Fan hook-up...which batteries?

Arakus

Hunter
In my helmet, I recently installed 2 squirrel box fans hooked up to a single 9 volt battery. Is there any advantage to using 2 AA or 4 AAA batteries instead of the single 9 volt? The single 9 volt seems to have a limited life while running the 2 fans.

Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
I would think most squirell cage fans run on 9 -12 volts DC. AA batteries are only 1.5 volts each. If you wired 4 of them in series you would only have 6 volts. Having 6 to 8 batteries would be too cumbersome for me.
 
9V batteries can only source a very limited amount of current, usually around 150 mA; a single AA battery can provide much more current, but at the expense of low voltage and weight.

I would like to install a lithium-ion pack into a helmet in the future; Li-Ion packs, while more expensive, can provide a LOT more current than a 9V in a comparable space. For example, most cell phone batteries are 3.7V ~1000mAh; two of them in series can probably power a correctly sized fan for a while. Downside of rechargeable batteries is the special charger needed (especially for lithium-ion), and a 9V is just more convenient.

I'd stick with the 9V in this case. Remember that your two fans are each drawing current, and I assume you have them in parallel for maximum power and airflow circulation; that draws a ton of power from a standard 9V battery. You might want to look into lower-current fans; motors use more current than almost any other standard device, and that's the big problem here.
 
I used a squirrel/blower fan attached to a switched 9 volt battery box. You'd want to attach each fan to it's own 9 volt since one will only last under 2 hours of continuous operation. Or, run only one fan and when it runs out of juice, turn on the other fan which will give you approximately under 4 hours of operation.

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Arakus, where did you get your fans? I want to get me a set of them so my FAT head won't be dripping into my eyes :facepalm
 
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