We sourced these small, 4-wire fans for our Qwiic Blower Fan product and we think they're pretty cool (pun Nintended). These are sold as Nintendo Switch replacement cooling fans and — while they certainly work in that capacity — their size and power make them useful in a whole host of small projects. Similar fans are used in all kinds of consumer electronics such as laptops, in fact this fan uses the same 4-wire pinout that you're used to seeing on traditional PC fans. Applying 5V will spin the fan up to its maximum speed of 8000 RPM, but if you want fine control over the speed, a 25kHz PWM signal can throttle the fan down. The only thing that makes these a little tricky to work with is the 0.5mm pitch flat flex cable. Unfortunately there's no datasheet available for this device as it appears to be a reproduction of the OEM produced for Nintendo by Foxconn.
If you want an easy way to interface with this fan, check out our Qwiic Blower Fan board.
Features:
- Pulls up to 0.4A at 5VDC
- FPC Pinout: 5V, Tach, GND, PWM
- Maximum Speed: 8000 RPM
- Sounds like a Struggling Laptop