How to make a radial fan at home. How to make different types of fans with your own hands. Where to get an electric motor

Creating air flow with high density possible in several ways. One of the effective ones is a radial type fan or “snail”. It differs from others not only in shape, but also in its operating principle.

Fan device and design

Sometimes an impeller and a power unit are not enough to move air. In conditions of limited space, a special type of design should be used exhaust equipment. It has a spiral-shaped body that acts as an air channel. You can make it yourself or purchase it already finished model.

To form the flow, the design includes a radial impeller. It connects to the power unit. The wheel blades have a curved shape and create a discharged area when moving. Air (or gas) enters it from the inlet pipe. When moving along the spiral body, the speed at the outlet increases.

Depending on the application, the centrifugal fan volute can be general purpose, heat-resistant or corrosion-resistant. It is also necessary to take into account the amount of air flow created:

low pressure. Scope of application: production workshops, Appliances. The air temperature should not exceed +80°C. Mandatory absence of aggressive environments;
average pressure value. It is part of exhaust equipment for removing or transporting small fraction materials, sawdust, grain;
high pressure. Forms an air flow into the fuel combustion zone. Installed in many types of boilers.

The direction of movement of the blades is determined by the design, and, in particular, by the location of the outlet pipe. If it is located on the left side, the rotor should rotate clockwise. The number of blades and their curvature are also taken into account.

For powerful models, you need to make a reliable base with your own hands to secure the body. Industrial installation will vibrate strongly, which can lead to its gradual destruction.

Self-production

First of all, you need to decide functional purpose centrifugal fan. If it is necessary for ventilation of a certain part of the room or equipment, the housing can be made from scrap materials. To complete the boiler, you will need to use heat-resistant steel or make it from stainless steel sheets yourself.

First, the power is calculated and the set of components is determined. The best option would be to dismantle the snail from old equipment - a hood or vacuum cleaner. The advantage of this manufacturing method is the exact match between the power of the power unit and the body parameters. A snail fan can be easily made with your own hands only for some applied purposes in a small home workshop. In other cases, it is recommended to purchase a ready-made industrial-type model or take an old one from a car.

Procedure to make a centrifugal fan with your own hands.

Calculation overall dimensions. If the device will be installed in a confined space, special damper pads are provided to compensate for vibration.
Manufacturing of the body. In the absence of finished design You can use plastic sheets, steel or plywood. In the latter case Special attention is given to sealing joints.
Installation diagram of the power unit. It rotates the blades, so you need to choose the type of drive. For small designs, a shaft is used to connect the motor gearbox to the rotor. In powerful installations, a belt type drive is used.
Fastening elements. If the fan is installed on the outer casing of, for example, a boiler, mounting U-shaped plates are made. With significant power, it will be necessary to make a reliable and massive base.

This general scheme, according to which you can make a functional exhaust centrifugal unit with your own hands. It may change depending on the availability of components. It is important to comply with the housing sealing requirements, as well as ensure reliable protection power unit from possible clogging with dust and debris.

The fan will make a lot of noise during operation. Reducing this will be problematic, since vibration of the housing during the movement of air flows is almost impossible to compensate with your own hands. This is especially true for models made of metal and plastic. Wood can partially reduce background noise, but at the same time it has a short service life.

In the video you can see the process of manufacturing a case from PVC sheets:

Review and comparison of production ready models

When considering a radial volute fan, you need to take into account the material of manufacture: cast aluminum housing, sheet or stainless steel. A model is selected based on specific needs; consider an example of serial models in a cast case.

It is very hot in the southern regions; nothing will prevent you from acquiring such a “super-powerful” portable fan.

You can take an 18-volt electric drill motor, an RC airplane propeller, and a laptop battery. 4 volts is best option, besides, it is not too noisy during operation. At 12 volts, the device will be super powerful, loud, and will "rattle" (via vibration) on the table.

Required components
The motor and batteries are the most expensive parts. You can buy a cheap used drill with a bad battery and just use the motor. Used laptop batteries usually have 6 cells and will not work if one cell is dead. You can buy these batteries for next to nothing and take the working cells to make powerful battery(http://www.instructables.com/id/Free-lithium-Ion-Battery-Pack).

Required parts:

electric motor direct current electric drills;
laptop battery;
plastic fan blades;
1/8" plywood;
plywood and 2x1" blocks for engine mounting;
switch (in our case, 2P2T switch for 2 speeds); - electrical cable.

Checking the engine and batteries
Secure the motor and fan to something solid.
You can try applying different voltages to it to adjust the desired wind strength. In our case, for a 4-volt battery, the ideal current was 1.5A. An 8-volt battery for good power corresponds to a current of 3A.
Use 4 batteries, 4 parallel 4V and 2 sets of 2 parallel 8V batteries. So on low power They will last about 5 hours, and on high power for about 1.5 hours.
Connect the 2P2T wires with a switch to switch between series and parallel circuits.

