Crude Desk Fan
[28. Jul 2019; Hacks, Englisch]

Inspired by the latest heat wave, I took two leftover 140mm PC fans and put them together using some 3d printed parts. With the heat gone, it is time for a picture and some details.

The assembled desk fan is tiltable and fits under a monitor quite nicely. A keyboard cable can be fed through the gap in the middle. Power to noise ratio is also good, but naturally depends on the fans used.

Originally I entertained the idea to add some electronics for variable speed, but it turned out to be more complicated than externally PWM-ing those non-PWM fans. In the meantime I found out that a constant supply of 9V produces just the right amount of air flow for me.

Employing the miracle of symmetry I got away with designing 3 simple parts. They are made bulky to have enough strength when printed with PLA. Total print time ended up being around 8 hours. Things are held together by 8x 35mm M4 screws. Attempts to mount the fans using squeeze in pins printed on the parts failed. The brittle PLA pins broke off too easily.