Fixing Fans

[Zoe]

Well, I bought a homemade T5 canopy today from someone on OVAS, and the fans are busted.
There are two fans and an adapter, connected by a little plug (like on the middle right of this image: http://www.dansdata.com/images/2fans/ttkit480.jpg).  The male part of the plug only has two little metal prong thingies, but the female part has three slots, so I presume that one was removed or cut off - however, the third hole looks unused, so it seems like it has run on two prongs.
Where is the problem likely to be? Is this something I can get an Circuit City - and just replace the adapter?

[MikeM]

Do the fans not spin at all?  If they are the little computer case fans, they seize up pretty easily.  If they start spinning a bit when they are plugged in and you give them a little push, the bearings on the fan are probably shot, and the whole fan will need to be replaced.  If they don't seem to be powering up at all, it's probably the adapter.  If you have a 9V battery handy, you can hook them up to that to make sure that the adapter is the problem, most of the little case fans will spin up at 9V.  If its the adapter that's the problem, any 12V DC adapter will power fans just fine.  Either way, you should be able to pick up the supplies at Circuit City or a shop that sells computer components, like OEM Express.

The third slot on the fan cable is used to measure the fan's rotation speed when they're being used on a computer, so the fact that it's been cut is perfectly fine.

Hope this helps.

[dan2x38]

Zoe I have always looked at these fixtures and wondered what type of fans they are. They look just like a computer case fan. The issue I see is the computer fans run on a DC current on 12 volts some are 5 volts. If they are the same fans then there must be a transformer inside the fixture to convert the current and lower the voltage. If that is the case I have several of these fans. I'd be willing to check it out for you. It would give me a peak under the hood... no pun intended. Let me know...