Creating an air duct and mounting the engine
First, glue the 2x1” pieces together to form a T. Measure the pieces to give the propeller about a half inch of clearance on each side.
After gluing the bars, round their edges to make them streamlined.
To mount the engine, cut 2 triangles out of wood. Soak a piece of 1/8" plywood in water, then bend it and let it dry. You can cut 3 3.5" strips of wood grain perpendicular to the piece to make it easier to bend. Use timbers held together in a T as a base and cover it with 3 pieces of plywood, overlapping the joints and leaving one joint. Then glue the 3 ends of the T to the duct plywood. It is also important to try on the engine mount to make sure there is enough clearance.
Then cut two pieces of 1/4" plywood about 4.5 x 1.5 to form the duct support at the top. Glue these supports to the duct and to the "T".

Glue a piece of wood to the "T" to stop the motor from sliding backwards as the motor pushes the air forward and the motor then pushes back.
To secure the motor from below, you can use 2 zip ties.

Battery layout
Use a 6-cell laptop battery to power the fan. For a bicycle fan in motion, you need a 12V fan. As a desk fan, 4V or 8V is more than enough.

Wires to the motor
Solder two 14 gauge wires to the motor. Insulate with electrical tape. To prevent wires from getting caught in the blades, secure them to the fan support.

Testing
Power the motor in parallel with 2 sets of 3 combined cells. The voltage should be about 11.8 V. Even the multimeter should show 3.38 A. The multimeter has some resistance, so the current is actually about 4A. More than 47 W. This is already a very powerful little fan. At 16 V, this fan can already push a bike decently.

Installation of protection
The propeller rotates too quickly, so protection will need to be installed.
Using wire cutters, cut a circle from the large fan guard so that its radius is about half an inch larger than the duct. Loop the wire around the duct. Then hot glue the protection to the front and back.

Switch installation
Install the switch. The fan can now be turned on and off easily. You can use a 2T2P switch and get two rotation speeds.

So, all you need to prepare is sharp knife, electrical tape, an unnecessary USB cord and, in fact, a homemade executive body. As for the latter, it is customary to use one of two options: an old cooler from a computer or a motor from a typewriter. Next, we will look at two instructions that will clearly explain how to make a USB fan at home with your own hands!

Idea No. 1 – Use a cooler

As a rule, it will take no more than 15 minutes to assemble a USB fan from a cooler. First you need to prepare the cooler. There are two wires coming out of the device - black and red. Strip the insulation to 10 mm and set the prepared element aside.

Next you need to prepare the USB cable. Cut off one half of it and peel off the insulation at the cut point. Under it you will see four contacts, of which two are necessary: red and black. You also clean them, but it’s better to cut off the other two (usually green and white) so that they don’t get in the way.

Now, as you understand, you need to connect the prepared contacts in pairs, according to: red to red, black to black. After this, you need to carefully insulate the cable connections and make a stand. As for the stand, it’s a matter of your imagination. Some successfully use wire, some very interestingly cut out a seat in a cardboard box.

In the end, the homemade mini fan is connected to the computer, and you can enjoy the operation of your own electrical appliance.

Cooler idea

Idea No. 2 – Use a motor

In order to make a USB fan from a motor and a CD, it will take a little more time, but you can still easily make such an electrical device with your own hands in an hour.

First, we prepare all the elements of the device. In this case, you will also need an impeller (blades).

To make the impeller, we recommend using an ordinary CD. Line it up by 8 equal parts and carefully cut towards the center. Next, heat the disk (you can use a lighter), and when the plastic becomes more elastic, bend the blades (as shown in the photo).

If the impeller is not bent, no air flow will be created while the disk rotates. Here you need to use moderation so as not to overdo it.

When the blades are ready, move on to creating the main mechanism. We recommend inserting it inside the disk plastic stopper, in which you need to make a hole for the motor barrel. Carefully fix the core and move on to creating a USB fan support for the laptop.

Here, as in the previous version, everything depends on your imagination. Of all the available means, the option with wire is the most suitable. When the homemade USB fan is ready, we connect the motor wires to the cord wires, carefully insulate the twist and proceed to test work.

When working at a computer in the summer, or just on vacation, sometimes you want a gentle breeze, “local” coolness. Air flow an office air conditioner does not create that sweet comfort obtained from a weak and directed blow that a mini fan provides. It is very easy to make such a device with your own hands.

How to make a “personal breeze”

The most famous invention in this area since ancient times is folding fans. They were made from painted paper and ostrich feathers, painted silk and carved bamboo sticks. This device has only one drawback: to obtain the much-desired coolness, you need to hold it in your hand, which is not always convenient. It’s funny to imagine a manager or economist working at a computer and fanning himself.

