# 120mm fan That goes 7200rpm! LOW NOISE TOO!



## Bazmecc

that'll be loud...all that air moving at that speed...that's all I hear from my fans, not their motors...

but I don't think anyone's ever tried this, so


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## Mootsfox

FAIL! And quick. That motor is made to move about 100 grams at 7200rpm with very very little air resistance inside the drive. A 120mm motor is a lot beefier.


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## Xerasyte

Wow, that actually does sound like a really good idea...Might have to try it if I could spare a HD... But still, props.


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## version2

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mootsfox*


FAIL! And quick. That motor is made to move about 100 grams at 7200rpm with very very little air resistance inside the drive. A 120mm motor is a lot beefier.


Exactly. And sound will probably come from disruption of the air.

Nice idea, but I have a feeling it won't work out as great as expected.


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## jcbzhnsr1

Sounds like a good idea, but at those speeds, it needs to be balanced VERY well.


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## Fishie36

It won't really go at anywhere near 7200 RPM. It's a super tiny motor that's only designed to push a hard disc platter with just about no air resistance. I'd be surprised if you got 1000RPM out of it.


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## DeeJay1337

Never hurts to try... right guys? Keep us posted man, If you get killed, i'll attend your funeral XD...jk But still keep us posted!


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## binormalkilla

Yea I'm going to have to agree with most of the posts on this one. The difference in torque b/w the fan and the hard disk is HUGE! It still may work fairly well, but you probably won't see 7200 RPM. 
My bet is that the work load will fry the little motor that could








Great idea though! I'm interested to see how this goes.
See if you can find the torque or horsepower (probably going to be in watts) of that motor. Then compare it to the specs of the fan that you're looking into buying.


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## gravity

Very ambitious... but worth a try


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## MAXAMOUS

Good original idea.

Anyone ever see that video of the kids spinning a cd at extremely high rmps?

Your fan may shatter bits and pieces all over as well.

Wear some eye protection and post the pictures of embedded plastic in ur skin.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *MAXAMOUS*


Good original idea.

Anyone ever see that video of the kids spinning a cd at extremely high rmps?

Your fan may shatter bits and pieces all over as well.

Wear some eye protection and post the pictures of embedded plastic in ur skin.










Yeah, keep in mind that the highest CFM 120mm does 4600rpm.


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
FAIL! And quick. That motor is made to move about 100 grams at 7200rpm with very very little air resistance inside the drive. A 120mm motor is a lot beefier.

the fan itself isnt that heavy, the ceramic plates were almost as heavy as the fan but if you take the motor out of the inside, the fan is almost lighter.
yea the air resistance was an issue, but i had a chance to test it really quickly (about 20 seconds) and it spins up to a violent speed.. so more pics to come! thanks for all the support guys. my first mod and im exited!


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## MAXAMOUS

Good luck!

How's the noise output now?


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## RaZzY

Dose the motor even spin?


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## leimrod

pictures please







and some video, this I gotta see.

Oh i'd also have a read of this, and do the math on the those fan blades and work out this

Wouldn't want to see the latest darwin award go to a guy who got a fan blade lodged in his head


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## RaZzY

That would be bad but funny "Lets turn it on........BANG" lol


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## killerfromsky

try a fan with multiple 'swords' then you prob have less air resistance


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## TheEddie

I have done this. I have a WD control board (tiny) that was on the HD set up with a 7200RPM motor, it spins fans really really fast... the bigger the fan the slower it spins though. an 80mm will chop some things apart for sure..


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## mikhsoj

Quote:



Originally Posted by *TheEddie*


I have done this. I have a WD control board (tiny) that was on the HD set up with a 7200RPM motor, it spins fans really really fast... the bigger the fan the slower it spins though. an 80mm will chop some things apart for sure..


yeap it works. i tried with a 90mm fan and the sound is barely a whisper. the motor itself makes barely any sound! the only sound is from the air itself and let me tell you, it sounds like someone blowing air! so quiet! the output itself is pretty good. im gonna take more pics and today im heading over to pc microcenter to pick up a 120mm fan, hopefully one with a few blades to help keep the sound down.


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## Snerp

This is some funny stuff! +Rep for being a nut


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## Tyrker

That is a GREAT idea, I'm definitely going to do this







I need faster fans anyways







+rep for doing what everyone said impossible.


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## Transonic

Excellent idea. Assuming the motor can handle the weight of the fan it looks promising. Anyone have a spare raptor lying around?









btw, don't tease us any longer. Show us pics of the finished product.


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## mikhsoj

got my 120mm fan today. found a coolermaster one for 7 bucks. gonna take a dremel to it and tear the motor out then its time for some custom machining at my school's cnc lab! pics up later! tmr i have econ test so need to study


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## binormalkilla

That is so awesome that it worked! That shows that Seagate makes some robust HDD motors. I really want to see some pics, or better yet videos, of that.


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## Marager

let me O.O (see)








this is a great idea that if catchs on will be used by many many computer nuts








i have 3 3200rpm hdds lying around..........3200 rpm is good too! because it will be completly silent







and still higher then most 120 mm fans speed


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## mikhsoj

Okay, so heres the fan









Take the fan apart, heres the nob that i need to remove









Pull the fan apart









Whoot. the fan is out









The quarter almost perfectly fits the dimensions of the spindle. Sooo..









Centering the quarter on the fan









Trace the quarter on the fan with a pencil...









DRILL TIME!









The hole is made and ready!









IT FITS!









Sorry pics are crappy, its on my cell phone. anyways, im gonna test the hard drive's component board and find out which lead are positive or negative so i can soldier on the leads for the fan.


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## Mootsfox

How do you plan on keeping the fan on the motor?


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
How do you plan on keeping the fan on the motor?

heheh.. keep watching!~







i got it planned!


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## binormalkilla

Looking good. Keep us updated.


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## MAXAMOUS

Looks a little off center.

*ducks and covers*


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## pbasil1

LOL, cool mod man! Im curious to see the outcome. If that fan blade is at all off balance, then it will just break offf and go flying. And since that motor isnt made for a heavy load, im betting it will top out around 3000-4000rpm, not the full 7200. But still a fun and exciting mod!

+rep for you.


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## noname

lol this is gunna be sweet, if its uber quite dude , you could patent it or something and sell it to a company


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## pyr0m1

You might want to remove most of the fins, but still keep it balanced. That way there's a lot less air resistance, and it'll sound a lot better.


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## Ihatethedukes

Still the nay sayers plague the thread.... this is a great idea.... GREAT idea. A pity it's so expensive. I see a 'buying dead HDDs thread coming soon'.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *noname*


lol this is gunna be sweet, if its uber quite dude , you could patent it or something and sell it to a company


Go look at the 220CFM deltas, their motor is huge.


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## mikhsoj

The fan is up and running. spinning REALLY FAST! it blows a shizload of air. and almost all the sounds come from the air itself.









to all the doubters, HA HA HA! SUCKAH!
videos up soon.....


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## gonX

ZOMG! Videos!!1


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## mikhsoj

anyone know how to calculate cfm?


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## gonX

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj* 
anyone know how to calculate cfm?

You'll need something optical for that.

Try getting some papers for it though


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## musicmanvin

hmmmm, i gots an old IDE HD lyeing around here, and i algo got on old DVD drive.. and i also have a thermaltake fan sitting in the back of my case which im about to trash soon... hmm mabe i can give this a shot ^^ mabe a 48X DVD drive can spin the fan blades, anyone wanna give that a shot?


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *musicmanvin* 
hmmmm, i gots an old IDE HD lyeing around here, and i algo got on old DVD drive.. and i also have a thermaltake fan sitting in the back of my case which im about to trash soon... hmm mabe i can give this a shot ^^ mabe a 48X DVD drive can spin the fan blades, anyone wanna give that a shot?

hey! thats my next project! U TOOK MY IDEA RIGHT OUT OF MY HEAD! LOLS!


