Help! 5v USB to 12v

[sounder1990]

Hey guys,

Not sure where to put this, but this should work..... I built a lil cooling pad that plugs into my usb port on my laptop. My problem is that they go pretty slow. I need to know if there is any way of getting 12v out of my usb. I've seen a few schematics that would probably work. But I don't wanna take the time to search for all the parts and build a circuit. Another reason I don't wanna build is that the only place in town where I could have gotten some good parts for one closed a few months ago. So I would end up having to order everything online. I just want something that can be salvaged from some other electronics I may already have. Any ideas? And I also need it to be fairly simple.

So to sum it up.... I need to get 12v ~500mA out of my 5v USB (not sure of the amperage on it). And I need to do it with cheap stuff I have lying around the house. Is this possible? If so, how can I do this?

Thanks in advance!!!!

P.S. Even 10v would be better. Just in case 12v at 500mA is too much for the USB to handle.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

A USB port can only provide 500ma at 5 volts, so if you made the perfect inverter to convert that to 12 volts you would only have 208ma. Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect inverter, so you would likely get no more than 170ma at 12 volts. . .

 

[sounder1990]

Ok. Is there anyway to run 2 usb ports in parallel? I don't really wanna try that unless I know it would be safe for my laptop. Maybe get 10v at 500ma? Or at least close to that? I may just use batteries. Easy and not much knowledge of electricity is needed.

 

[PhilFrisbie]

Depending on your ports, then yes, you might be able to draw 500ma each from two ports, but then we still run into that problem about the perfect inverter, so you would likely get no more than 400ma at 10 volts.