c





V

last photo ĸ

for1 this project you will need the following items: A small project box, a on and off button, A soldering gun and
solder. shrink tubing, A computer fan, a 9 volt battery and battery clip, a few small drill bits and a drill . Optional is a
hot glue gun and lighter. .
c
   



V
The first step is really to hot glue the 9 volt battery clip on the inside of the project box but if you decided not to use
hot glue or you didn't have a hot glue gun your first step is to drill the holes. For this part you will need to drill ether
two or three hole. In the photos you can see I decided to drill three hole. For the wires I found a small drill bit that was
about the diameter of the wires. Next I found a spade bit that was about the size of the washer that cam with my
button. The first two holes are to run the fan wires into the project box. The next hole is to set the button into place.
After placing the button you can lock it into place using the provided washer. I would recommend a on and off button
because they are easy to wire and because they stay on unlike momentary buttons.
c

 



The second step in the project is to prep the wire for soldering. The first part in this
step is to pull the wires from the fan into the project box. From here you need to cut three small portions of shrink
tubing, one for the negative wire and one for each contact on the button. For help in soldering you may want to
twist the two negative wires together and twist the two positive wire onto the contacts.

c
c


 V

The third step in this project is to solder together the wire and to shrink the shrink tubing. Because I am not personally
the best at soldering this step took me a few tries. After soldering the wires you need to shrink the shrink the shrink
tubing. Make sure that your solder connections will hold. This step can can take place in one of two ways. First you
could shrink the tubing with the soldering iron or you could shrink the tubing with a lighter. Because I believe that the
lighter way is easier I would recommend it.

c


   

V
The fourth step in this project is to assemble the project box. I would start out with inserting the battery. I do this first
so that when you insert the battery you will not tangle up the battery in the wires. From here you will need to cram the
wire into the project box so that you can screw in the screws.
c
  
 
 !"

The last step from here is to attach the project box to side of the fan. I personally did this earlier in the assembly and
you can to, but thinking about it later I released it would probably be easier to attach it at the end. I used hot glue,
which I would recommend, to attach my project box to my fan, but you can use other things to like zip ties or velcro.
From here you take this almost any were with you. I like to use mine after a long work out or after a bike ride through
the hot, humid air. Remain cautious for it will hurt if your finger gets sucked into the fan.
 


c
#


Oh man. This project requires a bunch of stuff, but you probably have most of them lying around from old broken
things.
You do keep old things you don't use any more in a parts closet, right? Good.
-2 80mm computer case fans: I used one of a normal thickness and one half-sized one with more blades. You'll see
why later.
-A transformer: I got mine from an old speaker set that I converted to run on batteries. It steps 120VAC down to
13.5VAC.
-4 diodes for making a bridge rectifier: Also from the speaker set; converts AC to DC.
-A 4700 uf capacitor: That's all I know about it. It just came from the speaker set, but I only know that it's 4700 ohms.
It filters the DC current so it doesn't pulse.
-A 60mm x 60mm heatsink: Mine's aluminum. Bought on eBay. Right after I got rid of a bad computer motherboard I
could have taken it off of. Oh well.
-Thermal Tape/Compound: Used for attaching the heating device to the heatsink.
-52mm Peltier Cooler/Thermo-electric cooler: Bought on eBay, it's the heart of this project. It gets hot on one side and
cold on the other. You could probably find one on an old camping cooler along with the heatsink.
-A 6"x4"x2" project box: A bit tight for this project, you could get one that's a little larger.
-3 SPDT toggle switches, or 2 SPST and 1 SPDT toggle switches: For switching things on and off.
-A general purpose PC board: Got it at RadioShack; it came with two boards with 213 holes each. Perfect for this.
-2 1.5K ohm resistors: For the LED's.
-2 LED's: Any color, I choose one green and one red.
-A piece of flexible plastic: I got mine from the bottom of a dead power supply, but you could use anything that's thin
and non-conductive.

And some basic tools:

-Soldering Iron
-Rosin Core Solder
-Drill with bits
-Hole-Cutting Bit
-Dremel with Cut-off Discs (Best tool ever!)
-Insulated Wiring
-2-prong electrical plug with cord
-Heatshrink Tubing or Electrical Tape
-Hot Glue Gun: (Optional)
c
 $  
%  
 V

~
 ~

For your benefit (and mine for not having to explain everything) I've included a schematic/wiring diagram of the circuit.
I will, however explain the flow of electricity to you can get a better understanding.

The electricity flows from an electrical outlet into the two leads of the transformer (polarity does not matter, just make
sure you know which side of the transformer is the input and which is the output). Then, converted from 120VAC to
13.5VAC, it flows through a bridge rectifier circuit with the capacitor (see the second image, courtesy of Wikipedia).
The bridge rectifier changes the AC voltage into a pulsating DC voltage with a + and - , and the capacitor (wired as
shown, make sure you wire the + to + and the - to -!!!!!) filters the current to smooth out the pulses into a constant
flow of electricity. From here, the negative lead goes to the first switch's middle prong. One of the other prongs is then
connected to the middle prong of the other two switches, as well as to an LED with a resistor (resistance will vary
depending on your transformer). This LED is then connected directly to the + lead of the capacitor, making a circuit.
Moving on to the second switch. Wire one of the outer prongs of the switch to the - lead of the Peltier unit and wire
the + lead directly to the + lead of the capacitor. Wire this same prong to another LED and resistor (make sure you've
got the correct polarity on the LED: the notched or flat side is usually negative). Then wire the + lead of the LED to,
you guessed it, the + lead of the capacitor. The center prong of this switch should be connected to the first switch.
Finally, the last switch. The middle prong is connected to the other two switches. Connect the - lead of one fan to an
outer prong and the - lead of the other fan to the remaining prong. Then connect both of the + fan leads to the + lead
of the capacitor.

