DIY build with PC fans?

mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
Im nearly done with my Bridgelux build and looking at my nearly completed frame I got an idea.

I grow in a 3x3 tent so room for fans is hard to come by. I can put a ton of clip on fans but I’m trying to keep the number of outlets used to a minimum.

So here’s my idea and I’d love some feedback and maybe even wiring instructions.

I was thinking of integrating a few pc fans to my frame blowing air down to the plants. And one clip on blowing across the canopy.

Would it be possible to wire those fan to my driver. HLG 250h 20a?

And would the air blowing down to the plants be good or bad?
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Why would you need more than a one or two 6" clip on fans? I assume you have an exhaust fan for temperature control so any other fans would be for circulating air across the plants themselves and those PC fans aren't going to do shite for that purpose, especially if they are mounted to the light. just sayin'
 
mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
canadian1969 said:
Why would you need more than a one or two 6" clip on fans? I assume you have an exhaust fan for temperature control so any other fans would be for circulating air across the plants themselves and those PC fans aren't going to do shite for that purpose, especially if they are mounted to the light. just sayin'
Click to expand...
As it is I have 1 6” but just not sure if it’s enough. Maybe I was wrong.
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Unless you are trying to cool the light rig itself I dont see the point really. I am sure you will have some other opinions shortly.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
I actually like PC fans for a bit of circulation. Just for any dead spots. I have had a few attached to my cob rig as you described. They do actually create a nice breeze. I also on occasion tie wrap them to the plants themselves, usually when I do a Scrog.
I actually got some wall mounted fans and attached them to the tent ceiling, those thing really shift some air. Much better.
Clip on fans can be good but there are some terrible ones on the market too. I have a shit one, it looks nice, is 6", but tested against a 4 inch PC fan the PC fan creates more of a breeze. The clip on doesn't even move a bit of paper.
I have never connected them to a driver because I wire them to phone chargers or multi voltage power adapters. But yes you can connect them to the driver, I have seen it done, but they need to be connected correctly and im not sure how that is done.
You can buy controllers used for PCs and run multiple fans and even have them speed controlled with thermostats to ramp them up or down if you so wish.

Im a firm believer in using many fans
 
N

Nutria

Well-Known Member
coreywebster said:
I actually like PC fans for a bit of circulation. Just for any dead spots. I have had a few attached to my cob rig as you described. They do actually create a nice breeze. I also on occasion tie wrap them to the plants themselves, usually when I do a Scrog.
I actually got some wall mounted fans and attached them to the tent ceiling, those thing really shift some air. Much better.
Clip on fans can be good but there are some terrible ones on the market too. I have a shit one, it looks nice, is 6", but tested against a 4 inch PC fan the PC fan creates more of a breeze. The clip on doesn't even move a bit of paper.
I have never connected them to a driver because I wire them to phone chargers or multi voltage power adapters. But yes you can connect them to the driver, I have seen it done, but they need to be connected correctly and im not sure how that is done.
You can buy controllers used for PCs and run multiple fans and even have them speed controlled with thermostats to ramp them up or down if you so wish.

Im a firm believer in using many fans
Click to expand...
Sir, may I ask you how did you manage to securely attach ("pc") fan to the tent? Do you have them only on the ceiling?
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
coreywebster said:
You can buy controllers used for PCs and run multiple fans and even have them speed controlled with thermostats to ramp them up or down if you so wish.
Click to expand...
I did this for my DIY exhaust fan, 120mm PC fan connected to one of these..link
https://imgur.com/a/GE5OVNm
Mounted it all on a plant pot from Dollar Store that fits in my 8" top exhaust port.
https://imgur.com/a/NzXOu5r

As for wiring them, almost all are PC fans are 12 volts and 0.15 to 0.36 amps, so you need to wire in series or parallel with ohms law in mind, series you add voltage and current is constant and parallel you add current and voltage is constant.

@mastrmasn
Having good air flow around the plants is essential to control humidity/prevent mold and pest issues and strengthen stems when they are young, if using fans to cool the light rig, then they should be pulling air up and towards the exhaust port imo
 
Last edited:
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Nutria said:
Sir, may I ask you how did you manage to securely attach ("pc") fan to the tent? Do you have them only on the ceiling?
Click to expand...
There are none on the ceiling. On the ceiling is a 16" wall mounted fan(pointing down and occilating) . Which is literally the best fan I have ever had and its quiet compared to some. Its attached to a wood lattice via the wall mount bracket and is tie wrapped to make sure it doesn't come off and fall on plants. The lattice is tie wrapped to the tent poles which are designed for hanging anything. 8x4 tent.

The PC fans. I had two tie wrapped to the cob frame pointed at canopy, the tie wraps fit through the tiny holes in all 4 corners of the PC fans. I had a couple for here and there also, which often I tie wrapped to the branches under the canopy of a scrog of super cropped plant, pointing up to canopy.
There was also two PC fans attached to plastic coat hangers, two of them formed a little triangle which had two PC fans and hung from bungies from the tent poles. Due to the shape of the coat hanger frame they naturally pointed at 45 degree (ish) angle down to the canopy.

I also had a tower fan suspended horizontally with bungie cords and two clip on fans plus a couple of little 4" air movers.