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## NuclearCrap

Lol I just got an idea, how about welding a HDD motor on top of that 48x disc drive motor which drives the fan and make sure they both spin in the same direction? Fan SLI!!!

And for the fun of it you should see if it flies. Keep adding motors until it does.


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NuclearCrap* 
Lol I just got an idea, how about welding a HDD motor on top of that 48x disc drive motor which drives the fan and make sure they both spin in the same direction? Fan SLI!!!

And for the fun of it you should see if it flies. Keep adding motors until it does.









i had to tape the fan down to my table. SERIOUSLY, the fan was starting to take off and hover if i didnt anchor it.. NO KIDDING.


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## FrankenPC

It's the tips of the blades breaking the speed of sound which creates the massive noise. Helicopters blades and airplane props have the same problem.


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## MAXAMOUS

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj* 
i had to tape the fan down to my table. SERIOUSLY, the fan was starting to take off and hover if i didnt anchor it.. NO KIDDING.

FLYING PC!!


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## TheEddie

This is teasing me, I should kill my 3-blade Nidec and throw the blades onto my HD motor that is connected to the control board.. its been sitting here for this exact purpose but I just never got around to it..


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## musicmanvin

well i jus took apart my DVD drive... it seems more complicated then i thought ><, the power cord for the drive motor is like welded onto the big wafer thingy

but wat looks rely kool, is that the motor has like no friction at all, the things hovering on this magnet type coil thingy, it looks like the old science fair project i tired to make lol...

once someone figures out how to power the motor itself plz tell =P


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## mikhsoj

I have vids! but i cant upload them cuz my internet is gay.. dunnoe it keeps dropping my connection when i try....


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## RaZzY

DAMIT!!! TRY HARDER MAN, lol im trying to op my old HDD


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## leimrod

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj* 
I have vids! but i cant upload them cuz my internet is gay.. dunnoe it keeps dropping my connection when i try....

throw them up on youtube? I've had problems uploading to OCN before, it would sometimes timeout.


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## legoman786

Props!! I never would have thought of that! Make a hovering PC!


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## alexisd

OMG flying hdd or what it this







?Fan and hdd flying?








Good luck im going to log out just in case that thing hit my screen good luck.


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## Lyoko

Trying this with one of my junk x52 CDROM drives. Very innovative idea


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## Lyoko

Oh and BTW, most CD drives are supposed to spin at 10k rpm and maybe theyre a bit stronger since they hold see deez!

The laser thingy inside the CD drive had a plug....  so I unplugged it.
The motor looks prosperous.


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## waqasr

OMG i just found an old hdd...and ive got a spare fan.....oohh im going to be busy tonite







....or now actually


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## Lyoko

Does anyone know how to power this @ 12v and where to solder the mini wires?
This is the CD Rom Drive motor.
























I numbered the contact points.


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## Lyoko

Links anyone?


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## waqasr

could you show the back of the motor?...normaly theres the pcb there with lots of solder points, you should be able to find a + and - from there


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## Lyoko

It has a metal plate under it holding it together on the bottom. I can't remove that.


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## musicmanvin

ahh my DVD drive motor looks just like that!!!

and also, ive seen this on mythbusters, those 52X DVD drives wer able to spin the cds at get ready for this........

OVER 25K RPM!

so think about it, the fan probly weighs as much as a CD, but the way the fans curves you might loose some speed, and also this wouldnt be in a case so you might loose even more speed, but it should hit atleast 5K rpm ^^ mabe 10K oooooo

stick one of those puppys on the side of your case for exhaust, not only is it going to keep your graphics card cool, but it can also act as a nice foot cooler if you have your pc on the ground lol


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## MADMAX22

lol yeah cd players will work also, at work there was this guy that would take peoples broken cd players and take the little motors out of them and use them to make little cars, usually jsut two wheel jobs but he has made a 4 wheeler also, he use to get in alot of trouble for it but it was funny as hell

youd be standing there on watch and then there would be this zzzoooooommmmm and a little two wheeled creature would fly by your feet


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## legoman786

Quote:



Originally Posted by *MADMAX22*


lol yeah cd players will work also, at work there was this guy that would take peoples broken cd players and take the little motors out of them and use them to make little cars, usually jsut two wheel jobs but he has made a 4 wheeler also, he use to get in alot of trouble for it but it was funny as hell

youd be standing there on watch and then there would be this zzzoooooommmmm and a little two wheeled creature would fly by your feet


I wanna try!


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## musicmanvin

mabe you can go all out and hook a 30CM fan to a blender! and the wonderful part is, this alredy plugs right into the wall! not to mention you have so many different settings to choose from

or... lol.... get a bunch of hampters in wheels and have them run, and as the wheel turns, it turns the fans lmao

but anyways, anyone figure out how to power the dvd drive yet? or how to get the video on the net for all of us to see


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## RickJS

Can you post videos? My dad wants to try this but wants more information...


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## amd_hardsoftware

For God Sakes Stop The Excuses! Just Gimme The Video And Ill Upload It To My Website So Everyone Can Finally See This Friggin Awesome Mod!!! Rep+


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## mikhsoj

first of 2 videos.. sorry for the wait but youtube makes u wait soo long....
The Long Awaited Video


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## Fatal05

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj* 
first of 2 videos.. sorry for the wait but youtube makes u wait soo long....
The Long Awaited Video

haha nice

You should edit the video into your first post for convenience


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## ebotnf

the most amazing thing ever.....
Now you gotta post a vid of how to do the whole thing....


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## RaZzY

What you doing with your hand?


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ebotnf* 
the most amazing thing ever.....
Now you gotta post a vid of how to do the whole thing....

ill do a fast forward vid of making the fan.. one day.. lols

Anywhoo.. the amazing thing is that the fan blows air nearly 36 inches away from the source, and its pretty damn quiet.. my "shush" in the begining is WAY louder than the fan.


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## musicmanvin

wow


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## Lyoko

Awesome job man!









I'm going to try different combinations with the 13 contact points on the cd rom motor until I get a result. 250w power supply. 12V


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## alk

WOW. Much quieter than this beast> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzGD4XhvtJ8

LOL


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## Mootsfox

Overvolt that HDD motor


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## mikhsoj

Heres the other video!
Other vid linkey..


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## DontPassTheFence

that's damned BRILLIANT. Man that could take your finger right off and throw it 24" from the fan XD


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## Ross_uk

woudlnt want to do this LINKY!

anyways kwl idea


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## 3xtr3m3

Who wants to sacrifice his 15 000 RPM cheetah for this ? Would be cool to watch it blowing air 6' far


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## Sideburns

guaranteed it doesn't do 7200 RPM. Also, Guarantee it's not silent (proven by the video).

Good innovative idea though...we need more that're willing to hack stuff up!


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## version2

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Sideburns*


guaranteed it doesn't do 7200 RPM.


I wonder how one would could measure the real RPM...


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## Bazmecc

you'd need a laser counter thingy (tachometer?)...unless you can count real fast


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## uTunes

with all the air friction, i am would be suprised if it goes anywhere near those speads and the level of noise it will make


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## dotcomthese

Well it definitely would spin fast on a chipset fan or a GPU fan


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## swayne

to count it film it and use one minute of film and slow it down like 400 x and have ppl take turns counting


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## charbs152

haha


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## Tyrker

Hook up a fan controler on that beast and see how much air it pushes and near silent speeds.


