Make your own USB fridge

[ddandb]

I found this link very interesting.
I'm going to give this a try. I have enough old parts laying around so it won't cost me anything .

http://technojuice.blogspot.com/2007...sb-fridge.html

[lxskllr]

That's interesting. He said it was a 12V fridge, but USB is 5V. I wonder if it would work better if you hooked it up to the PSU. It wouldn't be as convenient, but I'd rather have the performance.

[Sal1000us]

Very interesting project. As lxskllr said, a normal draw for USB is ~5 volts but depending on the requirements of the thermal fin you will be using, you can always bump that up to 8 volts using a simple DC-DC converter, sometimes called a USB voltage booster ($9). You can get it here (I have used the Keyspan in the past and it worked very well):

http://www.google.com/products/catal...tle#ps-sellers

Good luck & let us know how it goes

[heppycat]

USB is 5v but your problem is going to be the current draw. USB spec says nothing can draw over 150mA unless it 'authenticates' to the host controller. Then it can draw 1.5A. Most 'other' devices I have seen will authenticate to the host as a 'mass storage device' to get around that problem.