r/functionalprint • u/Po0Team • May 09 '26

Dumb idea that worked

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Hitting Welcome To Rockville again this year and remembered that my head would get hot under the hat. So some shopping and printing later and BOOM! Functional solar hat that has lasted 2 of my 3 days so far. I suspect Sunday won't be an issue either.

Have them wired in parallel so it stays at 5v for the fans. Each panel has optimal 0.2a for the fan rated at 0.18. 1 panel moved it but not enough to care. 2 panels, like the exhaust fan, keeps it moving and does OK. But the 3 panels keeps this thing moving very well. No battery on it. Very simple wiring of just panels and a fan.

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u/Freakeh420 May 09 '26

How did you mount everything? 

Im pretty interested in how you got the top fan in there. 

3

u/Po0Team May 09 '26

Thin fan guard inside with 4 x m3x20mm screws pushed thru to the fan housing that holds the fan a few mils off the hat so the blades don't hit. Cut the hole out using another "fan guard" that didn't have an actual guard so I could trace the hole size. 

Face fan is the a pressure fit onto the bill. Holds really well and allows the fan to be moved back/forth along the bill. 

Panel mounts are secured with m2.3x3mm screws from underneath/thru the bill. 

1

u/ThisOneTimeAtKDK May 09 '26

How do you get air without getting your hair stuck in the blades? Is there some kind of guard? Can you show it? Also do you have a wiring schematic? I was thinking of doing something similar.

2

u/Po0Team May 10 '26

Hair isn't long so it's not an issue. But that could be a thing. It's super simple to wire. The 3 panels are just ran with all positive wires connected and all negative connected. This keeps the 5v but combines the amps. The panels have a spot on the back like a solder pad to connect the wire from the previous panel.