DIY Laptop Cooling

I've always wanted a laptop cooler but couldn't justify a Queen and change for one. Finally got around to build one. I built it using some junk I found around the house. Total cost for me: 0.50$ for the USB cable. Everything else was found around the house.

 Its quite simple to build so let me show you.

Ingredients

• 1 USB Cable (normal type A head)
• 2 (depending on size) PC case fans
• 1 2 inch binder. Size may vary depending on fans
• 1 soldering iron & solder
• Sharp Utility knife (X-Acto?)
• Electrical tape
• Super Glue
• Extra wires. 

Optional Ingredients for cleaner job

• 4 (or more)  0.1 inch header pins. 
• Screws
• Multimeter
• A laboratory where you can borrow their equipment

Instructions

The Binder

Measure your fan sizes. I have two fans and each are of a different size. I use the fans to create a rough outline on the binder. Note that you need a binder that can fit your fans so you can get away with a 1 inch binder but you need slim fans.

Use the utility knife to cut out your fan holes. Make sure you leave enough room so you can screw your fans into place. If you cut too much, then the fan will just fall through. Just be careful. Don't cut yourself.

Depending on how clean you want the finished product to be, you can either super glue the fans to the binder or use screws to hold them in place. The screws are difficult to place correctly so I opted for super glue. Not good for upgrading but I just need something for now. When I upgrade, I will need a bigger hole anyways.

Thats about it for the binder construction.

The Wiring

Heres the tricky part that non electrical savvy people will not know what to do. The USB cable provides 5 volts and up to 500 milli-Amps to attached devices. Thats the specification maximum and it depends on the manufacturers to meet it. Usually the operating system will give you a warning if you exceed the maximum current. This is not a worry since PC fans will eat up less than 100 milli-Amps while running at their normal 12 volts.

So to get power from the USB cable, you need to cut it in half. I got an extra USB cable with a type A to type B. The type A end is the one we want and its the one that connects to a PC's normal USB port. So cut it in half and keep that end.

Strip the RED and BLACK cables so the copper is exposed. The RED and BLACK wires are the one for power, the other two are for data. The data cables are ignored in this project but you can reuse them for other things. I'm thinking of putting them back to the other half of the cable so I can use them for my Arduino project. You can cover them with electrical tape or leave them unstripped. Look at circle B of my picture.

I bought some pin headers for myself so they fit nicely into standard 2-3 pin fan plugs. I have 2 fan so I soldered the pin headers to some extra wires lying around the lab. Without them, you will have to cut the PC fan wires and then solder them to the USB's wires. My PC fans use the same color convention as the USB cable's so you can solder RED to RED, BLACK TO BLACK. You can find these pin headers on old circuit boards or motherboards. I got mine at electronics store because I had to get some for my group project anyways.

Then I soldered 2 pin wires to the RED wire. This wire is the 5 volt line and is live. WE DO NOT WANT THIS ONE TO SHORT. Quick tip, don't solder the pins when they're connected to their friends. Break the header into single pieces to make soldering the pins easier. Also, the headers don't like heat and will melt if you play with it too much.

Then I soldered 2 pin wires to black wire. This is the ground wire.

I had access to a multi-meter with the ability to test for shorts. I used that to verify my work to make sure the wires were soldered correctly. You can probably buy one of these at Canadian Tire. It beeps to tell you the wires are soldered correctly. I also made sure there wasn't a short between the RED and BLACK wires.

Now wrap everything in electrical tape. This keeps your work tidy and prevents possible shorts.

Since I use some nice pin headers, the fans plug right in nicely. Plug the USB cable into your USB slot and the fans should start spinning. The fans will pin at a lower speed than normal since we're only using 5 volts instead of their normal 12 volts. Look at circle A to how it well it fits.

Thats it. Its actually really simple and you can often find these parts around the house or at the office's PC garbage.

Oh, does it help? I used it the entire time I was installing Ubuntu and everything was fine. When I finished, I unplugged it so I can plug in my mouse so I can setup the machine. It died a few minutes later from over heating. So yes, it does help quite a bit.