Adding Molex to netbook mobo

[Luciel]

Hi Guys,

For one of my projects, It would be good to add some fans and light, however I´m using a netbook´s mobo for this and of course there are no molex connectors on this. Do you know if there´s any way to add some?

[erocker]

I can't think of any good way to do this. You don't really add molex connectors to the motherboard. You would want to get the power from the power supply. Power supplies for laptops are not designed for this either.

[Frick]

Does it have a fan connector at all? You could use that, but they can be pretty sensitive to shorts. And they're pretty weak imo so you can't really put any big strain on it.

[Luciel]

yes it does, it powers the cpu´s fan, but as you said, not sure I want to add more stuff to that small connector.

[Luciel]

how about hmm... would it be possible to use usb power?

[Frick]

USB is 5V up to 900mA and that is not a whole lot.

[Maban]

USB 2.0 only provides 5V up to 2.5W. See if you can get power from the monitor's PSU. (Assuming this is for your AIO project.)

[Luciel]

Yes, it´s for the AIO project, I´ll have a look tomorrow at the monitors psu, thanks : )

[Derek12]

Maybe you could derive some power from the jack connector (some are 19V so you should regulate to 12V or 5V if you have the circuitry necessary. Monitor PSUs normally output 12V, 5V alongside other voltages, will be more convenient

[xBruce88x]

what type of fans do you plan on running? If they can run on 5v then you should be ok with USB power. Do you plan on overclocking any (btw i saw your log looks interesting) if not then just having a fan on period would be better than what was in that netbook to begin with.

If you can afford it, you could probably hack apart one of those cheaper laptop cooler pads. they're usually designed to run off USB power so they should be easy to use as far as power goes. GL with the AIO.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Derek12

Maybe you could derive some power from the jack connector (some are 19V so you should regulate to 12V or 5V if you have the circuitry necessary. Monitor PSUs normally output 12V, 5V alongside other voltages, will be more convenient

I don't know how an external power brick would handle that (see erocker's post above). There are power supplies and power supplies and they handle loads in different ways. I don't know enough about it to say anything for sure though.

[Luciel]

Hi Bruce,

That´s an excellent idea, I am not planning on overclocking anything and you do make a good point about a couple of simple fans doing a better job than what the mobo brings as it´s more of a plastic casing with a 40mm fan than a heatsink really.

The NOX Boreas laptop cooler goes for about 15€, which is the price of a couple of decent fans aniway. It is however, aluminium, so it would get tricky tearing it apart and yet making it look good, I could however borrow one to see how it´s wired and copy that system.

I think that would be the way to go.

Also, copy the same system for a couple of led stripes as they will work with pretty much no power at all so that should be ok (correct me if I´m wrong), as opposed to cold cathodes which require more power (5v would just light up the ends).

@Derek,

As the post avobe and later on Frick mentions, that would be quite touch and go so I think not the best solution, thanks though.

[xBruce88x]

glad i could help. i'll keep an eye on your log.

[Luciel]

Thanks, and hope you enjoy it : )

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by Frick

I don't know how an external power brick would handle that (see erocker's post above). There are power supplies and power supplies and they handle loads in different ways. I don't know enough about it to say anything for sure though.

Nope, I did that on a experimental laptop and all was fine deriving power to the laptop, a circuitry, and the fans or lights or whatever you want, unless you overload the PSU and laptop or netbook PSUs normally have a margin...

Originally Posted by Luciel

@Derek,

As the post avobe and later on Frick mentions, that would be quite touch and go so I think not the best solution, thanks though.

That's why I preferred the monitor PSU as commented, as it provides more power than USB (I think it's 500mA per port not 900mA unless USB 3.0, correct me if wrong) and uses 5V or 12V and generally has a wide margin too.

EDIT: If you only want to add laptop fans (not 12V) and led lights as you commented in your last post, then USB would be fine as those components couldn't reach 500mA together, but being careful not to overload it at all or you will ruin your USB ports (own experience). At first I though that you wanted to add bigger fan using 12V and CCFL lights.