Therefore, let’s return to our topic and figure out how to provide yourself with a pleasant breeze in the heat. To make a mini-fan with your own hands, you need to solve the following several problems:

What kind of rotating propeller will it be, and what material will it be made of?
Where can I get a motor?
What power source will the device operate from?
Is it possible to do without an engine completely?

How to make a mini fan?

Let's start with the simplest thing: making blades. If you take a square from an ordinary sheet of paper, cut it diagonally, leaving about a centimeter intact in the center, you will get a blank for a pinwheel. Then 4 acute angles bend towards the middle and alternately string them onto a nail, having previously stuck it into the center of the workpiece. That's all! It's a pity that this is just a children's fidget spinner.

For functional and useful design take 2 CDs or DVDs. One will make the blades, the second will make a stand for the device.

The used circle is cut into several equal parts (from edge to center). To make the process easier, you can hold the plastic over the fire for a few seconds. Each of the resulting sectors of the softened workpiece is rotated slightly around its axis to form a propeller.

What other components are needed to assemble a convenient mini fan? Here is the list:

Cork from a wine bottle.
Cardboard or plastic straw for attaching the engine to the stand.
Small motor.
Two wires.
Cable with USB contact or batteries.
Good glue, scissors, a strong large nail or awl.

Where to get a micromotor

It happens that household bins contain appliances that no one has used for a long time. These could be hair dryers or mixers, blenders and children's cars. Even a motor from an old tape recorder, player or some other mechanism may come in handy. We disassemble the unnecessary device and remove the engine, having first disconnected all the wires.

Since we are making a mini-fan, a motor from an old washing machine, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner or other large unit will not work due to its size and noise.

Continued assembly of the device

A hole is made in the plug and placed on the axis of the selected engine. To secure the shaft, it is first coated with glue. Then the propeller cut from the disk is glued to the part of the axle sticking out of the hole in the plug.

Next, lubricate with glue paper straw in diameter and place it on the plane of the second disk. Then install the motor on top and connect its contacts to the terminals from the USB cable. If the propeller spins in the opposite direction when plugged into the computer port, you need to disconnect the contacts, swap them and solder them again.

By connecting a battery to such a device, you can use it anywhere in the room, in the car, near the pool.

Wind blower without engine

How to make a mini-fan at home without a motor? A very popular option is to create a device using small neodymium magnets.

Take the cooler from the computer and separate 4 transformer coils from its body. Instead of copper windings, you need to install and secure the same number of pieces of magnet. Usually they buy neodyms in the form of half-arcs or remove them from an unusable hard drive. The magnets are placed exactly in the places where the transformer windings were removed, that is, along the perimeter of the cooler frame.

As soon as the last piece is secured, the mini fan will begin to rotate. Using permanent magnet technology, it is possible to assemble an almost perpetual motion machine. To stop it, one of the neodymium pieces that replaced the coil is removed from the circuit.

The field of the magnets must be equal in strength to the field of the disconnected coils, otherwise the propeller will not be able to rotate in a constant, stable manner. The poles are placed diagonally, alternating plus and minus.

What to do if none of the above methods are suitable, if there is not enough time or details for homemade fan? In this case, you will have to use a regular factory product.

From time to time the need for a kind of fan arises, but small models are relatively expensive. There is no need to rush to shell out money, because a small fan can be easily made with my own hands. In terms of efficiency, it is not inferior to purchased analogues, and its creation will require a minimum amount of materials.

Making a fan from a cooler

The simplest way to make a fan yourself is to use an unnecessary cooler (these are used in computers as a cooling system for components).

It is not surprising that this method is the simplest, because a cooler is a small fan. There are only a few things left to do simple steps to give it its final shape and performance.

The cooler itself is quite functional, but you need to prepare it for non-standard way uses:

Wires.

If the fan is located next to the computer, a regular unnecessary USB cable will do. It needs to be cut and the insulation removed (the same with the cooler wires):

We are only interested in two wires: red (plus) and black (minus). If there are other colors in the cooler or USB cable, feel free to cut them off and isolate them, since they are absolutely unnecessary and will only get in the way.

Compound.

After cleaning, the wires need to be connected to each other (it is enough to twist them tightly together). Don't mix up the colors. This threatens serious complications in the process of creating a ventilator.

A length of 10 mm is sufficient for twisting. Can be cleaned if necessary most wires, this is not scary, but you will have to insulate much more.

Safety.

Remember that proper insulation is the key to success and a guarantee that the computer or outlet will not short out. Bare wires should be covered with electrical tape (exclusively in the absence of power), and the thicker it is, the better.

