I noticed that my goldfish tank was running a little hot so i decided to put a fan on it.
You will need.
Either superglue or water resistant tape. (airfix glue works just as well but it stinks the house out).
A fish tank with a lid.
A 12 volt transformer (10 volt works just as well though.
A 12 volt brushless dc fan (size will vary)
A tape measure.
An inline fuse holder.
A fuse which fits into the holder and it suitable for the current draw of the fan.
Any type of connector that will be watertight.
Possibly a calculator.
Just a word: TO calculate the amps from watts, divide the wattage by the volts and you will probably get a tiny number of amps.
Step 1. With the tape measure, measure these following things.
A)The width of the lid.
B)The length of the lid.
This will give you a measurement to which you can fit a fan safely (mine is just about borderline)
Step 2.
Using these measurements treat your little monsters to a DC 12V brushless fan that is slightly smaller than the measurements.
Step 3.
Choose where you want the fan to go when on the lid, then follow these steps.
A)Place the fan down squarely atop the position you desire.
B)Using a pencil mark out a circle around the outside of the fan area (put the pencil in between the blades and make a circle around the circumference).
C)Take this away for a future stage or if you do not have the things for stage 4 yet go straight to stage 6
Step 4.
Now you have the Fan, Connectors, inline fuse and holder. Follow these steps to get it working.
A)At the end of the wire there will probably be a connector that goes in a piece of equipment or something like that. Cut this off as it will not be needed.
B)Using a pair of cutters, take the power lead that used to go into the connector and make a cut down the middle.
C)You should now be able to pull the bonded wires apart quite easily. Pull them until each seperate wire measures about 15 cm.
D)Take the insulation off of the neutral wire (this is normally plain black) for about a centimetre.
E)From the point where the 2 wires join, on the positive lead measure about 4 cm upwards and cut, then take about 1 cm of the insulation off of the wire.
F)Do the same tothe piece of cut off wire, taking 1 cm off at each end.
G)Now fit the inline fuse holder (i cant say how to do this as there are a lot of types)
H)The power sopurce is complete, move on to stage 5.
Stage 5.
Only the fan and connectors remain on the electronics side of things.
A)Take the Brushless fan and (if not done so already) take about 1 CM off each wire.
B)Now take 2 of the connectors (preferably both of them either male of female)
C)Crimp/Solder/Shrinkwrap the connectors into place on the fan wires.
D)Do the same thing for the other 2 wires coming from the transformer. Make sure you connect the positive to the positive etc otherwise you could damage the fan.
E)Fan and power supply complete, plug it into a wall socket and test run it!
Stage 6.
Only the lid left to do now.
A)Take the lid and drill lots of holes carefully around the circle drawn in pencil.
B)Even more carefully, drill sideways through the rest of the bits of plastic, the disc should now fall out.
C)Sand down the rough bits inside to give a smooth edge all round.
Stage 7.
Affixing the fan.
A)Using the adhesive of your choice, bond the fan to the lid and if using glue leave to dry with the fan running for 5 minutes.
B)Put the lid back on the tank.
C)Plug it in, sit back, relax and enjoy the little monsters thanking you for your generosity!
Will upload pics of mine.
Blubble-37
You will need.
Either superglue or water resistant tape. (airfix glue works just as well but it stinks the house out).
A fish tank with a lid.
A 12 volt transformer (10 volt works just as well though.
A 12 volt brushless dc fan (size will vary)
A tape measure.
An inline fuse holder.
A fuse which fits into the holder and it suitable for the current draw of the fan.
Any type of connector that will be watertight.
Possibly a calculator.
Just a word: TO calculate the amps from watts, divide the wattage by the volts and you will probably get a tiny number of amps.
Step 1. With the tape measure, measure these following things.
A)The width of the lid.
B)The length of the lid.
This will give you a measurement to which you can fit a fan safely (mine is just about borderline)
Step 2.
Using these measurements treat your little monsters to a DC 12V brushless fan that is slightly smaller than the measurements.
Step 3.
Choose where you want the fan to go when on the lid, then follow these steps.
A)Place the fan down squarely atop the position you desire.
B)Using a pencil mark out a circle around the outside of the fan area (put the pencil in between the blades and make a circle around the circumference).
C)Take this away for a future stage or if you do not have the things for stage 4 yet go straight to stage 6
Step 4.
Now you have the Fan, Connectors, inline fuse and holder. Follow these steps to get it working.
A)At the end of the wire there will probably be a connector that goes in a piece of equipment or something like that. Cut this off as it will not be needed.
B)Using a pair of cutters, take the power lead that used to go into the connector and make a cut down the middle.
C)You should now be able to pull the bonded wires apart quite easily. Pull them until each seperate wire measures about 15 cm.
D)Take the insulation off of the neutral wire (this is normally plain black) for about a centimetre.
E)From the point where the 2 wires join, on the positive lead measure about 4 cm upwards and cut, then take about 1 cm of the insulation off of the wire.
F)Do the same tothe piece of cut off wire, taking 1 cm off at each end.
G)Now fit the inline fuse holder (i cant say how to do this as there are a lot of types)
H)The power sopurce is complete, move on to stage 5.
Stage 5.
Only the fan and connectors remain on the electronics side of things.
A)Take the Brushless fan and (if not done so already) take about 1 CM off each wire.
B)Now take 2 of the connectors (preferably both of them either male of female)
C)Crimp/Solder/Shrinkwrap the connectors into place on the fan wires.
D)Do the same thing for the other 2 wires coming from the transformer. Make sure you connect the positive to the positive etc otherwise you could damage the fan.
E)Fan and power supply complete, plug it into a wall socket and test run it!
Stage 6.
Only the lid left to do now.
A)Take the lid and drill lots of holes carefully around the circle drawn in pencil.
B)Even more carefully, drill sideways through the rest of the bits of plastic, the disc should now fall out.
C)Sand down the rough bits inside to give a smooth edge all round.
Stage 7.
Affixing the fan.
A)Using the adhesive of your choice, bond the fan to the lid and if using glue leave to dry with the fan running for 5 minutes.
B)Put the lid back on the tank.
C)Plug it in, sit back, relax and enjoy the little monsters thanking you for your generosity!
Will upload pics of mine.
Blubble-37
