> An interesting question would be: "How > is the speed of a household fan controlled. I don't think they have > true speed controllers. Most likely they just add a resistor in series > with the fan motor. However, I'm just guessing, as I don't really know > how they work. I do know that they tend to be very cheap, so whatever > the solution is, it can't cost too much.
I'm just guessing, but I imagine the fans with dials use what's called a rheostat resistor. Its a resistor that uses a system of coils and a dial that changes its resistance. They're expensive for resistors, but they range from like $0.25 to $5. A three button fan probably works by switches between resistance or no resistance. But I'm just guessing. I saw a case mod site that sells cheap rheostat resistors for your fans, but I don't remember where. Its linked off of http://www.voidyourwarranty.net . There are a few crazy people who submerge their entire motherboard and processor in a soup of a non-conductive oil solution. But I would be incredibly scared to do that, and I don't even know how well it works. But if the whole thing were in oil, you wouldn't need to worry about condensation, etc, so you could cool it in an icebox or something. -Eric Hattemer
