Remember the ionic system cooler? Well here is the link for it, to freshen up the memories.
http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/IonC ... rview.aspx
That guy just did a fan version of that ionic cooler and did it with parts for less than 40$. Here is the link.
http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/IonC ... Page1.aspx
I think any inverter can be used as the power source (for instance a power source for a cold cathode lighting). Watch the video at the end as the ionic fan seems to move lots of air.
Seems like the ultimate cooling solution to me ofcourse this fan can only be applied to the outlets of the case, as you wouldn't want negative ions flying around in your computer.
Ionic Fan
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
A simple plastic fan grill will do the trick, no big deal (plastic, since you wouldn't want electrons sticking on a metal grill and charging it up).
Besides, I looked at the specs of the unit. It generates 20kvolts with 50micro amps, multiply to find 1 watts output. There is no way such an output can even harm a human being.
Still looks like it is moving a decent amount of air. I just would like to see more people trying it and finding similar results. Heck, even a company can make and sell those.
Besides, I looked at the specs of the unit. It generates 20kvolts with 50micro amps, multiply to find 1 watts output. There is no way such an output can even harm a human being.
Still looks like it is moving a decent amount of air. I just would like to see more people trying it and finding similar results. Heck, even a company can make and sell those.
The site has step-by-step instructions, it's cheap to make, and appears to work; I would be very interested for someone on SPCR to try this, either the editorial team or one of the more EE-savvy regulars.
One caveat: he says he used lightweight Mylar strips for the streamers, so that may exaggerate the airflow, but still, there does appear to be a decent amount of movement.
One caveat: he says he used lightweight Mylar strips for the streamers, so that may exaggerate the airflow, but still, there does appear to be a decent amount of movement.
Some thoughts, if anyone's actually thinking about trying this:
1) I'd replace the hot glue with a good two-part epoxy, which will almost certainly provide better electrical insulation and will make a near-indestructable bond/protective cover.
2) I'd vote for a grounded metal grill. In fact, if I were going to run this anywhere near my pets and children, I'd encase the whole thing in a fairly sturdy perforated metal cage. That way, even if you drop it or whack it, you'll probably short the wires to the cage instead of to you.
3) I think more goes into the calculation of whether a voltage supply is dangerous than the average running power. (For example, a transient surge in current doesn't have to last long to induce fibrillation.) I'm not a HV expert, but I'd want to be before I felt comfortable pronouncing on the safety of this set-up.
1) I'd replace the hot glue with a good two-part epoxy, which will almost certainly provide better electrical insulation and will make a near-indestructable bond/protective cover.
2) I'd vote for a grounded metal grill. In fact, if I were going to run this anywhere near my pets and children, I'd encase the whole thing in a fairly sturdy perforated metal cage. That way, even if you drop it or whack it, you'll probably short the wires to the cage instead of to you.
3) I think more goes into the calculation of whether a voltage supply is dangerous than the average running power. (For example, a transient surge in current doesn't have to last long to induce fibrillation.) I'm not a HV expert, but I'd want to be before I felt comfortable pronouncing on the safety of this set-up.
I think making and testing one if these would be a great Reader Submitted article. Jaganath, you've got 2500+ posts, plenty of modding experience, and lots of experience with low-flow fans to compare it against, and like you said, the instructions are step-by-step...jaganath wrote:I would be very interested for someone on SPCR to try this, either the editorial team or one of the more EE-savvy regulars.
quote from another site:
"First, some warnings:
1) They're using a 20kv power supply, which is *way* too high. There is a *reason* why air ionizers never operate at that high a voltage - OZONE! Using a lower voltage will result in less airflow, but that can be compensated to a degree by using more emitter/collector wires, and finer emitter wires.
2) They didn't mention another important detail - the negative output from the supply should always go to the finer emitter wires. This should not be reversed, otherwise you'd be spraying positive ions in the room, which is most likely a *bad thing*. Look up "Föhn wind" on Wikipedia, and then understand that one of the leading hypothesis for the resultant "illness ranging from migraines to psychosis...suicide and accidents increased by 10 percent" is the presence of unusually high levels of positive ions. There is further scientific evidence on the bad effects of positive ions, and the healthful effects of negative ions, as well. Whether it's true or not, the fact remains that you will *never* see a commercial air ionizer wired to emit positive ions into the environment. Why push your luck?
3) Whatever the output air from this device blows near *will* collect dust. Very fine dust which is extremely hard to remove - sometimes impossible depending on the surface. I've seen wallpaper and some plastics permanently stained by ionizers, or other ion emitters such as TVs. Just a little tip before you ruin something you'd rather not.
Now that's out of the way, I gotta say I'm disappointed. Yes, this project is pretty neat, and I do tip my hat to the creators. It's just that this *not* an "ion cooler", it's an "ion fan". And every time I see "ion cooler", I get my hopes up that it's the real thing. Let me explain:
With a standard heatsink/fan, most of the air takes the path of least resistance, flowing past the metal without coming into physical contact. In addition, the air particles closest to the metal tend to form a slow-moving, high-pressure boundary layer that pushes air flow away from the metal, effectively acting as an insulator.
But if you emit a stream of charged air particles at a metal object (such as a heatsink) that's grounded or has an opposite charge, each of those air particles is attracted into physical, intimate contact with the metal in order to give up its charge.
The result is incredible thermal transfer with a fraction of the airflow. I've seen this effect demonstrated. A grounded piece of metal was heated red-hot with a torch. When a nearby ion emitter was switched on, the metal cooled rapidly, even though the air movement was barely noticeable.
