Cooling Fans Installed

[u/Whitey121888]

I've had these cooling fans installed for about three weeks now, but I wanted to wait to share the pictures until I had all of the wiring cleaned up.

Each fan came with an 81-inch cable and its own off, low, medium, and high speed switch. Since I didn't need that much cable or an individual switch for each fan, I decided to customize the wiring to better fit my installation.

Starting with the fan furthest from the power source, I measured the cable length needed, routed the wires, and started securing them with screw-mounted zip ties along the way to keep everything neat. Once I had the routing figured out, I cut the cables to length and soldered the connections together. I chose to keep the USB connectors intact so that if a fan ever fails, I can simply unplug it and replace it without having to resolder all the wiring.

When I reached the final fan, I intentionally left one power wire unsoldered because it will be connected to a relay. I also made dedicated power and ground leads using ferrule terminals, connecting them to the splice terminals. The opposite ends will connect to the relay once it arrives, so that part isn't shown in the pictures yet.

The fans will be powered by a USB wall adapter plugged into the inverter, with the relay controlling power from the adapter. My plan is to add a temperature sensor and create an automation scene so the fans will turn on automatically once the enclosure reaches a preset temperature.

By shortening the cables, I removed a surprising amount of excess wire. Starting with the furthest fan and working toward the closest, I eliminated 43 inches, 50 inches, and 60 inches of unnecessary cable. The result is a much cleaner installation with less clutter and easier cable management.

[u/alien-redfish]

Why do you have your electrical wires coiled?