There is no particular point in explaining what threatens the fall of “minus” to “plus”. If the red and black wires come into contact while transmitting electricity, not only the USB cable/port, but also the computer components may burn out.

In principle, computers are not afraid of such moments if they are equipped with protection against voltage surges. But when a socket in the wall is used, then repairing the wiring in the apartment will be much more difficult to create small fan.

Therefore, take serious care to insulate the exposed parts of the wires. Rarely does anyone need unnecessary complications.

The finishing touches.

Do not forget that computer cooler very light, but at the same time very fast. Even with a voltage of 5 volts, its speed will be quite high. We consider this voltage for a reason: the cooler will do its job perfectly, and the operation will be as silent as possible.

Due to the small size of the device, it may fall due to vibrations. This should not be allowed for the following reasons:

Such a cooler cannot cause lethal cuts even during operation, but there is no guarantee that the device will not jump up and fly off, for example, into the face;
if it falls on a non-flat surface (on a pencil, pen, lighter), its blades can be damaged: fragments breaking off at such a rotation speed can cause irreparable damage;
other unforeseen circumstances.

Therefore, it is important to secure the cooler (with tape, glue) on some more stable surface: a box, wooden block, table.

Additional functions.

If desired, the finished fan can be updated externally, add a switch (so as not to pull out the cord every time), etc. But attention is also paid to a method that increases the efficiency of the device relatively well.

Just cut it off top part plastic bottle and glue it (with a wide hole) to the cooler frame. Thus, the air flow will be more accurate and directed: the force of air movement will become approximately 20% stronger, which is a pretty good indicator.

At this point, the creation of the fan is completed, and it is ready for full operation.

Disc fan

If the previous option does not suit you, and you want something more complex, then consider creating a fan yourself from computer disks:

Engine.

Since we don’t use a cooler, we need to get some kind of motor that drives the blades of our future device. In fact, you can also use the motor of the already mentioned cooler of the cooling system, but this is too simple.

You should find or buy a motor with a specific part that moves (for example, a protruding iron rod). Since we are making a fan from disks, then the presence of such a rod will the best option. Motors from an old VCR or player are also perfect, because they spin discs and cassettes - just what we need for the spinning propeller in our fan.

You should not use an engine made from washing machine or even a past fan - they are extremely powerful. Due to the self-assembly of the structure, it will be very flimsy. In the very first seconds, a strong motor will scatter fragments of blades throughout the room and fly off the base.

If there is a running motor, it must be secured with wires in the previously mentioned form.

Having a running engine in hand, you need to concentrate on the disks, which are the main components of our fan. First of all, cut one into 8 equal parts:

To avoid mistakes during the procedure, you can first mark the disc with a pencil. It is best to use a soldering iron (there will be no sharp edges, it is safer), but regular scissors will also work.

Afterwards, the disk should be slightly heated with a lighter so that the material becomes more pliable, and the wings should be bent in the manner of blades, like conventional fans:

You can do the same with regular plastic bottle:

You need to insert a wooden bottle cap into the center of our propeller. If the size is too big, it can be planed.

The remaining parts.

As a center holding the entire structure, you can use a regular roll sleeve toilet paper:

It should be secured in the center of the second disk, which will act as a foundation for the fan. You can place half of the second bushing on top, as seen in the photo, so that the motor is inside it. You need to hang the blades from the disk/bottle on it.

The fan is ready for operation. If desired, you can add decorative elements to make the device look more presentable.

You can see clearly how such a fan is made from a bottle in this video.

Additionally, it should be recalled that important points while creating homemade fan:

To fasten the parts together, you need to use high-quality “superglue”.

Exactly the one that you can’t peel off even if you want to. The entire structure must be as stable as possible and not succumb to vibrations and fluctuations. Be responsible and fill everything you see with glue except the blades and internal parts engine.

Take your time.

You risk missing out important detail, and this significantly increases the chances that something will go wrong during the operation of the finished fan. The consequences can be quite serious.

Do not use inferior components.

If you don’t need the motor that is used to create the engine, its performance may be in doubt. Make sure it will last for some time and be effective.

Building an engine from scratch is a highly specialized process and requires a lot of knowledge. Make sure the motherboards are in order, everything necessary connections were sealed well, etc. It’s better to check again than to make another fan later.

Insulation.

We remind you once again: do not forget about high-quality winding of wires with electrical tape. You shouldn't save it, because short circuits and repairing them will force you to sacrifice a lot of expenses. Perhaps even in a monetary sense.

The hand-held fan is quite compact, efficient and does its job well. It is not difficult to do if you take the procedure responsibly and follow the instructions. There are no restrictions on dimensions: if you feel strong, feel free to start assembling the fan bigger size.

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