if you have the physical space you could just power it with a wall-wart.  I know it is not the most elegant, but it would work.  Or, you could use a boot regulator to convert 5 volts to 12

What wall-wart?  What is a boot regulator?

 

 

Get a 5volt fan.

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556069188.html

That's only a 60mm fan.  I have a 50mm and it's not wide enough to cool both drives.  I could use two 50mm fans but I'd like to use a single fan if possible.

So you think I linked to you the specific for your specific hardware installation???  I linked to an example...  You can so your own google search for a 5 volt fan that fits your enclosure.   They are out there.   Almost every laptop has a tiny one.  There are bigger.

 

If you had taken a few more seconds, even on that same site you would have found a whole collection of 5 volt fans of various sizes.   http://www.coolerguys.com/5vf.html

(and I just picked coolerguys.com at random from google, I have no idea if they are good or bad to order from, but they have a web-site with 5 volt fans.  )

 

Here is another site: http://www.buyextras.com/dc5vfaforlan.html

and yet site another with all sorts of sizes, many only 15mm thick :

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g36/c231/list/p1/Fans-5_Volt_Fans.html

 

Joe L.

 

Relax Joe, I spent a while yesterday searching for a 5v fan.  80mm is the largest I could find that was also thin.  Sorry if it looked like I gave you the "talk to the hand" treatment.  Not intended.

 

The part about the wall wart hit me right in the forehead.    I didn't think about all the useless powersupplies sitting around with old unused devices.  Dang, thanks for opening my eyes.  I have the powersupply listed below.  Now I just have to figure out if I have an adapter or if I need to cut it open.

http://www.newpowersupply.com/leadman_ky_05036s_12_5_pin_ac_to_dc_power_adapter_bulk_pack-pr-224.html

That supply will certainly work.  You can even try connecting the fan between the 12 and 5 volt lines so it gets 7 volts and spins a bit slower.  (The red wire on the fan to the 12 volt line, the black to the 5 volt line.)

In my equipment rack in my theater I have a small 12volt fan blowing air between the cable box and the blur-ray player sitting on it to keep them cool.  It also moves air past the small external SATA drive hooked to the cable-box-dvr.  The fan is powered by a small wall-wart... Probably one rated for  9 volts, since when not loaded by much their voltage is higher.

 

The supply you pictured is regulated... and much nicer than the one I am using.

I think it came off an old external ide adapter that had a usb connector.

Well a little solder and some hotglue and I got it hooked up.  It's just barely putting out enough air for now.  It won't be quite enough for the summer in my cabinet.  I discovered that this fan has a same size brother with double the rpm.  This one was $6.95, but the faster brother is over $9.  I'll get that one before summer gets here.  Otherwise, it fits on the dock very nicely and doesn't interfer with inserting the drives.

I just realized that now that I have a power source with a whole 2A I can get a bigger fan!  I'm trying out a 120mm x 25mm  at 5v and it's too thick but starts right up and totally quiet.  Nice air flow.  I might just buy a cheap piece of plastic trim to use as a ledge and mount it for permanent.