Laptop Cooling Pad With USB Hub

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

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Laptop Cooling Pad with 4-port USB Hubby amorarun on July 19, 2011

Table of Contents

Laptop Cooling Pad with 4-port USB Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro:   Laptop Cooling Pad with 4-port USB Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1:   Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 2:   Make the holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 3:   De-soldering and soldering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 4:   Hot Glue time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 5:   Final touch and testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Author:amorarunI'm a student at UniKL MIAT, Malaysia studying Aircraft Engineering Technology. I like to make things using the materials available with me already. Kindastill learning electronic through internet..Very much interested in Green energy production. Since I'm from India all my stuff are back home so only duringsemester holidays I try to make some things.

Intro:  Laptop Cooling Pad with 4-port USB HubI have been using my laptop with a cooling pad and a 4-port USB hub but the problem is I don't like it being lying around blocking CD drive or other ports or ventsmoreover I didn't like carrying the cooling pad and the hub separately every where also I don't want to sacrifice a port just for using the cooling fan and need a switch toon/off the cooling fan according to my will. I thought of buying another cooling pad with an integrated 4 port hub with an option of external power for the hub but it wasexpensive (for me...) and I don't want the old one to be lying around. So here is what I have made...

Things needed:# Cooling Pad (mine is cooler master)# Usb 4- port hub (the one that can fit inside the cooling pad) (Note ** the USB ports can be reused, if you have difficulties in de-soldering  then I suggest you to buy 4female USB ports and 4 Male USB ports as well)# Wires# 2 - LEDs (your choice of color, 3mm would be my preference)# 1 - Small Switch# 1 - Female Jack (which suits your wall wart to power the usb hub)# 1 - Resistor - 100 ohms# 1 - 1N4004 diodes

Tools:Dremel or Hobby Knife or Drilling machineSoldering ironSolderDe-soldering pumpHot glue gun + hot glueScrew driverHelping hands

This project costs me almost nothing because I already had the materials with me. It shouldn't cost you more than 4-5$ if you already have the cooling pad and the hub.The cost might add up if you prefer to use extension cable (Refer: Note **)

Disclaimer: Please deal with caution when using power tools. I'm not responsible if something goes wrong.Note: This is my first instructable so please bare with me if I made any mistakes.

Image Notes1. My Cooler Master cooling pad :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Step 1: Planning"If you fail to plan, you are planing to fail" I don't know who said it :) . Since mine is different from the ones you may have choose the location accordingly after looking intoyours. In mine I have to remove all 12 screws hidden behind the rubber pad to open the cover, then I have chosen the sides to put the USBs with LED indicators ,the DCjack, the switch and the hub itself, shown in fig. 3 & 4. This configuration suites me well, you can choose whichever way you want it to be but the basics are still same.

I have decided to keep 2 USBs at the back for mouse and headphone and other 2 USBs on my right side to use it for other devices, the DC jack goes at the back as wellalong with the corresponding LEDs. The red LED is going to be replaced with blue and kept towards the fan, where the light can be seen at the bottom.

The USB hub has been opened and its up to you whether to remove the DC jack from the circuit and reuse it or to use another DC jack. Since I didn't had the wall wartwhich fits the DC jack in the hub, I decided to use another that fits and found the connecting point (shown in the fig.) for it, using the multimeter.

Image Notes1. Have to remove the rubber to access the screws

Image Notes1. Screw #12. Screw #23. Screw #3

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Image Notes1. Hub goes here2. Switch for the cooling fan here3. DC jack here, on the right LED to indicate that the DC Jack is getting power4. #1 USB at top #2 USB at bottom Note: all are inside the selected area

Image Notes1. #3 USB at left #4 USB at right Note: once again all indicated are within theselected area

Image Notes1. Fan has been removed to avoid damage2. :( I don't have a dedicated table or room to do my projects. I do it in our livingroom.3. Until I get a table my old Mathematics book is my table :)4. Here is my helping hand made from thick copper wire, using other instructableI've seen earlier.5. Metal Cover removed and kept aside

Image Notes1. Top cover of the USB hub2. The circuit

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Image Notes1. This indicates the hub is connected to laptop or it is powered. I'm gonnareplace it with a blue LED2. These LEDs indicates the USB in use. These are going to be kept near thehub3. Mini USB connector to the Laptop4. DC Jack to power the hub if needed5. The points where the external DC jack is going to be connected6. All these ports will be removed and soldered again with wires in between

Step 2: Make the holesFirst mark the size of the hole to me made, for USB I would prefer the size of the body and I would insert it from the outside so the small metal tab like things are outsideagainst the surface. For DC jack I cut out the whole size as shown in the last picture in this step, for the switch I just need the black thing to be out and the slidingdistance. For LED I made a small hole just visible enough for the light to be seen.

(Improvement: unfortunately the indicating LEDs aren't that bright enough to be seen while working on the laptop but it can be seen only when we are aligned with theholes direction. so either make a bigger hole or my idea to correct this would be to use fibre optical cable and insert a bit in the hole so the light can be seen outside)

To make the hole you can do it in either way by drilling as many holes as possible within the hole area and then cutting the excess out using hobby or utility knife or byusing dremel, I used the first method since I don't have a dremel.

