Is it a problem for the fan that it is being powered at 3V3

[faramon]

Hi,
I have FAN 5V 0.2A (200mA).
If you connect it to 5V it revolves with great speed and a little noisy.
I tried to connect it to the 3V3 Power Pin and that works great, rotate enough to cool.
Is it a problem for Raspberry Pi since the FAN specification writes 5V?

Thanx,
Faramon

[texy]

Hi,
the question should be "is it a problem for the fan that it is being powered at 3V3 when its specification is 5V".

The short answer is no, however if you have a meter it may be worth measuring the current that the fan is drawing.

Texy

[faramon]

Hi,
the question should be "is it a problem for the fan that it is being powered at 3V3 when its specification is 5V".
Texy

I changed it, Thanx.

But, how high current can be within 3.3 V output pin?

Thanx,
Faramon

[davidcoton]

But, how high current can be within 3.3 V output pin?

I am sure you can find the 3.3V output current limit somewhere here. I don't remember it offhand, my feeling is that there is not enough for a fan.
The efficient alternative would be to provide a 5V to 3.3V converter capable of 200mA.
The inefficient alternative is a resistor in series with the fan at 5V -- something like 8-10 ohms , rated 0.5W

[faramon]

Yes, I found replay on this forum. 3.3 V source pin have to be no more than 50mA.

Faramon

[texy]

The fan may be rated at 200mA, but you really need a meter to measure actual current draw.
Texy

[faramon]

Yes, I agree.

Faramon

[MarkTF]

For most applications one could connect the fan to nothing at all and it would rotate fast enough to provide sufficient cooling and would be perfectly quiet.

To your specific question connecting an electro-mechanical device to a regulated power supply shared by digital logic is generally a bad idea, but people do get away with it.

[faramon]

The fan may be rated at 200mA, but you really need a meter to measure actual current draw.
Texy

I have a universal instrument that has a range of maximum measuring currents up to 200mA and when I connect FAN he goes beyond the 200mA and current is much higher. The instrument is not measured so much.
I decided to remove FAN.