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## musicmanvin

ugh.. enough of the "how much rpm is it" hook the beast up inside the comp and tell us the temp drop


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## mikhsoj

Quote:



Originally Posted by *musicmanvin*


ugh.. enough of the "how much rpm is it" hook the beast up inside the comp and tell us the temp drop










yeah, im working on that right now.

the reason its not 100% silent is that i made the thing by hand people! its off centered by like .5mm and its making it vibrate some. working on making it perfectly centered but its proving to be difficult. anywhoo.. im fabbing up the 120mm fan case to fit this monster.. sooo.. be prepared!


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## yuandrew

Quote:



Originally Posted by *LyokoHaCk*


Does anyone know how to power this @ 12v and where to solder the mini wires?
This is the CD Rom Drive motor.
























I numbered the contact points.


Most CD drive motors are brushless motors and some contacts are for the coils while others are for hall effect sensors which tell the motor controller how the rotor is oriented so it will pulse the right coil.
Unfortunately, you can't apply power to those points and expect the motor to spin by itself. The circuit board in the CD drive is what "runs" the motor by sending pulses of current into each coil.

http://www.speedy-bl.com/speedy-bldc.gif

You can look up CD Rom Drive Brushless motors on google and there will be some sites showing you how to get a CD rom motor to run apart from the circuit. There are plenty of sites dealing with the RC airplane community that explain this as some people are converting CD rom motors for electric flight.

http://www.angelfire.com/blues/heli_.../brushless.htm


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## leimrod

oh man i've got a shed load of 5200rpm drives in work just waiting to be recycled. This might be a good project. How are you holding the fan blades onto the motor? Have you glued it on or something?


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## marc.tulley

i ripped apart my screwed WD160 last night, and slapped a 120mm fan blade on there, how do you connect your power up???

i have 4 pins, 2 outer +'s and 2 inner -'s , ive connected 2 up at a time and it just magnetiaccly locks its current position with a twitch.

howd you hook yours up m8?

thanks
marc


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## someone153

Ok I am trying this and I ahve gotten down to the motor. I am left with 4 pins to power it. How do I know which ones to use?

As you can see I am not that great with electronics.


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## Lyoko

Quote:



Originally Posted by *yuandrew*


Most CD drive motors are brushless motors and some contacts are for the coils while others are for hall effect sensors which tell the motor controller how the rotor is oriented so it will pulse the right coil.
Unfortunately, you can't apply power to those points and expect the motor to spin by itself. The circuit board in the CD drive is what "runs" the motor by sending pulses of current into each coil.

http://www.speedy-bl.com/speedy-bldc.gif

You can look up CD Rom Drive Brushless motors on google and there will be some sites showing you how to get a CD rom motor to run apart from the circuit. There are plenty of sites dealing with the RC airplane community that explain this as some people are converting CD rom motors for electric flight.

http://www.angelfire.com/blues/heli_.../brushless.htm


Thanks for the response









But, to my surprise, it works. I put a pos 12v and negative 12v on the last two and it spins. The wires get too big and when both the neg and pos touch it turns off the psu and ive got to turn it back on. I will find some type of alligator clip on thingy!


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## TooFAST4YOU

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH 10k RPM RAPTOR SPEEEDZ.... WOOT


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## Lyoko

Bad news though... this same motor is HOT!!! I almost burned my finger just touching the base. I was afraid to touch the motor...


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## CyberWolf575

Unless that fan will be made out of metal..a regular 120 plastic fan will break as soon as it will reach around 5000rpm....so i dont really think its a good idea..plus if you do get a metal fan it will weight a lot...and it wont really work as good as a regular plastic fan...but try and tell us whats gonna happend..=)


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CyberWolf575* 
Unless that fan will be made out of metal..a regular 120 plastic fan will break as soon as it will reach around 5000rpm....so i dont really think its a good idea..plus if you do get a metal fan it will weight a lot...and it wont really work as good as a regular plastic fan...but try and tell us whats gonna happend..=)









umm.. go look at the videos dude. it works and the fan didnt explode like you thought it would.

and YES the motor gets HOT lols. i had it running overnight and when i came to the motor, omg! burninated my finger.









i guess the hard drives get hot cuz the motor right?
-------------------edit
some of you are asking me how to turn the motor on with a 4 contact point motor, im not sure, cuz mine only had 3. the best way to find out is trial and error. lucky for me, my friend had a switching power supply that automatically disconnects when short circuits sooo....


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## Fishie36

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj* 
umm.. go look at the videos dude. it works and the fan didnt explode like you thought it would.

That's because it's obviously not spinning at 7200RPM. I'd guess you are getting 1500... maybe 1800 if you are really luckey. Just take a look at some of the high end delta fans; they have massive motors, draw lots of current, and make an ear splitting ammount of noise just to turn out about 3000RPM.

Honestly you'd have to be fairly ignorant to think you can just take any motor rated for an RPM and hook it up to just anything and still expect it to spin that RPM. That's like saying I can just take 3200RPM lawn mower engine, bolt it to my car, and expect it to still run at 3200RPM. Obviously that's just as rediculious as expecting that your fan is spinning at 7200RPM.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Fishie36*


That's because it's obviously not spinning at 7200RPM. I'd guess you are getting 1500... maybe 1800 if you are really luckey. Just take a look at some of the high end delta fans; they have massive motors, draw lots of current, and make an ear splitting ammount of noise just to turn out about 3000RPM.

Honestly you'd have to be fairly ignorant to think you can just take any motor rated for an RPM and hook it up to just anything and still expect it to spin that RPM. *That's like saying I can just take 3200RPM lawn mower engine, bolt it to my car, and expect it to still run at 3200RPM. Obviously that's just as rediculious as expecting that your fan is spinning at 7200RPM.*


Lmao. That would be sweet.

I agree with Fishie on this.


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
Lmao. That would be sweet.

I agree with Fishie on this.

i would argue, but then again, whats NOT to say that my fan is spinning at 5000 rpm? can you count that fast? i cant. soo.. until i devise a way to count the rpm, lets keep the skepticism minimal please?

jeez.. so much for support. all i get is flamed for making a great idea.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj* 
i would argue, but then again, whats NOT to say that my fan is spinning at 5000 rpm? can you count that fast? i cant. soo.. until i devise a way to count the rpm, lets keep the skepticism minimal please?

jeez.. so much for support. all i get is flamed for making a great idea.









Basic math. I have this fan here and it goes from 800-2400rpm. At 2400rpm the thing is about ready to take off, it sounds like a jet engine. Sticking a piece of paper cuts it up. This fan uses 0.5A off the 12 volt line at full blast. Thats a lot considing my 80mm rosewills use 0.15A. I bring this up because to spin your fan at 5,000 rpm, you would have to have a very strong motor. A motor that uses more than 1A. Since a hard drive by itself in the computer uses roughly 10 watts, you're already over the limits.

Lets look at Delta's highest RPM 120mm fan. Here.









Notice how big that motor is? I'm guessing it's about 60mm in diameter. It pulls 2.45A off the 12 volt line, thats nearly 30 watts, just for a single fan. Now, why would Delta use should a huge motor in their fan? Probably because a smaller motor (like a hard drive motor, or a FM121 motor) can't push a 120mm fan at close to 5,000 rpm.

I'm not flaming you on the fact that you tried out a mod that hasn't been done (at least not on this site that I know of). I'm arguing with you because I doubt that it is doing more than 2000-3000 RPM. If you put a 60 or 40mm fan on there, it would probably spin up at 7200 RPM, or higher if there is no limiter. Think of a fan company who makes high performance fans, if hard drive motors worked as well as you make them out to be, wouldn't that company use hard drive motors in their fans?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mikhsoj*
jeez.. so much for support. all i get is flamed for making a great idea.









I'll flame you for calling your idea great, because you make it sound like your idea was so totally awesome and everyone just knocked it because they are jealous of you (or something).

Better wording would have been "jeez.. so much for support. all i get is flamed for making (to me) an orginal mod."


