Add a Fan to the Pi

[lemon]

Hey Guys,
i own the raspberry pi model b

now i want to add a fan likes this: http://www.amazon.de/L%C3%BCfter-40x40x ... 40x10mm+5v

its 5v so it should work,
but how can i add this?
where to get the electicity?

[Ravenous]

If you have the appropriate connection, you could connect it to the raspi's GPIO connectors using one of the diagrams on here:

http://elinux.org/Rpi_Low-level_peripherals

(5V power and Ground - there's a place where a 2-pin fan connector might go straight on, in fact.)

Be very careful not to short any of the GPIO pins to anything while making connections - it's possible to damage them. Also don't draw too much current - but a small fan will probably work.

[RaTTuS]

you don't need to add a fan - and if you do via the GPIO then you are likely to burn them out

[Ravenous]

It looks like it draws around 200mA, which will be probably about as much as I would risk off the 5V power pin.

And I agree a fan is unnecessary in most applications. (I might just need one in my sealed wooden case.) Looks cool though.

[lemon]

yes, but i wanted to overclock the cpu..

so is there a way to connect the fan cables with a plug for a 230V socket?

[Ravenous]

No no no!

First the pi doesn't actually need a fan to overclock it. The CPU doesn't generate much heat even overclocked.

Second, you should not connect 230V to ANYTHING. The fan you linked to is 5V ONLY.

On second thoughts, disregard completely the stuff I said about running the fan off the GPIO 5V connection. You can damage the pi if you connect to the wrong thing. Just use a case with a few vent holes and everything will be fine.

[MaxK1]

Or use a heatsink.

[lemon]

No no no!

First the pi doesn't actually need a fan to overclock it. The CPU doesn't generate much heat even overclocked.

Second, you should not connect 230V to ANYTHING. The fan you linked to is 5V ONLY.

On second thoughts, disregard completely the stuff I said about running the fan off the GPIO 5V connection. You can damage the pi if you connect to the wrong thing. Just use a case with a few vent holes and everything will be fine.

even when i overclock it to 1ghz?
when the cpu is on 100% 24/7?

[rpdom]

No no no!

First the pi doesn't actually need a fan to overclock it. The CPU doesn't generate much heat even overclocked.

even when i overclock it to 1ghz?
when the cpu is on 100% 24/7?

Yes, even then. It doesn't get hot enough to cause a problem unless it is in a small sealed box in a hot climate. The main chip is designed to work in a mobile phone with no cooling at all.

If it reaches 85°C it will slow down (unless you force the overclock - which is pointless) until the temperature drops a bit.

[MaxK1]

I have 2 Pi's (Model B, Rev 1) in metal boxes that tended to overheat. The SoC never gets close to 85'C even when running overclocked to 1.1+GHz. BUT something else on the board is getting warm and flaky when the SoC approaches 60'C so I put a heatsink on it which is in physical contact with the case. (lots of filing/sanding/fitting) Result: whatever was overheating doesn't anymore even running at 100% 24/7 for days on end. Advantage: heatsinks don't consume extra power (which you may or may not have), they tend to be a lot quieter and they don't typically "fail" or clog with dust, cat or dog hair...

[interbeing]

If you are concearned about temperatures you could add one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heatsink-Set-Fo ... 1051228640
Might be a bit easier than a fan setup.

Example:

[wolfen69]

I added a USB fan http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XN ... UTF8&psc=1 connected to my USB hub. I just have it blow over the board. I also put aluminum heat sinks on the board. Probably overkill, but it's running at 84F which is very low. And yes, I'm over clocked to 900mhz and may try 1000.

[rpdom]

I have 2 Pi's (Model B, Rev 1) in metal boxes that tended to overheat. The SoC never gets close to 85'C even when running overclocked to 1.1+GHz. BUT something else on the board is getting warm and flaky when the SoC approaches 60'C so I put a heatsink on it which is in physical contact with the case. (lots of filing/sanding/fitting) Result: whatever was overheating doesn't anymore even running at 100% 24/7 for days on end. Advantage: heatsinks don't consume extra power (which you may or may not have), they tend to be a lot quieter and they don't typically "fail" or clog with dust, cat or dog hair...

