Electricity question...I think

[mtg4772]

I made a frigidaire kegerator. It works great. I'm trying to replace the light with a fan that blows cold air into the tower. But each time I connect the fan to the white and yellow wires that were once for the light I get a bunch of fireworks. What, in all hell, am I missing? Here are some pics just for fun.

 

[wilserbrewer]

12v fan connected to 120v???

Be careful my friend!

 

[mtg4772]

Both fans that I fried say DC12V .2A. The bulb that was connected to the yellow and white wires says 1A 125VAC. It also says 1A250V~ 75W 125VAC. Capacity is too much for the fans?

 

[voltin]

First, the fan is direct current (DC), the bulb is alternating current (AC). Second even if they were both AC or DC the voltages are not the same. You need a AC to DC adapter in order to hook up the fan.

 

[big_len]

You need a 120V AC fan, you should be able to get one for around $10.

Be very careful with mains level voltage, it sounds like this was a close call !

 

[AknotOtoads]

Or you could buy one of these fans:
CAT# CF-117
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/CF-117/115-VAC-80-MM-COOLING-FAN/1.html
or ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/120vac-fan

 

[mtg4772]

Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it.

Yeah very close call. Last night I thought I killed it. But just tripped the gfi for that side of the house.

 

[mtg4772]

What about the colors of the wires? One yellow and one white. Is there any way of telling which is the ground and which is hot?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Or maybe a wall wart / phone charger to step down to 12v.

Or safer yet, shove a couple pieces of copper pipe up into the tower so that half the pipe is in the tower, and half the pipe is in the fridge, and let the cold air fall out of the pipe thus exchanging air in the tower.

 

[mattd2]

Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it.

Yeah very close call. Last night I thought I killed it. But just tripped the gfi for that side of the house.

I think he meant close call for you not the fridge!
For AC there iis hot (sometimes called live) and neutral, if ou are not switching the fan on/off then the wire colour doesn't matter.
One question I have is whn do you expect the fan to run, if you are just replacing the light with a fan it will only run with he door open?

 

[mtg4772]

I took off the part of the door that turns off the light when shut. It should be on 100% of the time now.

 

[mattd2]

I took off the part of the door that turns off the light when shut. It should be on 100% of the time now.

Sorted, as long as you get the 120Vac fan there is no need to worry which wire goes where. Look at getting some heat shrink to seal whre you solder the new wires to the fridge's as it wil be in a moist rea and you want to make sure none gets in to the wire joints.

 

[mtg4772]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[opqdan]

Sorted, as long as you get the 120Vac fan there is no need to worry which wire goes where. Look at getting some heat shrink to seal whre you solder the new wires to the fridge's as it wil be in a moist rea and you want to make sure none gets in to the wire joints.

This bears repeating. What you are going to have is a mains voltage just hanging out in your fridge, the same voltage as you get directly from an outlet. Your experiments with hooking the fan directly up to the socket was both dangerous, and reckless without knowing enough about electricity (DC vs. AC, voltage, current) to understand the terms. Be very careful, you can easily harm yourself (the equivalent of sticking your fingers into a wall socket).

Follow any and all safety procedures that you can think of (proper connection of the wires, shielding, and protecting them from moisture as mattd says. If you don't know what these are, consider learning more about the field, finding somebody who does, or trying something else (like running a 12v line into the fridge).

 

[mtg4772]

Ok. thanks. I hear you loud and clear. I'll get that heat shrink and get this squared away.

Seriously: Thank you very much.

 

[big_len]

While you're buying heatshrink, see if you can't get the adhesived lined type - standard heatshrink is great if it's all you have but the glue lined stuff is more suited to actually preventing moisture ingression.

I recall it being tough enough to find in most stores, I ended up just buying a kit of different sizes off fleabay