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## Fishie36

I'm sorry if I came off as flaming. You do have a good idea and I'm impressed you got it to run with a decent ammount of force - good work there.

However it's just when you started to get mad at others for speculating that maybe it wasn't running full speed that I had to jump in.

Again, I'm not saying it's a bad idea and it was my wrong not to make it clear in the first post.

It's a little worrysome that it gets so hot like that, though. I would guess that's because the motor can't spin up to speed and thus can't generate the counter-current to reduce the current flow and cool it down. At that rate it might burn up fairly quickly. I might suggest that you consider a smaller or perhaps less angled fan prop that will provide less air resistance resulting in a higher RPM and presumeably allow the motor to cool down some.

Good luck.


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## rock_on343

for finding the rpms u might be able to get a high end camera and film it for around 20 seconds. Then slow down the film to where u can count it and do it for around 10 seconds or w/e gives you good data.


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## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rock_on343* 
for finding the rpms u might be able to get a high end camera and film it for around 20 seconds. Then slow down the film to where u can count it and do it for around 10 seconds or w/e gives you good data.

ive though about that but my camera only takes movies at 30fps. that not enough to capture all those revolutions. especially if its going faster than 2000rpm


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## Higgins

thats an awesome idea dude... but i've opened up a few hard drives, and this 160G Hitachi drive was SO loud with the cover off it was ridiculous.... so some drives may be different.

awesome idea though, i'm going to try it when i get home

~Higgs


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## mikhsoj

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Higgins*


thats an awesome idea dude... but i've opened up a few hard drives, and this 160G Hitachi drive was SO loud with the cover off it was ridiculous.... so some drives may be different.

awesome idea though, i'm going to try it when i get home

~Higgs


thanks. its nice to hear that someone actually likes my ideas.


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## sublime0

this is cool!


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## dpawl31

I think it's a great idea - for a smaller fan blade.
The 12cm is causing serious stress on that motor at that speed.
The HDD disk itself has basically no air resistance, so it can go REAL fast.
The idea of a fan is to create air resistance. Or FRICTION.
That friction is where your "BLOW" comes from. But it also is putting stress on your motor.
I think an 80mm blade may be too small though, you may not get a far enough sweep outside the motor. Maybe try a 92mm? I think that would be ideal for speed and less strain.
I think your main idea of less noise with more speed is great. Obviously it is not going 7200 RPM. But I think it is damn decent for speed.
And the point is to get the most CFM with the least DBA! And That fan running at say, 20% power would probably be REDICULOUSLY quiet.
I will say this... high RPM/POWER does REALLY up the CFM lol.
I have an old 110v fan I am posting a thread on in this forum.
My case cooling SUCKS. Threw this noisy bugger on there and the idle temp dropped from 42C to 33C. Load from 61C to 49C!
Check out the thread in a couple mins when I post it with pics.

As for this experiment- AWESOME bud. I would say get a damn good balanced 92mm on there and crank it up.


----------



## maxfx

Post some progress!







i am really eager to see what u will come up with!


----------



## maxfx

Post something then







i am every eager to see what u will come up with mate.


----------



## rock_on343

Ok I think my physics class has come back to haunt me. I believe ive figured out the answer, but it is probibly... no is more work than its worth. I may post later if I ever write it up, but let me know how much work your willing to put into figuring out the rpms....


----------



## TheSubtleKnife

it is possible guys...i had my standard AMD HSF fan spinning at 7000+RPM...sure it was loud, but it didnt explode or anything


----------



## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *TheSubtleKnife*


it is possible guys...i had my standard AMD HSF fan spinning at 7000+RPM...sure it was loud, but it didnt explode or anything


Do you have any proof of that? You can't just look at it and go, "oh it's spinning at 9500RPM!".


----------



## Licht

Might wanna test it at a low speed first just in case...


----------



## mikhsoj

sorry no update in such a long time. had a shizloads of tests and my boss is working me like a slave.

ANYWAYS.. sooo.. i think i came up with a way to measure rpm but im not sure how perfectly accurate its gonna be. it involves using a skip and hop. if you know what that is......


----------



## alk

This thread reminds me of when I chopped all the fins off of my stock AMD fan amd volt modded it to 15V whilst monitoring the PWN in speedfan. Over 11000 RPM. I kid you not.


----------



## dhrandy

Quote:



Originally Posted by *alk*


This thread reminds me of when I chopped all the fins off of my stock AMD fan amd volt modded it to 15V whilst monitoring the PWN in speedfan. Over 11000 RPM. I kid you not.


That's awsome.


----------



## TheSubtleKnife

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mootsfox*


Do you have any proof of that? You can't just look at it and go, "oh it's spinning at 9500RPM!".


yeah, i actually do


----------



## TheSubtleKnife

as for estimating the RPM...run a fan at a known RPM, the look at the other fan through thr known RPM fan, and you can estimate if it is spinning twice as fast or half as fast. make you have a light source behind the 2nd fan so you can see the blades


----------



## Bazmecc

Quote:



Originally Posted by *TheSubtleKnife*


yeah, i actually do












yah, well check THIS out

29000+ rpm...beat that


----------



## money11465

Neat idea, but it will not work well due to the power and torque required.


----------



## dpawl31

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Bazmecc*


yah, well check THIS out

29000+ rpm...beat that










Oh yeah... beat this.


----------



## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Bazmecc*


yah, well check THIS out

29000+ rpm...beat that










dpawl, that is clearly a hack!

mine is better anyways


----------



## dpawl31

Where's the speedfan x86 validator damnit!
Seriously, that's what it reads lol.
Ever since beta then the new version, always reads wrong.

Oh, and even with it reading RIGHT with old SF, when I upped RPM, it displayed less. So I went from 2600 to 2800, it read 2400. lol


----------



## dskina

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mootsfox*


dpawl, that is clearly a hack!

mine is better anyways


----------



## binormalkilla

You can count the RPM if you have a laser that is mounted and aimed at 90 deg. with the fans rotation. There should be a receiver at the other end of the fan, and when the continuity of the beam is broken, it should be recorded. There is some sort of device out there somewhere for this I'm sure. 
It will count the number of times that the beam is broken, and time it for a minute. Voila, RPM.


----------



## Bazmecc

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
dpawl, that is clearly a hack!

mine is better anyways


















lol..what'd you do, just insert that number over mine?...the 29K+ is the multi set to 20


----------



## Nauree

anyone punched holes into a cd and put it into your cd rom? Did that b4 in comp class. Freaken jet taken off. I wouldnt do it in your home computer cause the cd starts to break apart lol.


----------



## legoman786

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Nauree*


anyone punched holes into a cd and put it into your cd rom? Did that b4 in comp class. Freaken jet taken off. I wouldnt do it in your home computer cause the cd starts to break apart lol.


I have to try that. I need to find a CD I dont use anymore and drill some holes in it.

AOL anybody?


----------



## trendy

Yeah, I hooked my Scythe up recently onto my rad for a little extra airflow. The closest three pin connector from the outside to inside was the CPU (water cooling, no cpu fan plugged in). So, what the heck. I open up speedfan and here's what I saw. 450,000RPM. . . w00t.

Only, easytune says less than 1k (scythes are gay)


----------



## Grim

I read every page of this thread, and I was really impressed and this idea MS

I'm really anxious to see the back of the motor though, because I'm wondering wether or not you will be able to fit the fan back up (does the hdd motor fit perfectly inside)?

And for the people saying that this fan couldnt pass 2000RPM.
All I have to say is; WAKE UP, and stop hating.

I have a 5200RPM SKT462 fan, and this thing IS spinning about that speed, I'm sure you have fans that run at that speed as well. And if you can differenciate the sound of AIR, from that of a motor, you'll realize that thing thing is moving major air.
I MEAN, LOOK at the air that thing is creating. :|

AS for that "fastest 120MM fan" PIC, and the "big motor"
WE ARENT ACTUALLY SEEING THE MOTOR :| - thats just its enclosure.

