Image by Justina Blakeney
ELECTRO-CRAFTING
Issue #32
Chill out this summer with your very own water-bottle fan
By Chris Scott
Published: June 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
With some found objects, 30 minutes, a few dollars, and the will to create, you will have a useful gadget and something to talk about this summer.
MATERIALS (SEE FIGURE ONE)
• 12-volt computer fan (from one of those PCs you see in the garbage every other day)
• 9-volt battery (it doesn’t matter that the fan is 12 volts. The battery will still power it.)
• battery connector (can be found in most cheap toys)
• empty, dry water bottle (the bottle serves as a body to hold all of the parts, and to protect your fingers from the fan)
• electrical switch of any type (this is optional but without it you’ll have to snap the battery connector to the battery every time you want to use the fan)
• small piece of double-sided Velcro (this is used to hold the battery in place)
TOOLS
• scissors or utility knife
• hot-glue gun (and glue)
1. (see figure two) Cut the ends off of the water bottle and stick the fan in one end. Most water bottles have parts that are wider or thinner. Try to find the part that is a similar width to the fan so that it is snug. Use hot glue to fix the fan sides to the bottle. Don’t worry about being neat. Also stick one side of the Velcro inside the bottle, but not so far inside that it is difficult to reach.
2. (see figure three) Make a hole that works for the type of switch that you have. I made mine on the corner of the bottle because it’s stronger. Attach the battery connector to the battery and the other piece of Velcro and place it inside the bottle.
3. (see figure four) Twist the two black negative wires together and use hot glue to keep them together. Attach the red positive wires to the two metal pegs on the switch. Use hot glue in between to make sure the two wires don’t touch each other and so that they don’t fall off the switch.
That’s it! (see figure five) Now turn it on and enjoy. And you may want cover it with some colorful tape or stickers so that no one on the bus thinks that it’s a bomb.
E-mail your questions to Chris Scott at unusablesignal@gmail.com.
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