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BrianG
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Des Moines, IA
04.30.2011, 10:25 PM

First of all, be careful with the temp adjustment. Even though it may feel good, setting it too low could cause hypothermia. Similar to how you have to heat a waterbed.

Second: Using a voltage regulator for a pump is quite inefficient. When set to low, the regulator will generate quite a bit of heat. Also, note that the pump may not start up if the voltage is too low - this will take some experimenting to figure out. But if that's still something you want to do, a simple LM317T adjustable regulator with a pass transistor can be cheaply made. The sample circuit can be found in the LM317T datasheet.

A better solution is a PWM fan controller. Many computer fan speed control modules use this method. Just have to find one that is rated for ~1A. Heck, you could even rig an ESC to do it, but would be more expensive and convoluted.
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