Found old thread about possibility of making Fan with on/off switch. I think question is worth to reborn (thread was closed). My answer is yes, it is possible DIY project, I did it to bring extra cooling for my video card. Steps of the project 1. Get the tools (Drill, screwdriver, blank plastic from PC front, wire, tape, switch, PC fan, knife). 2. Cut the wire of PC Fan (you need to cut only one wire, no meter what color it is (because it is not a bomb). I cut red wire, since my extra cable is red). 3. Clean the ends of the wires of PC Fan and wires of the extra cable. 4. Tie the wires of PC Fan and extra cable (if you have soldering iron, then do it that way). 5. Use the tape to wrap the node and then cut the extra cable in the middle. 6. Clean the ends of the extra cable. 7. Integrate switch in blank plasctic of PC Front. I drilled small holes then with knife cutted out hole for switch. You can do this any other way. 8. Tie the ends of extra cable with switch. 9. Use the tape to wrap the node. 10. Put PC fan in place. Put blank plastic with switch in place. 11.Now you have button to turn on/off your PC Fan. Full step by step instructions with pictures and videos you can find on my blog: digitalloupe.blospot.com Remember - its all on your own risk! Dont touch cleaned wires when they are connected to the power line!
Unless you took your power supply apart, the highest voltage you're likely to encounter in the PC is 12V DC, so there's no real harm in touching anything (though you would never do any work like this with the PC running for obvious, but different reasons). As much as it impresses me when people do work like this, you can just buy front bay switch panels for computers that do the same job, or better yet, controllers that can vary the voltage from 0-12V, so you can manually adjust fan speeds: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811998808
Well, even little voltage can unsync your heart beats, but overall in 95% it will not do any harm. And of course you can buy a lot of stuff, but this project is interesting for people who want to make some custom made DIY PC. http://digitalloupe.blogspot.com
12v.. depends on the conditions.. 12v at 100A through wet hands standing with bare feet on a wet floor and you are going to get some pretty bad burns.. check out arc welding currents and voltages.. but a pc psu isn't going to chuck much at you, it's the 5v rails that usually pack a punch. Usually anything under 63V at any current under "normal" conditions (dry hands and pretty well insulated from ground or opposite pole) is considered harmless due to the bodys resistance.. but I can tell you a 500W audio amp chucking out it's rated power at 20-500 Hz can give you a surprise if you get your hands on exposed speaker terminals with an open circuit driver. DC is more dangerous in every respect than AC as you "stick" to it. The only real risk with this project I can see is shorting the wires to the switch to the case.. might be an idea to fit a 1 or 2A line fuse...or learn to solder and deploy sleeving