I'd say, its at least clocking 3500RPM in my opinion, I dare say 4000 even.

I still dont get what you did (based on the pics) with the coin though...
could you explain that?







And how did you fix the turbine to the fan?









Awsome Awsome work man. Props


----------



## hvacgaspiping

Quote:



Originally Posted by *alk*


WOW. Much quieter than this beast> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzGD4XhvtJ8

LOL


I can hear bearing noise in that motor. It won`t be long.....


----------



## hvacgaspiping

Quote:



Originally Posted by *mikhsoj*


Heres the other video!
Other vid linkey.. 


Yeah, that fan is whisper quiet. `Just goes to show `Ya the quality that`s in an HDD motor.


----------



## hvacgaspiping

Quote:



Originally Posted by *version2*


I wonder how one would could measure the real RPM...


Model airplane shops have an electronic tachmeter that doesn`t cost a whole lot.


----------



## Grim

Quote:



Originally Posted by *hvacgaspiping*


Yeah, that fan is whisper quiet. `Just goes to show `Ya the quality that`s in an HDD motor.


exactly, his "ssh" was MUCH louder than that..

And I'm glad you mentioned that too, becaue you're right, HDD motors ARE of a high quality, because HDDs need long lifespans.
Those motors have to be refined, and superb really, for a HDD to last 4 YEARS and upwards, under constant use.

And most times, even if a HDD goes bad, its not the motor! :|
its either the controller board, or the actual disks.
YOU PLUG IT IN, and it still spins up.


----------



## cr4ckills

1) Your saying that quality of HDD fan is making it super quite.......well so it seems that its "whisper quit", but yall have yet to take into effect that he has put a coupling around the fan yet, so its pretty much just disappating the air into all directions, not one direction. (ok yes they have quality but for that amount of money they should)
2) ur like so wut... well its going to direct it the air, therefore the air noise is going to be increase, i cannot say greatly or slightly, but it WILL increase!

if u dont believe me....well take for example exhaling with your mouth wide open and then with it barely open... you will hear that although a slight difference, there still is an increase.....

another example is if your next to your computer you could put your hand at the pushing side of the fan.(where the air comes out) as you move your hand closer to the fan, the noise increase, because you are decreasing the amount of space that the air is allowed to travel, but keeping the amount of forcing pushing the air the same (in theory). This is going to have the same effect to the fan once he puts a coupling on it..
p.s. I could be wrong, but if you would try directing the air with the fan and recording it, that would be great just to see the difference in the noise.

~Cr4ckills


----------



## Grim

Quote:



Originally Posted by *cr4ckills*


1) Your saying that quality of HDD fan is making it super quite.......well so it seems that its "whisper quit", but yall have yet to take into effect that he has put a coupling around the fan yet, so its pretty much just disappating the air into all directions,

~Cr4ckills


Yes, thats true









But who knows.. I'm assuming that when he said it was quite, he was comparing it to how it sounded before he put his motor in, AND.. outside of the "coupling" as well









Either way, I think that things going to be an awsome fan...

I wonder what he's up to....


----------



## Pwnjohnson

I have a dead 20GB WD waiting for this, and a prime crap 120mm to test. Looks like you gave out an interesting idea. The CD drive motor is also great, added that to the list as well. Rep+


----------



## mikhsoj

omg i know ur waiting for updates...
sneak preview...










enjoy.. hehe. updated on first page too..
fan is mounted. just need to do some more soldering work and create the fan controller.

------- edit (random picture, bragging)
My desktop with the fan right there!


----------



## killme613

i say put another "coupling" on top of that.as u see the blades go a little upper than the original coupling,so you will lose some airflow.

ohh.......and a grill.....no...make that 2..one for intake and one for exhaust...you never know...(maybe a fly decides to pay u a visit)


----------



## Grim

Looks nice soj. I would tend to agree that it needs a fan before it though - with the exception that (and I wouldnt) you're gonna use it as an intake.
But it would DEFINATLY be more profitable to have it as an exhaust fan.

How does it spin now man? ^_^
I hope its not vibrating horribly - for me though, I'd bear the vibration for the mass windage


----------



## Perry

I'd like to see temps as a heatsink fan. Hehehe.


----------



## Grim

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Perry*


I'd like to see temps as a heatsink fan. Hehehe.


lolz, yeah, Imagine one attached to the side of a Tunic
















*Imagines near LC temps*
Speaking of, what temps are to observed on the average Athlon 64 WCled chip?


----------



## dpawl31

Quote:

*Imagines near LC temps*
Air cooling can only get you to ambient temps at best.


----------



## Grim

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dpawl31* 
Air cooling can only get you to ambient temps at best.









Really!?

I always thought that.. you know - you had to be a lil over ambeint if you're using air.


----------



## Fishie36

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Grim* 
Really!?

I always thought that.. you know - you had to be a lil over ambeint if you're using air.

In a perfect (not possible) situation you could be at exactly ambient temps. That's if you had some sort of a superconductor.


----------



## ELmo1989

Get video Of it I want to see it go if you can get to.


----------



## dskina

Any video update yet?


----------



## Jerrari

I've lately been messing around with the 4 power pins on a couple of HDD motors. I've Noticed some people were having trouble with it 4 pin connection compaired to Miksoj's 3 pin motor. It's just a theory but i think each pin is connected to a specific electromagnet in the motor and in most cases 2 wires connected to it will only cause 2 magnets to lock on and hold the motor in place. I think the chip that originally was connected to the 4 pin motors have some kind of timed alternating current sent to power the magnets. I've noticed LyokoHaCK said he got a 4 pinned motor to work but ive tried every combo on 3 different hdd motors with no luck, just the common twitch.

o, and great job Miksoj, this was a cool idea.


----------



## Grim

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jerrari* 
I've lately been messing around with the 4 power pins on a couple of HDD motors. I've Noticed some people were having trouble with it 4 pin connection compaired to Miksoj's 3 pin motor. It's just a theory but i think each pin is connected to a specific electromagnet in the motor and in most cases 2 wires connected to it will only cause 2 magnets to lock on and hold the motor in place. I think the chip that originally was connected to the 4 pin motors have some kind of timed alternating current sent to power the magnets. I've noticed LyokoHaCK said he got a 4 pinned motor to work but ive tried every combo on 3 different hdd motors with no luck, just the common twitch.

o, and great job Miksoj, this was a cool idea.

Yeah, I think so too.

Welcome to the forums BTW man ^_^


----------



## lattyware

I'm trying to do this, but this damn hard drive has Torx screws! Annoyingly, they are smaller than Torx 10 - the smallest bit I have :'(.

Time to get the drill running.


----------



## RAY_ST

Has any1 implemented this to their zalman cpu fans s9500 or s9700?
Or moddifed it in any way?
Can it be done?


----------



## Guruboy

I want this to work.


----------



## Bal3Wolf

nice idea i got a couple bad drives i might try this.


----------



## Jerrari

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lattyware* 
I'm trying to do this, but this damn hard drive has Torx screws! Annoyingly, they are smaller than Torx 10 - the smallest bit I have :'(.

Time to get the drill running.

Lol, I used a rotary tool too cut a slit into the torx 5 screws so that i could use a philips screw driver to unscrew them instead.


----------



## <[email protected]> (CS:S King)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dskina* 









LOL!!!


----------



## Grim

lol, when was that?

was he looking on Goku go SSJx?


----------



## mikhsoj

okay, well i worked out a few problems with the fan. the fan is securely on the chassis now and im soldering on the wires to the pins as we speak. i ran out of solder so... need to run to radioshack for some more...
tune in for the vid of this monster running! it will come soon!


