Mini USB Fan From Recycled Parts.

It's too hot! But I have a solution! While air conditioning is great, sometimes you want a blast of cool air in your face. You can now do it for free!

Tools:

Wire cutters

Soldering iron

Heat gun

Materials:

Cable tie

Old USB cable (mine is from a dead mouse)

12 volt industrial fan (NOT a computer fan!) or a 5 volt fan

Heat shrink tube

Flux

Solder

Safety glasses

Cut off the end of your USB cable and strip the outer jacket. Strip the red and black wires and cut off the rest. On the fan, cut off the connector and strip the wires. Tie a knot near the end of the USB cable. Set the parts aside.

Slip the heatshrink tube over the wires, then using the flux and solder, solder the black wire to the other black one, and the red one to the other red one. Slip the heatshrink over the connector, then heat it with your heat gun. Wrap with electrical tape if desired.

Use cable ties to attach the knot in your cable to one of the fan mounts.

Plug your USB fan into a power bank, wall charger or computer. The fan draws less than 500ma, so it is USB compliant. In all of these pictures, the power bank is powering the fan as my ancient computers lack a USB port. I have also used it on my custom built Windows 7 computer using a MSI A68HM-E33 V2 motherboard, and my MacBook Air. By the way, if you want specs on my custom built Windows 7 computer, leave a comment!