Image Notes1. My Drilling Machine

Image Notes1. 2 USBs on the right side

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Image Notes1. 2 USBs at the back side

Image Notes1. Switch for the cooling fan on the right side You can fix the position according toyour needs

Image Notes1. LED hole and DC jack hole

Step 3: De-soldering and solderingDe-SolderingRemove all the USB ports from the hub's circuit and keep it for later use, be careful while de-soldering the ports as there is a chance to break the thin connectors in theport. Also de-solder all the LEDs from the circuit.  According to where you are going to fix, measure the length (make sure to leave some extra because we solder theports when the wire is through the hole for better understanding see picture # 5) and cut wires for all the USBs and indication LEDs. Also cut wires for the DC jack andhub power LED. 

Note: As mentioned earlier if you have difficulties in De-soldering the USB ports from the hub's circuit then make an extension cable using a female USB port and maleUSB port. First solder the measured wires to the male USB and connect it to the hub, then bring the wire through the desired hole and solder the other end with femaleUSB port.

SolderingNow solder all the hub wires to the circuit in its respective place and indication LEDs. Now bring the hub wires through their respective holes and solder them with theUSB ports make sure the wires are soldered in its appropriate place. (Note: solder the wires to the correct pin, in this we are just extending the connection from the circuitto the port so there shouldn't be any problem, when in doubt clarify with someone or me otherwise solder wires one by one).

In order for the DC jack power on LED to not to work while the hub is powered by the USB we need to put a diode in series as shown in the diagram also solder theindicator LED for external DC jack with the 100 ohm resistor. Then solder the entire setup to the circuit board.

Now measure the cooling fan's wire length and cut so that it can reach one of the ports or the circuit board where the USB port is. For some reason the fan doesn't workwhen the red wire is given positive power and the black one the negative power but it works when  red wire to negative and black wire to positive make sure it worksbefore soldering and also connect the switch

Note : If you have cut holes according to what I have mentioned before you should solder the ports after you bring the wires through the holes otherwise you have to de-solder and solder again or just keep the whole hub inside which will give different finish. Also you can use other USBs according to your needs but make sure you solderthe correct wire.

Sorry...unfortunately I forgot to take the de-soldering photo and the soldering photos.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Disclaimer: I won't take any responsibility if anything goes wrong because of wrong connections.

Image Notes1. Sometimes after de-soldering the thin metal might come out don't worry justpop them back in2. The thin metal tabs

Image Notes1. This one has 6 wires so I'm using 4 wires for the port #4 and 2 for the LED.This is a telephone wire :)2. This wire is for port #3 and I got it from non working USB hub3. For port #2 copper wire I had on hand4. For port #1 notice the black thing in between those are heat shrink tubes justto keep the wires organised

Image Notes1. External DC jack2. Blue 3mm LED with 100 ohm resistor3. 1N 4004 diode cannot been seen because of the heat shrink tube

Image Notes1. Switch for the fan from an old phone

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Image Notes1. Wire through the hole2. Rusty aligator clip (cheap ones) from my helping hand3. Make sure to correctly solder the wires.

Image Notes1. The diode2. Wires from the switch. One from the middle and another from the corner

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Image Notes1. Just soldered this wire for the hub power indicator LED2. Solder the DC jack setup in its point

Step 4: Hot Glue timeNow hot glue all the exposed joints to avoid short circuit .The switch, hub power indicator LED, USB ports, DC jack, USB indicator LEDs hot glue them all in place. I hold the USBs straight regardless of the slanting surface of thecooling pads wall since I want the port to be straight. Before hot gluing the ports I put a small amount of hot glue at the bottom of the hole then inserted the hub andquickly hot glued on top and sides while making sure it is level. Since I placed the indicator LEDs next to the hub itself I first glued down the hubs except the side wherethe LED is going to be then later I glued the LED.

Glue down the hub's bottom cover and the hub power indicator LED (according to your chosen position).

Image Notes1. My Hot glue gun

Image Notes1. Thats a lot of glue not really necessary. Make sure not to put more on top as thecover might not sit properly

Image Notes1. LED for the port on right which has been hot glued in position2. LED for the port on the right

Image Notes1. LED and resistor hot glue to make sure non of the connection is exposed.2. DC jack hot glued nicely

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Image Notes1. Hub's bottom cover2. Hub power indicator LED glued

Image Notes1. Almost all the wires have been glued2. This one is for hub power indication it will be soldered later as the LED hasbeen glued before soldering3. Yet the connection for the cooling fan has to be made

Image Notes1. The green wire and the yellow wire for the cooling fan switch2. The cooling fan wires has been soldered to the port #4. The green one is -ve.3. Red wire from the Cooling fan soldered with the switch

Image Notes1. I used the old hole which is used for the cooling fan's wire as the hub's wire.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Integrating-Laptop-Cooling-Pad-with-USB-Hub-with-/

Step 5: Final touch and testingNow screw the fan back to its place and make sure no wires interrupt it. Test the hub and the cooling fan by connecting it to your laptop and using a pen drive to makesure all the USB ports work.

Then put back the top cover of the hub. and the cooling pad.

It works fine, the only problem I had was the mini USB to USB wire given with the hub have some problem so I bought a new wire and everything is fine now.

Please do vote if you like the project and comment and rate it

SuggestionsTo make it look nicer you could use sugru to cover the USB.

Could have used 7-port hub instead of 4 so that you can use the other three for other devices like card reader, reading lights, .....

Any further suggestions are welcome...

Image Notes1. This hub has 4 small screws I decided to put them back

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