Make sure everything's insulated with tape or heat-shrink tubing as well.

è


& '
c
 (% 
 V

~
 ~

Boys and girls, it's time to break out your drills and Dremels!

If your transformer is a wee bit too tall to fit in the project box, you're going to have to do what I did- Dremel a nice
hole for it to stick out of. Look at the 2nd picture to see how it will fit. Try to put the transformer as close to the end of
the box as possible.
I don't have a picture, but if you look at the 2nd picture, you can see how I cut a (really crappy) hole in the box for the
fan. Just use the biggest hole saw you have and then slowly make it bigger by using smaller hole saw bits until it gets
to be the size of the fan. Also, drill a couple smaller holes for screws to hold the fan in.
Cut a small hole in the back (opposite the transformer) of the box for the two leads of the thinner fan, then run them
through and solder. Make sure you cut the hole BEFORE soldering, otherwise you'll just have to unsolder the
connections to run it through. You could also cut a small slit in the box where the lid connects to just set the wires in,
but it won't look as pretty.
Next, cut a rectangular hole JUST the size of the Peltier cooler in the top of the box (not the lid!). You might have to
cut a couple slits for the leads to rest in as well. Make sure that the side that gets hot is facing away from the box and
the cold side is facing in.
While you're looking at the top of the box, cut three holes for the toggle switches (mine were 1/4") and try to make
them in a straight line, equidistant from each other. Drill a couple of smaller holes for the LED's as well. I put these
holes next to the 1st and 2nd switch.
Drill a few holes in the transformer side of the box for some air flow past the components. That transformer and those
diodes get hot, you know!
Finally, drill a few large holes on the side of the box with the Peltier unit. These holes will be the ones that cool air is
blown out of.
Put away your tools, cause you're done with cutting!
c
) *+++
 V

Some various things to do to complete the project.

First, attach the thicker fan. You want to place it so that it's blowing INTO the case (there should be some arrows in
the plastic near where the wires connect to show you how the air flows. You might have to cut off all the other plastic
tabs on the fan to make it fit against the side of the box and mesh with the component board. Using a couple small
screws that fit in the holes in the fan (and in the holes you cut in the box), attach the fan and a fan grill. You'll probably
only be able to attach 2 screws. Then, using some needle-nosed pliers, bend the two remaining "arms" on the fan grill
90 degrees to make little feet. These will hold the fan up off the surface its on so it will be able to get decent air flow.

Next!

Using some thermal tape or thermal compound, attach the heatsink to the top of the Peltier unit. The heatsink
basically just rests on top of the case. I used thermal tape to hold things together, but if you use thermal compound,
you'll probably have to engineer some sort of brace system to hold them together.

Cut a piece of thin plastic (3rd picture) to use (1) to prevent a short circuit between the transformer and a switch and
(2) to prevent all your chilled air from blowing past the hot components and coming out hot. Some air will be blown
past them to cool it a bit, but not as much as there would have if the plastic was not in place. You'll need to tinker
around with cutting sections out of the plastic for the wires to go through.
Just sort of place the PC board as close to the side of the case as possible so that the fan will fit. Make sure there
aren't any short circuits! You can add a bit of hot glue to keep it on the side, but I find that the fan pushing against it
works well enough. Plus, I was out of hot glue.

And....
Finally, grab your AC plug with a cable, strip the wires inside as well as the wires to the transformer, insulate
everything, and solder the one wire form the transformer to one wire of the plug. Do the same with the other wires.
c
%
 ,'

V
After some careful maneuvering of the transformer, fan, wires, and circuit board, run the AC cable through the
transformer hole and close up the lid. Just thumb tighten the screws to hold it on for now.
Plug it in, and flip the first switch. One of the LED's should light up, and a fan should start spinning. When you flip the
third switch, the other fan should start spinning instead. Now flip the second switch. The other LED should light, and
the first LED will probably dim. The fan will slow down as well. This lets you know that the Peltier unit is working.
Place your hand on the heatsink. Within a minute, you should start to feel it get warm. If the bottom fan is running,
you should feel cooler air blowing out the back of the case. Thus, the cooler.
If you place the smaller fan on top of the heatsink so that it's blowing down, and you align the front edge of the fan
with the front of the heatsink, hot air will be blown into the room when that fan is on. Thus, the heater.
Oh, the reason I used the smaller fan with more blades here is because I discovered that you get more airflow than
using the thicker fan.

I'm sure there are ways that this project could be enhanced or made to work better, so if you have suggestions,
please comment! Thanks, and enjoy this useful project!