I have a 5V DC fan I took from a dead laptop
(Toshiba Satellite).
There's a sticker on it with the following:

DC BRUSHLESS
MCF-106PBM05
DC5V 330 mA
CODE GDM610000036
TOSHIBA HOME TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

I haven't been able to find a data sheet for it.

This motor has three wires: red, black, and brown.
Lacking data, I 'guessed' and tried red on positive,
black on negative, and left the brown wire unconnected.
The fan runs OK.

Questions:
Does anyone know where I might find a data sheet for this fan?

What is the brown wire for?

Should this fan run in reverse direction if I swap the red
and black leads? (I tried it, nothing happens, didn't seem
to harm the motor).

Is it possible to reverse this fan?

I don't want to try any other lead combinations without
data for fear of damaging the unit.

Any and all suggestions much appreciated.

-Mike

"Mike Wahler" <mkwahler@mkwahler.net> writes:
> What is the brown wire for?

If it's a standard fan, the extra wire is a tachometer sense, so the
PC knows how fast (or even *if*) the fan is spinning. Most fans can
be speed controlled, perhaps with PWM on the red, too.

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:28:31 -0700, Mike Wahler wrote:

> I have a 5V DC fan I took from a dead laptop
> (Toshiba Satellite).
> There's a sticker on it with the following:
>
> DC BRUSHLESS

> Should this fan run in reverse direction if I swap the red
> and black leads? (I tried it, nothing happens, didn't seem
> to harm the motor).
>
> Is it possible to reverse this fan?

Not without dismantling it and hacking the controller.

A "brushless DC" (BLDC) motor is essentially a synchronous AC motor either
with a built-in DC-AC converter or which is intended to be driven by such.
The former is normally the case for PC fans, and is the case for yours,
otherwise it wouldn't run on DC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLDC

3-wire PC fans can normally have their speed controlled by varying the
supply voltage (PWM will work), but they won't normally run in reverse
(the driver would need extra circuitry, which is of no use for their
intended purpose).

Google provides many relevant links:

http://www.google.com/search?q=pc%20fan ... %20control

"Mike Wahler" <mkwahler@mkwahler.net> wrote in message
news:13bq7no6n2duad5@corp.supernews.com...
>I have a 5V DC fan I took from a dead laptop
> (Toshiba Satellite).

Thank you DJ and "Nobody".

-Mike