----------



## Special_K

Have you ever tried a lower angle fan? Someone at the beginning of this topic said that you don't hear the motor, you hear the air moving. Try buying a prop from a hobby shop and mount that to the motor. Maybe a 1/32 scale prop would do you justice. I have a motor from a regular desk type fan with a remote control airplane propeller on it. It moves quite a bit of air and is very quiet because the angle of the blades are less than a regular 120 mm fan.


----------



## Grim

I cant wait MJ!


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

Quote:


Originally Posted by *FrankenPC* 
It's the tips of the blades breaking the speed of sound which creates the massive noise. Helicopters blades and airplane props have the same problem.

Not to be a smartass or anything, but props and helicopter blades usually never reach that speed. If the rotors start approaching that speed, shock waves start forming and lift is disrupted. There is also something called retreating blade stall. Aerodynamic properties go through some pretty dramatic changes when passing 750mph. I have heard somewhere that Huey blade tips break the sound barrier, but it might just be internet hearsay...

I would imagine the same holds true for aircraft props. Though not producing lift, they are producing thrust...no thrust and all you've got is a really heavy glider.


----------



## Grim

Quote:



Originally Posted by *MasterBillyQuizBoy*


no thrust and all you've got is a really heavy glider.



That DOESNT glide very well


















(very insightfull lil info there though - I do physics so a lot if it just .. clicked ;])


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Grim*


That DOESNT glide very well


















(very insightfull lil info there though - I do physics so a lot if it just .. clicked ;])


Well...not as well as a real glider...but a 747 can glide with no power.

A real unpowered glider can stay up for hours and hours.


----------



## Chapstick

niceeeee.


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

I just realized something. If you have a dremel tool, attach the fan to the tool, and start that thing up at the lowest setting. Slowly spool up to max speed. Remember to hold the tool so if the blades do fly off, they fly to your right and left.

I can't remember what the RPM's are, but I'm pretty sure the highest it goes is 10,000 RPM. I am totally up for trying this experiment out this weekend.

I have a few spare fans, however I don't think I have a spare 120mm fan. Possibly hiding in an old PSU.

This should be interesting. I'll be sure to get some video.


----------



## ramairmustang

That is amazing. You should be proud of yourself. You should see about setting up some kind of priceing and helping us all out that dont have the means to do it ourself's if we supply the parts needed. Anyway this deserves REP. Thanks


----------



## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *MasterBillyQuizBoy*


I just realized something. If you have a dremel tool, attach the fan to the tool, and start that thing up at the lowest setting. Slowly spool up to max speed. Remember to hold the tool so if the blades do fly off, they fly to your right and left.

I can't remember what the RPM's are, but I'm pretty sure the highest it goes is 10,000 RPM. I am totally up for trying this experiment out this weekend.

I have a few spare fans, however I don't think I have a spare 120mm fan. Possibly hiding in an old PSU.

This should be interesting. I'll be sure to get some video.


Most dremels go to 30,000 or 35,000. That would be interesting to see.


----------



## dpawl31

I believe my dremel only hits 10k as he stated...


----------



## mikhsoj

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dpawl31* 
I believe my dremel only hits 10k as he stated...

HA! ur dremel is teh SUX!

so i ran out of solder and im too lazy to get some more. but! thanks for keeping this thread alive guys. ill post the updates soon. i promise. right now though, im working on a water cooling getup. hopefully i can use this fan for my intake... hehe.e.e.e..e.e.ee


----------



## LiNERROR

the most massive 120mm fan i know of doesn't even go past 4600rpm (in a 12v world that is...) and there's even a fan that moves more air at 120mm at a lower RPM... and pulls almost 3 AMPS...

even if you have a motor controller that could overdrive the **** out of that motor, and have welded heatsinks to the housing to deal with the 3*+ normal current... you're not going to get a plastic impeller at that 7200rpm without exploding it... and even if you had an all metal impeller that was perfectly balanced with a VERY low blade pitch you're still not going to move much air...

the motor wasn't designed for a load like that... it was designed to spin a flat metal disk... in a low air volume enclosure...

you may be able to get some low speed rotation (~1500-2000rpm with a normal 120mm fan impeller) under significant power input, but you're still going to need a motor controller to drive it...


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Mootsfox*


Most dremels go to 30,000 or 35,000. That would be interesting to see.


Those RPM's sound more accurate. I was going from memory. The "dremel fan experiment" is on my list of things to accomplish this weekend. Some of the folks reading the thread might like to see what happens.


----------



## dpawl31

Line, I have some 120v AC fans that run almost up to par with harddrive speeds... and they are no where near "exploding".

Then again they are a lot thicker plastic, with less pitch.


----------



## Grim

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MasterBillyQuizBoy* 
Well...not as well as a real glider...but a 747 can glide with no power.

A real unpowered glider can stay up for hours and hours.

Yeah,
I have a friend who's a pilot, and he tells me about his simulated engine failures all the time.

But.. about the gliders. seriously!









Like... they can just ride wind turrents for hours?


----------



## Xavier1421

Interesting tidbit: The tipspeed of a 120mm fan attached to a 7200rpm drive motor (assuming it reaches max speed) is only 148 fps, *most* plastic blades can handle higher.

I don't suggest attempting to mod a 120mm hub to a dremel unless you're wearing some protective gear.


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Xavier1421*


Interesting tidbit: The tipspeed of a 120mm fan attached to a 7200rpm drive motor (assuming it reaches max speed) is only 148 fps, *most* plastic blades can handle higher.

I don't suggest attempting to mod a 120mm hub to a dremel unless you're wearing some protective gear.


Oh it's happening! I may have a junk 120mm fan around...if not I'll use the next size down.

Should be fun. I'll post a video this weekend sometime.


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Grim*


Yeah,
I have a friend who's a pilot, and he tells me about his simulated engine failures all the time.

But.. about the gliders. seriously!









Like... they can just ride wind turrents for hours?


Yep, they ride hot air, called thermals.

I'm not sure if they measure the records by time, but...wow, check out these distance records!

http://records.fai.org/gliding/current.asp?id1=DO&id2=1


----------



## Grim

WOW billy!
Thats really amazing.
I wonder how long they were up in all.
I'd be scared going over the see in one of those things though


----------



## STN71190

After reading the last few posts I just did Dremel + Fan, it was easy and works quite well actually. I can post pics and a vid if desired.


----------



## Mootsfox

Quote:



Originally Posted by *STN71190*


After reading the last few posts I just did Dremel + Fan, it was easy and works quite well actually. I can post pics and a vid if desired.


Yes please, can you show like min to max speed?


----------



## STN71190

Yeah, hold on a sec I'll get pics, then when the battery charges I'll make a vid.

Pics:


----------



## Mootsfox

LMAO. Videos too please.


----------



## dpawl31

Cordless FTL... lol.

VIDEO!

Oh and in reference to gliders- They can stay up as long as they want, it's more of a pilot thing. If the pilot drops too low out of the thermals, it is hard to get it back up, but if they keep altitude and ride out the thermals, they can stay up forever.

Oh, and gliders are the safest form of travel- EVER. Safer than walking.
They weigh almost nothing. And because they are designed to fly without engines, if you DID cross the ocean in it, and fell out of the thermals without chance of recovery, it is so light you can land onthe ocean and float forever on that. Unless of course you got in a storm and broke the wings, then you probably wouldn't be able to stay upright lol.


----------



## Chapstick

Now that's going to be noisy


----------



## Kopi

Safer than walking *****


----------



## dpawl31

It really *IS* safer than walking









Seriously, you can get run the EFF over, or attacked by a rabid chicken.