So picture an "ion cooler" on the CPU, and an "ion fan" replacing the power supply and/or case fans. Voila, silent and effective cooling. Ok, high voltage isn't exactly CPU-friendly - but neither is water, and people use that anyway. I'm sure it could be done with some care and ingenuity."
"First, some warnings:
1) They're using a 20kv power supply, which is *way* too high. There is a *reason* why air ionizers never operate at that high a voltage - OZONE! Using a lower voltage will result in less airflow, but that can be compensated to a degree by using more emitter/collector wires, and finer emitter wires.
2) They didn't mention another important detail - the negative output from the supply should always go to the finer emitter wires. This should not be reversed, otherwise you'd be spraying positive ions in the room, which is most likely a *bad thing*. Look up "Föhn wind" on Wikipedia, and then understand that one of the leading hypothesis for the resultant "illness ranging from migraines to psychosis...suicide and accidents increased by 10 percent" is the presence of unusually high levels of positive ions. There is further scientific evidence on the bad effects of positive ions, and the healthful effects of negative ions, as well. Whether it's true or not, the fact remains that you will *never* see a commercial air ionizer wired to emit positive ions into the environment. Why push your luck?
3) Whatever the output air from this device blows near *will* collect dust. Very fine dust which is extremely hard to remove - sometimes impossible depending on the surface. I've seen wallpaper and some plastics permanently stained by ionizers, or other ion emitters such as TVs. Just a little tip before you ruin something you'd rather not.
Now that's out of the way, I gotta say I'm disappointed. Yes, this project is pretty neat, and I do tip my hat to the creators. It's just that this *not* an "ion cooler", it's an "ion fan". And every time I see "ion cooler", I get my hopes up that it's the real thing. Let me explain:
With a standard heatsink/fan, most of the air takes the path of least resistance, flowing past the metal without coming into physical contact. In addition, the air particles closest to the metal tend to form a slow-moving, high-pressure boundary layer that pushes air flow away from the metal, effectively acting as an insulator.
But if you emit a stream of charged air particles at a metal object (such as a heatsink) that's grounded or has an opposite charge, each of those air particles is attracted into physical, intimate contact with the metal in order to give up its charge.
The result is incredible thermal transfer with a fraction of the airflow. I've seen this effect demonstrated. A grounded piece of metal was heated red-hot with a torch. When a nearby ion emitter was switched on, the metal cooled rapidly, even though the air movement was barely noticeable.
So picture an "ion cooler" on the CPU, and an "ion fan" replacing the power supply and/or case fans. Voila, silent and effective cooling. Ok, high voltage isn't exactly CPU-friendly - but neither is water, and people use that anyway. I'm sure it could be done with some care and ingenuity."
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frostedflakes
- Posts: 1608
- Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:02 pm
- Location: United States
Very cool stuff (especially about the ionic cooler). The demand is obviously there, if a company or individual was to develop and patent a low-cost, safe, and practical ionic fan design they could probably make some decent money -- especially if OEMs like HP, Dell, etc. adopted the technology.
Might even try making a simple ionic fan myself, if I do I'll be sure to post up a how to.
EDIT: Perhaps an ionic fan to replace a laptop blower fan?? Now that would be a neat project.
Might even try making a simple ionic fan myself, if I do I'll be sure to post up a how to.
EDIT: Perhaps an ionic fan to replace a laptop blower fan?? Now that would be a neat project.
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inventgeek
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:09 am
laptop cooler
Now a laptop cooler would be a very clever adaptation to this tech.
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frostedflakes
- Posts: 1608
- Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:02 pm
- Location: United States
I was thinking the same. 
But after rolling the idea around in my head, I don't know how feasible it is. Because of the size constraints, the power supply would probably have to be custom made. Is it possible to build a high gain (a few volts to a few thousand) power supply that will fit into the same space as a 40mm (or maybe it's 50mm, something like that) blower fan? It would no doubt have to be an SMPS, a transformer won't fit in there.
Or maybe one could use a laptop backlight inverter (assuming one can be found that physically fits)? Would this provide enough voltage, though? I think they generally output a few hundred to a thousand volts, whereas most air ionizer projects I've read about are using thousands or tens of thousands of volts. Then again, the gap between the electrodes for this project would be much smaller, probably along the lines of 5mm, so maybe it would be adequate?
But after rolling the idea around in my head, I don't know how feasible it is. Because of the size constraints, the power supply would probably have to be custom made. Is it possible to build a high gain (a few volts to a few thousand) power supply that will fit into the same space as a 40mm (or maybe it's 50mm, something like that) blower fan? It would no doubt have to be an SMPS, a transformer won't fit in there.
Or maybe one could use a laptop backlight inverter (assuming one can be found that physically fits)? Would this provide enough voltage, though? I think they generally output a few hundred to a thousand volts, whereas most air ionizer projects I've read about are using thousands or tens of thousands of volts. Then again, the gap between the electrodes for this project would be much smaller, probably along the lines of 5mm, so maybe it would be adequate?
Look atfrostedflakes wrote:Very cool stuff (especially about the ionic cooler). The demand is obviously there, if a company or individual was to develop and patent a low-cost, safe, and practical ionic fan design they could probably make some decent money -- especially if OEMs like HP, Dell, etc. adopted the technology.
Might even try making a simple ionic fan myself, if I do I'll be sure to post up a how to.
EDIT: Perhaps an ionic fan to replace a laptop blower fan?? Now that would be a neat project.
www.ase.se
to find a company which has a (at least a swedish) patent on exactly this technology.