Possibly you have the Rev1 that had a minor design fault with the LAN/USB chip connections. This chip has a built-in 1.8V (I believe) regulator for internal use, but by mistake that got connected to the 1.8V supply line on the Pi. The result was that the on-board regulator and on-chip regulator would both try and generate 1.8V (ish). It is unlikely that both will try for exactly 1.8000000V, so they will fight over it a bit. The on-board regulator is bigger and will win. The regulator in the LAN chip will struggle and get warmer depending on how different the two voltages are. This may be the source of your problem rather than the SoC. A small heatsink on the LAN chip should be sufficient. Later versions of the board don't have this issue.

[hojnikb]

Yeah i also have a heatsink on LAN, but BCM is bare as it can be... and overclocked to 1100Mhz @ 1.35V
No issues with overheating and whatsoever

[MaxK1]

The SoC runs somewhere in the 50's - SMC chip seems barely thawed out If I remove the Pi from the case and remove the heatsink, no problem. If I put a heatsink back on the SoC and put the board back in the case, no problem. If I leave the heatsink off and put the board back in the case - it may last a day or two. So, even though it isn't the SoC that overheats, by drawing enough heat away from it and dumping that in the case, keeps whatever it is that is overheating from getting too warm. In other words, as the SoC warms up to close to 60, something else is going over the top. Unfortunately, it appears that Heisenberg was right...

[Simple Guy]

Hey Guys,
i own the raspberry pi 3 model b and i wanted to add a 5V fan too. But the GPIOs have 50mA current limit which is not good for a 150mA cheap unreliable fan, like I have. So, I just downloaded reduced schematic for pi3b, and there are some points on the pcb from PP1 to PP6, which are directly connected to the mini usb port for power.I just soldered fan wires directly to these points. This should keep the fan away from rest of the components and tracks on the board, I hope !

[darkbibble]

I recently bought a little 5v 200ma fan for my pi3b and I just plugged it into the 5v and gnd pins on the gpio and it runs great and I don't overheat when playing quake3

[Rive]

Hey Guys,
i own the raspberry pi 3 model b and i wanted to add a 5V fan too. But the GPIOs have 50mA current limit which is not good for a 150mA cheap unreliable fan, like I have. So, I just downloaded reduced schematic for pi3b, and there are some points on the pcb from PP1 to PP6, which are directly connected to the mini usb port for power.I just soldered fan wires directly to these points. This should keep the fan away from rest of the components and tracks on the board, I hope !

You realize you just necro'd a 2 1/2 year old thread that has nothing to do with the Pi3 that you have, right?
Connect fan to GPIO pins 4 and 6 on the 5V rail.

[Simple Guy]

Hey Guys,
i own the raspberry pi 3 model b and i wanted to add a 5V fan too. But the GPIOs have 50mA current limit which is not good for a 150mA cheap unreliable fan, like I have. So, I just downloaded reduced schematic for pi3b, and there are some points on the pcb from PP1 to PP6, which are directly connected to the mini usb port for power.I just soldered fan wires directly to these points. This should keep the fan away from rest of the components and tracks on the board, I hope !

You realize you just necro'd a 2 1/2 year old thread that has nothing to do with the Pi3 that you have, right?
Connect fan to GPIO pins 4 and 6 on the 5V rail.

My mistake, didn't see the dates. Still, why everybody wants to connect a 150mA fan to a barely 50mA GPIO pins? This will also make it difficult to access GPIOS by a 40pin flat cable or a small LCD screen.

[davidcoton]

My mistake, didn't see the dates. Still, why everybody wants to connect a 150mA fan to a barely 50mA GPIO pins? This will also make it difficult to access GPIOS by a 40pin flat cable or a small LCD screen.

You're right that sometimes connecting a fan to the GPIO header will get in the way of other things. Standard problem.

The current limit is for the GPIO outputs, not the 5V supply on the same header. Not sure of the limitation on the 3V3 supply. So if you want a fan to just run, any 5V connection is fine, as long as the PSU can cope. If you want to control the fan via GPIO (PWM speed control, or just on/off), you need a little extra electronics.