Can't get mauled by a chicken in a glider


----------



## Kopi

*****


----------



## kidwolf909

I realize that this is wayyyy off topic, but how do you guys make cool avys? Do you use photoshop?

Is there any way I can get a free basic version of photoshop to make myself some cool little creations?


----------



## CyberDruid

Quote:



Originally Posted by *mikhsoj*


okay, well i worked out a few problems with the fan. the fan is securely on the chassis now and im soldering on the wires to the pins as we speak. i ran out of solder so... need to run to radioshack for some more...
tune in for the vid of this monster running! it will come soon!


Which RadioShack?









Anyhoo I think your idea is perfectly mad and like it it alot


----------



## Dezixn

Dude that is a weapon!

You could slice and dice with that!

I want to see that thing go up against an onion!

And then someone arm!


----------



## bruestle2

HOLY CRAP...a dremmel...just mount that in your comp and you are in business!


----------



## bruestle2

Quote:



Originally Posted by *kidwolf909*


I realize that this is wayyyy off topic, but how do you guys make cool avys? Do you use photoshop?

Is there any way I can get a free basic version of photoshop to make myself some cool little creations?










try paint.net, great FREE program....does everything that photoshop does.
It has layers and lots of cool effects, plus people can make new effects that it can use.
get it at getpaint.net


----------



## LopsidedMocha

sounds neat. hope all goes well man


----------



## cgg123321

Would it be better if you put it on a Noctua fan since it's blade design moves a lot of air?

And when you start it up, wear goggles and hide behind a desk, at 7200 RPM stuff happens......

Good luck!


----------



## DesertRat

i have several working crappy old 5400 RPM drives and a D-E-A-D 5400RPM and a couple 120mm fans, mod here i come







i got a volt meter too, w00t!

waht'd you use to 1. mount the blades on the motor, and 2 mount the motor back into the frame?


----------



## cgg123321

I'm guessing if you kill a raptor hd = spinning fan blades of fury?


----------



## MasterBillyQuizBoy

Hey can we get some video of that?

Sorry guys, I know I said I'd be doing the same thing with my dremel this past weekend. But doggy obedience class, family, etc. got in the way. I'll get it this weekend, I promise!


----------



## mashersmasher

amazingly innovative. i would have thought an hd motor would be a stepper but hey id it works i'm impressed


----------



## Skulldragger

The ones with the 4 leads are steppers, that is why they need the controller card to make them spin up. 
Simply attach the card to the side and run wires to the motor form the card's contact points and you have a fan you can plug into a standard hd connector.


----------



## Grim

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Skulldragger* 
The ones with the 4 leads are steppers, that is why they need the controller card to make them spin up.
Simply attach the card to the side and run wires to the motor form the card's contact points and you have a fan you can plug into a standard hd connector.


Nice Idea.
)+rep I do say(

It can be done without a controller though...

as Mik did ^_^


----------



## Nevaziah

Wow. Impressive. I could probably use one of those on one of my old drives. So do we know if this worked or not?


----------



## hereonyourown

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cgg123321* 
Would it be better if you put it on a Noctua fan since it's blade design moves a lot of air?

yay! Noctua's awesome, because of the design blade and alot quite too! Been thinking about getting Noctua fans because it's very quiet

By the way nice fan experiment to the orignal poster


----------



## hoth17

I have a raptor i want to do this with, are there any good tutorials for this? i don't want to ruin a working raptor if i can't end up doing it.


----------



## FusionFX

Not going to lie, but you most likely will ruin your raptor. For the most part Hard Drives are not meant to be opened due to the single individual bits of dust which can ruin the drive.

Taking apart a good drive to try this is not worth it at all IMO.


----------



## hoth17

i know the raptor will be ruined, i just want to make sure i know exactly how to do this before i do take it apart.


----------



## Indian_Engineer

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
FAIL! And quick. That motor is made to move about 100 grams at 7200rpm with very very little air resistance inside the drive. A 120mm motor is a lot beefier.

qft

simple physics, sorry to say.

you might say well the housing isn't much more than 100g.
true
what about air resistance?









good idea though but you will never get close to 7200 rpm


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## KamuiRSX

Very awesome. If this works for ya, you might have just found yourself something good to do. Hell I might give it a try and replace a few of my 120mm fans for some massive intake action.


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## hoth17

i don't really care if this hdd fails, i don't use it and this sounds like a fun project. If it worked i can use it with my 220CFM delta. anyone seen any reliable tutorials?


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## Pap3r

I have an 80mm fan that spins at about 4500rpm's, but I don't know if that is high or low for an 80mm









That's only plugged into the PWM, the CPU fan slot, though.


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## TheEddie

I did this with an 80mm fan a while back. I would guess that I pulled about 4k rpm out of it. (It was a 2500RPM NMB fan originally but it ran about twice as fast with the hd motor.)

It wont do 7200RPM but it should do quite a bit more than 1000rpm.


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## hoth17

it won't go over 7000 but i hope it will go about 5 to 6. but i really have no idea


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## MikuMiku

GEZZUS MAN... WE SHOULD TRY STICKING YOUR FINGER IN THERE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS







. NNAAAAA i wouldn't do that....


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## Blowmyclub

Thats a badass idea though it would be better on a smaller fan....
But i really want to try this!!!


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## androsk

what.... the last page!!! wth.... i want more... did that dremel fly!! WHAT HAPPEN!!!!!!


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## onlycodered

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Fishie36*


It won't really go at anywhere near 7200 RPM. It's a super tiny motor that's only designed to push a hard disc platter with just about no air resistance. I'd be surprised if you got 1000RPM out of it.


Same thing I was thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if the motor burns out pretty quickly either.


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## hoth17

how do i hook up the power for my hdd fan. i am testing it on a 7200rpm motor before i rip open my raptor.


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## RaiDer

I hope you're joking hoth.


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## hoth17

nope. if i can get this thing to work, my 36gb raptor is becoming a fan. that is unless someone else wants to buy it... but it will be be spinning fast.


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## poroboszcz

15k scsi ftw !


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## GigaByte

Quote:



Originally Posted by *poroboszcz*


15k scsi ftw !










Now that, I want to see!


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## go.kyuu

please don't sacrifice your bloody raptor like that! 7200 rpm is fast enough c'mon it'll probably burn out anyway.


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## GigaByte

Quote:



Originally Posted by *go.kyuu*


please don't sacrifice your bloody raptor like that! 7200 rpm is fast enough c'mon it'll probably burn out anyway.


Most do it on a dead HDD, just because the HDD is dead don't mean the motor isn't working


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## Grim

If I remember correctly - the problem our friend had with this mod here - was that he couldnt get the diameter of the rotor EXACTLY in the centre of the fan's turbine ...er, compartment if you will. - it was off by a millimeter or so.

Hence - there was a bit of vibrating in its revolutions - despite its power.

I was thinking about this over the weekend.
And realized that without advanced Extremely precicse tools - one could really not narrow things down any more concisely than that - in fact, I think its pretty impressive that he got it down to about 1mm off!









So here's my Idea - I'd love if one of us could try it


















MANY cases have that sort of a housing set up in place to hold the fan.
One could either add the padding to THAT, or make a slightly larger - though still compatible one.

The said is less commonly found for exhaust fans - which is what (may I say) most of us would want THIS fan mod for!

but I think one could be made pretty easily


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## Coolwaters

how did you center the fan? its is even a hair line off at those speeds it would do some damage....


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## Grim

Not damage per say - but yeah - it would vibrate a lot, which was the guys problem.

(and the reason for my lil propsed solution







)


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## fart_plume

The steppers require an h-bridge controller with a timing circuit to control the speed on stepper motors. HD motors (all I have seen are steppers) use stepper motors because they are easier to precisly control the rpm.

I tried a fan on a dc motor that turn 15,000 rpm ran fine till i got my finger in it bleed all over the place and the fan shattered.