Like I say I like plenty of air movement and I love tie wraps too!!
I say "had" because I packed all that grow up when I moved in feb/march and have since relocated most of my equipment to other people/places.
 
mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
canadian1969 said:
I did this for my DIY exhaust fan, 120mm PC fan connected to one of these..link
https://imgur.com/a/GE5OVNm
Mounted it all on a plant pot from Dollar Store that fits in my 8" top exhaust port.
https://imgur.com/a/NzXOu5r

As for wiring them, almost all are PC fans are 12 volts and 0.15 to 0.36 amps, so you need to wire in series or parallel with ohms law in mind, series you add voltage and current is constant and parallel you add current and voltage is constant.

@mastrmasn
Having good air flow around the plants is essential to control humidity/prevent mold and pest issues and strengthen stems when they are young, if using fans to cool the light rig, then they should be pulling air up and towards the exhaust port imo
Click to expand...
Cooling is not an issue as is humidity I have a proper exhaust rig with filter. My 6” is zip tied to the frame. Using the clip I couldn’t get the right angle. It’s just for moving air.
 
mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
coreywebster said:
There are none on the ceiling. On the ceiling is a 16" wall mounted fan(pointing down and occilating) . Which is literally the best fan I have ever had and its quiet compared to some. Its attached to a wood lattice via the wall mount bracket and is tie wrapped to make sure it doesn't come off and fall on plants. The lattice is tie wrapped to the tent poles which are designed for hanging anything. 8x4 tent.

The PC fans. I had two tie wrapped to the cob frame pointed at canopy, the tie wraps fit through the tiny holes in all 4 corners of the PC fans. I had a couple for here and there also, which often I tie wrapped to the branches under the canopy of a scrog of super cropped plant, pointing up to canopy.
There was also two PC fans attached to plastic coat hangers, two of them formed a little triangle which had two PC fans and hung from bungies from the tent poles. Due to the shape of the coat hanger frame they naturally pointed at 45 degree (ish) angle down to the canopy.

I also had a tower fan suspended horizontally with bungie cords and two clip on fans plus a couple of little 4" air movers.

Like I say I like plenty of air movement and I love tie wraps too!!
I say "had" because I packed all that grow up when I moved in feb/march and have since relocated most of my equipment to other people/places.
Click to expand...
That’s what I was envisioning. Tie wrapping them to my frame pointing down at the plants. I know I can use a regular 12v plug but I’m trying to not use to many outlets. I have an extension running from the wall to the tent. Only way I can get power to it in the garage. Outlets are across the room. The extension has 3 plugs on it. Only option would be to use the outlet adapters to add plugs. But I’m hesitant to use those. Safety and fire thing.
 
pulpoinspace

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
mastrmasn said:
I grow in a 3x3 tent so room for fans is hard to come by.
Would it be possible to wire those fan to my driver. HLG 250h 20a?

And would the air blowing down to the plants be good or bad?
Click to expand...
I would skip it.

I dunno the whole design of your fixture but if its running off a HLG-250h i'm gonna assume it's not crazy overpowered for a 3x3. I run 400w in a 3x3 and have no problem with heat using passive heat sinks.

I would just buy one more clip fan. and you want these clip fans low (near your air intake) and blowing air up (past your lights toward your exhaust) not the other way around.
 
mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
I was hoping to wire in parallel but my driver is rated at 20v and between the fans and strips they’d probably get well over the rated amps for the fans.
 
mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
pulpoinspace said:
I would skip it.

I dunno the whole design of your fixture but if its running off a HLG-250h i'm gonna assume it's not crazy overpowered for a 3x3. I run 400w in a 3x3 and have no problem with heat using passive heat sinks.

I would just buy one more clip fan. and you want these clip fans low (near your air intake) and blowing air up (past your lights toward your exhaust) not the other way around.
Click to expand...
Yeah it’s not overpowered and the fans weren’t for cooling only air circulation.
 
vostok

vostok

Well-Known Member
mastrmasn said:
Im nearly done with my Bridgelux build and looking at my nearly completed frame I got an idea.

I grow in a 3x3 tent so room for fans is hard to come by. I can put a ton of clip on fans but I’m trying to keep the number of outlets used to a minimum.

So here’s my idea and I’d love some feedback and maybe even wiring instructions.

I was thinking of integrating a few pc fans to my frame blowing air down to the plants. And one clip on blowing across the canopy.

Would it be possible to wire those fan to my driver. HLG 250h 20a?

And would the air blowing down to the plants be good or bad?
Click to expand...
A proper 4x4 tent would put you on a stronger footing to try stuff out?

consider
 
pulpoinspace

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
mastrmasn said:
Yeah it’s not overpowered and the fans weren’t for cooling only air circulation.
Click to expand...
Nice.

I get a nice amount of circulation with 2 6" clip fans in a 3x3. blowing up across the canopy, past the lights and toward the exhaust. as low as i can keep them in opposite corners. it works for me and its nice an easy!!

good luck.
 
mastrmasn

mastrmasn

Well-Known Member
vostok said:
A proper 4x4 tent would put you on a stronger footing to try stuff out?

consider
Click to expand...
I’d been out of the game for nearly 20 years. I needed a small as possible footprint not to set the wife off lol. But yeah in the future planning for a 4x4 and using the smaller one for mother.
 
N

Nutria

Well-Known Member
canadian1969 said:
Thats clever, how did you wire and power them?
Click to expand...
If you don't need speed control it is pretty easy to power them.

Same to what we do with leds, check operating voltage and current and find a suitable driver. It is common to use parallel wiring. Usually they are 12v as already said
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top