Newbie Wiring Question: Putting Fan in Cabinet

OldSkoolFool

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I am going to put two fans in my Capcom big blue cabinet to keep things nice and cool in there for the 18 in 1 CPS2 board. The fans I picked up are 12 volt and 0.3 A. The power supply in the cab is I am assuming is original and it is 12V 6A. The power supply has about 6 wires coming from it, most red and black, one yellow, one white.

So, can I just tap into the red and black wires on the power supply and directly connect the fan? Or do I need some sort of relay or transistor from the power supply to fan? Other advice?

Also, I just noticed the fan on my power supply is not spinning. Should I be concerned with this or just leave it and replace the whole thing if it fails?

Thanks!
 
I would replace the fan in the power supply if it has failed. While I've seen plenty of those power supplies live a long time with no fan, it's best that it has a working one.

As for installing other fans, simply wire them to the 12v wiring in the cabinet. This is usually the yellow wire, but check it with you meter first, as color codes may vary depending on the game, and who last modified it.

-Ian
 
I'd also recommend replacing the fan in the power supply. I wouldn't recommend installing any additional fans though, you're only going to create unnecessary noise.
 
To check the yellow, just put on the multi-meter and it should read 12v I'm assuming? Then connect the positive of the fan to it? Negative goes grounded to the cab somewhere or...?


I am going to put one fan directed towards the board, maybe a few inches away. I have read the CPS2 18 in 1's get pretty hot and it seems like they are more likely to fail without cooling. The original CPS2 boards have fans in them as well. The other fan I'll put somewhere to direct air out of the cab. I rather be safe than sorry with the 18 in 1 board.
 
I'd also recommend replacing the fan in the power supply. I wouldn't recommend installing any additional fans though, you're only going to create unnecessary noise.

He's putting a bootleg board in there that's known to get pretty hot. He should really install additional cooling for it. If the fans are good, they won't create much noise, and a quiet humming noise of a fan is better than a burned up board.

OldSkoolFool said:
To check the yellow, just put on the multi-meter and it should read 12v I'm assuming? Then connect the positive of the fan to it? Negative goes grounded to the cab somewhere or...?

Yes. To check a DC voltage, put the black lead from the meter on a DC ground connection (usually black, but check), and the red lead to the wire with the voltage you wish to measure. The fan would connect in the same manner. Positive wire to 12v, negative wire to DC ground.

-Ian
 
I am going to put one fan directed towards the board, maybe a few inches away.

The fan needs to pull the heat away, don't direct it towards. Directing it towards will also blow dust and crap all over the components and board.

Also, any 12 volt source you tap needs to be controlled with the on/off switch, make sure your wire tap is only live when the game is on.
 
Also, any 12 volt source you tap needs to be controlled with the on/off switch, make sure your wire tap is only live when the game is on.

Think very hard about that statement....

And name one 12v DC source in an arcade game that would ever be powered when the game is switched off...

:D

-Ian
 
Think very hard about that statement....

And name one 12v DC source in an arcade game that would ever be powered when the game is switched off...

:D

-Ian

I knew the tech police would be on me for this... No one in this site knows every game manf by heart here, maybe you do?

It's just a check being that I don't know the game, or have seen the transformers and the person is a new bee to this all. The AC side of some transformers coming in is live all the time, thus a make sure. The OP has not tested all the wires he listed above for power anyway.
 
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Thanks for the replies.

Next question: Should I put the fan directed towards the board, or directed away from the board?

I figured that ya, some dust would get on there but the board would be much cooler if it was blowing in air from outside the cab onto it. I agree that less dust would get on there if the fan was blowing away from the board. I have a good spot that I would mount the fan in, the same spot in both scenarios, just pointed in the opposite direction.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Next question: Should I put the fan directed towards the board, or directed away from the board?

I figured that ya, some dust would get on there but the board would be much cooler if it was blowing in air from outside the cab onto it. I agree that less dust would get on there if the fan was blowing away from the board. I have a good spot that I would mount the fan in, the same spot in both scenarios, just pointed in the opposite direction.
Are you doing 1 or 2 fans? Are there other vents in the cabinet? You want to make sure you get good airflow. Typically, I would put 2 fans, 1 blowing into the enclosure, and 1 out. At a minimum, 1 blowing out, and a vent somewhere to allow air in. Most cab's have vents in the bottom and on the back. You dont really want anything blowing directly on the board really, you mainly want good airflow to the entire cabinet so that it will have a constant supply of room temperature air flowing.
 
I am going to do two fans. There is a vent kind of like a grab handle as well at the mid/top area. What I figured I would do, is have a fan blowing in at that vent, and have the other fan that is near the board and blowing away from it blowing air out of the cabinet (would make a vent at the bottom of the cab to do that).
 
I am going to do two fans. There is a vent kind of like a grab handle as well at the mid/top area. What I figured I would do, is have a fan blowing in at that vent, and have the other fan that is near the board and blowing away from it blowing air out of the cabinet (would make a vent at the bottom of the cab to do that).
The vent at the bottom will probably have more resistance to air flow, so personally I would reverse that. Air has other places to come in easily, so you want the outgoing less restricted to maximize airflow. I would also get a piece of filter material (can get stuff at home depot in the hvac section worst case) over that incoming fan vent, as alot of dust will try to come in there.
 
It seems like it might be better to have the exhaust at the top and the intake at the bottom. Hot air rises, so it stands to reason that the cooler air you're forcing into the cabinet would be found lower, and any heat generated inside the cabinet would tend upwards.

EDIT: Somebody beat me to it.
 
It seems like it might be better to have the exhaust at the top and the intake at the bottom. Hot air rises, so it stands to reason that the cooler air you're forcing into the cabinet would be found lower, and any heat generated inside the cabinet would tend upwards.

EDIT: Somebody beat me to it.
Although that is a second good solid reason to reverse them :)
 
It seems like it might be better to have the exhaust at the top and the intake at the bottom. Hot air rises, so it stands to reason that the cooler air you're forcing into the cabinet would be found lower, and any heat generated inside the cabinet would tend upwards.

EDIT: Somebody beat me to it.

This is what I originally thought as well due to the warm air rising, have the intake lower in the cab and blowing on the board and the exhaust somewhere towards the top to take the warmer air out. The PCB is located on a mounting board in the lower middle part (centered left and right wise) of the cab. The lowest part of the PCB is about 12" from the bottom of the cab. With this route, the intake would then be blowing onto the PCB which would then cause it to get dusty. I would like one of the fans to either blow directly on to the PCB to cool it, or would like the fan to be close to the PCB to directly pull away warm air. Is there a definitive option? I might have to post a pic of what the inside of the cab looks like.
 
Thats the reason for the filter on the bottom intake fan. Keeps all that dust out of it. As long as you have solid airflow in the cabinet, even if it is not directly on the board itself, the heat generated will cause the airflow to migrate towards it. as that air rises, and is drawn up by the fan, itll draw in the cool air from below.
 
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