Your best bet would be to use a rc plane brushless dc motor and prop deisgned for those speeds or a squirrel cage blower from a hairdryer with the rc motor.


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## Grim

Its acutally quite possible friend - the author of the thread had done it! lol.

I wonder where he is though..


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## fart_plume

then it wasn't a stepper motor, which would make it a rare find in a hardrive, I have a dozen seagate drives and tons of other brands and none of them have regular dc motors in them. i would be willing to bet that the control circuitry is built into the motor on that one, most are external and on the main hd board.


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## Mootsfox

If you're getting into squirrel cages why not just go all out and buy one of the 36" ones for building ventalization?


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## ghost

when is the video coming lol. come on now. lol


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## Grim

buy hey! even if it WAS a stepper motor - what does that say!









If its a PWN controller - just use the board the motor works with.
If its just times / needs a transistor - just give it what it needs / find the right inputs for power.

I personally cant wait to try this









sad thing is - I dont have any old 120MM fans!


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## Adrienspawn

If I were to do this I would probably undervolt to about 5K rpm...I mean the performance increase from 5K to 7K is probably unnoticeable, and just more dangerous/reduces life.


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## Brutuz

I wanna try it with one of those Delta 3 bladed fans, maybe that would let us get to 7200RPM?


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## Mootsfox

The only thing that will spin at 7200 RPM on this motor is a hard drive platter.

You might be able to get a 40mm fan to get close to that number as well.


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## Kalavere

Quote:



Originally Posted by *DeeJay1337*


Never hurts to try... right guys? Keep us posted man, If you get killed, i'll attend your funeral XD...jk But still keep us posted!


Rofl!

That's a pro fan man, good idea.


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## The_Rocker

How can you measure CFM?


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## sLowEnd

Quote:


Originally Posted by *The_Rocker* 
How can you measure CFM?

There are (big and expensive) machines for it but a quick and rough way to tell is to put your hand in front of the fan and see how much air it's blowing


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## androsk

this may solve the CFM problem

Air Flow Circuit


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## Lionmaster

I just got an idea on how to space it in the middle much better... toothpicks as spacers

you measure the housing of the turbine center and the motor and take the diff and split it in half and measure the toothpicks at that thickness maybe a little less and mark it and have like 4-8 of the toothpicks spaced about

you get some epoxy to hold it on so it has a really good bond to the spinning shaft of the motor and make sure its not like 5 minute set put it in there and put the toothpicks in there to the length you already measured that will give even spacing and let it setand you will have a lot closer to dead center...

or you could use something along those lines you could just measure the inside of the housing and then have something that's a little bit bigger than the housing andfill it with an epoxy and lube the object you are using for a mold so you can get it off once the epoxy sets(grease or vegetable oil work well) then use the motor like a lathe and sand down the barrel of the motor till it has a nice snug fit in the prop housing....

good luck... i dont have the resources or the time to do this myself but.... once an engineer always an engineer and you cant not think like one...








prolly why im obsessed with computers like everyone else on here... sorry bout the rambling...mutliple days of little sleep+work+2 in the morning= random thoughts and rambling ideas or is that backwards...anyways....oh sry bout wall o' text

great idea keep up the good work...


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## Brutuz

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
The only thing that will spin at 7200 RPM on this motor is a hard drive platter.

You might be able to get a 40mm fan to get close to that number as well.

Actually, I saw a 8000RPM 80mm fan, so I know that fans don't shatter...

Can someone try it with one of those 15k RPM Hard Drives?


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## Soya

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Brutuz* 
Actually, I saw a 8000RPM 80mm fan, so I know that fans don't shatter...


It's not that the fan can't handle it, it's that the motor can't push the load.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Brutuz* 
Actually, I saw a 8000RPM 80mm fan, so I know that fans don't shatter...

Can someone try it with one of those 15k RPM Hard Drives?

It's that the motor is not powerful enough to push the fan that fast.

A bad example would be a motorcycle and a truck. The motorcycle might hit 190mph, but you can't put the motorcycle's engine into the truck and expect it to go a similar speed.


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## Brutuz

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Soya* 
It's not that the fan can't handle it, it's that the motor can't push the load.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mootsfox* 
It's that the motor is not powerful enough to push the fan that fast.

A bad example would be a motorcycle and a truck. The motorcycle might hit 190mph, but you can't put the motorcycle's engine into the truck and expect it to go a similar speed.

Yeah, I know your saying about the motor, but some people were saying the fan would disintegrate from the speed, and I mis-read what you said Mootsfox.


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## Blameless

Many lighter 120mm fans would disintegrate if run at 8,000 rpm. The further from the hub you get, the greater the force.


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## deltaepsylon

Why should the fandisintegrateat 8000rpm? That's only like 100m/s tip speed... Fast but not the speed of sound.


----------



## Photographer

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Brutuz* 
so I know that fans don't shatter...

let me prove that statement wrong i shatterd a 3000RPM 80mm fan by just putting my finger in it









i still have that fan and can take a picture of it to prove it


----------



## Adrienspawn

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Photographer* 
let me prove that statement wrong i shatterd a 3000RPM 80mm fan by just putting my finger in it









i still have that fan and can take a picture of it to prove it

That's because you put your finger in it?


----------



## coltsrock

Wow, it actually worked, check the video link


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## nategr8ns

I just took apart an old CD drive. The motor that controls the drawer goes pretty slow at 1.5v, I bet it would work better with 6 or 9, even 12v.
But I couldn't get the motor that controls the CD spinning to spin more than one rotation. Most motors have a little switch thing that toggles electromagnets on/off, and I'm guessing this one was managed by a microchip somewhere in the CD drive







.
Anybody want to give it a shot?







.


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## JesseS420

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Photographer* 
let me prove that statement wrong i shatterd a 3000RPM 80mm fan by just putting my finger in it









i still have that fan and can take a picture of it to prove it

lol i have done that many times. hahaha, it really hurts when you do that huh.

great thread, too bad all these people just say FAIL and bullcrap, they did that to my oil cooled deepfreezer idea.


----------



## JesseS420

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alk* 
WOW. Much quieter than this beast> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzGD4XhvtJ8

LOL

that thing was 1.5 years old (read the vid description) the brushes are probably taking a ****. or the bearing


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## aksthem1

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JesseS420* 
that thing was 1.5 years old (read the vid description) the brushes are probably taking a ****. or the bearing

Did you manage to notice the date of that post you quoted?








^^ Man I love that smily.


----------



## azncoder

raised from the dead...lol


----------



## Villainstone

Did it ever work... I'm to lazy to go and look?


----------



## Pao

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jesses420* 
lol i have done that many times. Hahaha, it really hurts when you do that huh.

Great thread, too bad all these people just say fail and bullcrap, *they did that to my oil cooled deepfreezer idea.*

hahahahahahahahahahaha

ha


----------



## Grim

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Villainstone*


Did it ever work... I'm to lazy to go and look?


Yes it did.









KICKARSE wind.


----------



## alk

Quote:



Originally Posted by *JesseS420*


that thing was 1.5 years old (read the vid description) the brushes are probably taking a ****. or the bearing


Hi. Just to let you know, Axial fans do not use brushes







The noise from axial fans comes from the bearings and the turbulence!

Also, you may wish to see my post on your refrigerator idea which will enlighten you with the Physcis behind your idea.


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## TestECull

Let's sum this up, ok?

HDD motor lacks the torque to get the impellor spinning at full speed, and the horsepower to keep it there.

Impellor will probably fly off after a while, or be out-of-balance.

All-in-all, set sail for fail.

Can we let this die now?


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## Cr4zYH3aD

what coming next......a fan motor in an HDD ?







the platter will go fast!


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## cltitus

watch out for your fingers


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