Where can I buy 12 volt Rheostats, other than Sidewinder?

[Judaeus Apella]

Go here first so you know what I'm talking about before reading further:

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/sirh25wa.html

Nearly $30?!?! Thats insane! And the nob for over $5 is like adding insult to injury!

That would be $137.80 if I wanted to make a 4 controller panal!

I'm not paying that!

Isn't there somewhere else I can buy individual rheostats for custom projects!?

[crodan85]

Dont bother with rheostats they inefficient you want to look at linear voltage regulators or even switching there not hard to build and would be better for what you intend. And they wouldnt even cost $30 depending on the regualtors used.

[Judaeus Apella]

I don't want switches, I want to tame my Delta fans so they don't drive me insane when I don't need them on high. Also, whats a regulator?

I don't know how to make stuff from scratch or anything like that, I'm not that advanced. I've never even picked up a soldering iron... and to be honest, I really don't want to. I just want to know where to find something I can tame my fans with, that can adjust with lots of different speeds, not just slow, medium, and high.

[Sanborn]

Judaeus look for 5.25" bay fan controllers made by Sunbeam. They are $11 if you look in the right places. So for $22 you can control 8 fans. And if the ultra bright LEDs on them annoy you then they can be pulled out by hand (they aren't soldered)

[Thrilla]

lol that IS pretty expensive for a single delta controller.
Yes I agree with a regulator you'll save a lot of money, they are the flat square bars with 3 leads you see on the motherboard and in PSUs.

This is how simple they get:


btw Sanborn, those deltas draw more power than a little sunbeam can handle, unless they have new'er, more powerful products now.

[Judaeus Apella]

I still don't understand what exactly a regulator works, what the interface it like, how it controls them, and how I install them, not to mention where to get them and how much they cost. There's a lot your not telling me.

[Makubex_GB]

I agree with Sanborn, the Sunbeam Rheobus is the best bang for the buck fan controller. You can get it HERE for $11.

[Judaeus Apella]

I need to fit these on a 3.5 panel, so please stop suggesting the one by Sunbeamtech. I'm already upset as it is over having to replace my Vantec nexus, and finding out no one makes anything nice, so please stop reminding me about that nice controller I can't use!

[crodan85]

The name of the package it to220


I dont know how many amps you want to control but there is a 1amp verison lm317t, LM350 3 amp version and a the LM338 a 5 amp version.

You can get higher amp regulators but it would be better to use a switching regulator or pwm.

All the parts can be found on ebay or radioshack very cheaply

If you need any help send me a pm and I will see what i can do

[Judaeus Apella]

How do they work? Do you use a nob? I don't see any human interface on it...

[Judaeus Apella]

Oh wait... I see where this is going. You guys think Im going to make something. ROFL I think not.... I just want to buy something already made. I don't even own a soldering iron... nor do I want to.

[古強者死神]

Hmm I got one that goes in a 3.5" bay off pctoys.com awhile back, did some moding too it was like 15$ I think on clearance.

Works well but I can tell you that I would be totally happy with a swich that can cut from 12v to 7v. I noticed thats about the amount of power you want to have to keep any fan happy and running but with a significant reduction in noise level and still good cfm's.

http://pctoys.com/fancontrollers.html
check it out they have 3.5"s I also recomend from personal experience you go ahead and kick out the extra money for a digital one, the analog ones make a noise that I can hear when I turn the fans down too low.

[Judaeus Apella]

I found a place that sells a bunch of rheostats... but they measure them in ohm... I have no idea what I would need for a 20watt fan, or a 12watt fan, or a 25watt fan. I have no clue what any of this means! ARG! Can someone explain to me how to know how many ohm a rheostat should be?

[exhausted mule]

hmm

i may be wrong here... but say you get a rheo... you would take 12v, and times that the ohm rating.

that should give you an idea of how many watts it is.

[Judaeus Apella]

Aha! I found this ohm calculator:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/ohmslaw.html

Very useful!

[exhausted mule]

ah HA!

i was right!


cool site.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

why not just make a switch to switch your fans between 5v and 12v?

thats what i did for all of my fans, i have about 5amps of fans running from the single switch. i can control the speed of EVERY fan in my computer with it.


seriously though, if you work with computers you should deffiently own a soldering iron. pick up a cheap one for 10$ and start practicing.

[Judaeus Apella]

Because I like to fine tune them. I like lots of choices in CFM vs dBA. Haven't seen you around much... school?