The best solutions are
1. 5 volt fans
2. a 12 volt @ 1 amp (or higher current) wall wart.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

I would go with the wall wart but the noise off these fans running wide open at 12volt is going to drive you out of the room.

 

[madcratebuilder]

$7 shipped, three 5v fans with a single usb connector. Great on a hard surface but to flimsy for your lap. Does a good job of cooling and gives you a nice angle on the keyboard.

 

[gladson1976]

$7 shipped, three 5v fans with a single usb connector. Great on a hard surface but to flimsy for your lap. Does a good job of cooling and gives you a nice angle on the keyboard.

Thanks for the link but I'll pass on that since this is a diy and also it costs thrice
Just checked it again, Shipping $15 to India

 

[madcratebuilder]

$7 shipped, three 5v fans with a single usb connector. Great on a hard surface but to flimsy for your lap. Does a good job of cooling and gives you a nice angle on the keyboard.

Thanks for the link but I'll pass on that since this is a diy and also it costs thrice
Just checked it again, Shipping $15 to India

That makes a big difference. I should have caught that you are in India. If you want to get full fan speed you could look for a wall wart that provides 12vdc, but then you are tethered to a wall plug.

 

[gladson1976]

Guess I'll have to go with the wall wart to get full speed, or I might try a 9 volt battery

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Not to discount your project but just raising a laptop so it draws cool air helps a ton. See this little widget I bought and you can make. What I like about it is how it raises the screen up. I use this with another 23" led in a dual screen set up with wireless mouse and keyboard and it rocks.

Amazon.com: 3M Vertical Notebook Riser (LX550): Office Products