Wind simulator case for Arduino Nano and 3x PWM fan output

After making and testing a wind simulator for my sim racing rig, I needed a good case to mount the Arduino Nano safely on my rig. I tried to make the case as small as possible, with easy access for 3x PWM fan output and USB-C and 12v DC input.

Print details

• Use supports under the big gap for the fan output connectors.
• USB-C and 12v DC power holes don't need supports, but add if you want.

Components

For the PWM connectors I use some very cheap 3-way pwm fan splitter cables, as they have multiple male connectors with cables attached. You need the red, black and blue cable (plus, ground and pwm signal), the splitter cables usually have just one output connected to the yellow monitoring cable but that's ok. You don't need it, in fact I cut that one off.

For 12v DC (to power the fans) I chose a cheap external adapter (link) which included a solder free DC connector for inside the case (see last photo). Make sure to attach those wires early on, because I did it last and there was no room to place and hold the wires in the right position while tightening the screws.

• Arduino Nano (with usb-c)
• 3x PWM fan output connectors
• Some wire to connect everything
• 4x M3 heat inserts
• 4x M3x6 bolts
• M8x16 (inside hex) to mount on aluminium profile simrig

The build

The pwm output connectors are a tight fit, but needed some glue to stay in place. The rest of the components just slide in and stay in place without glue. 12v DC connector needed a bit of a push with a screwdriver on the last millimeter to snap in place, if I remember correctly.

The case has 4 of those heat insert screw holes, size M3. The lid of the case has a bit of a vanity inscription because I was proud of my design and I didn't plan to upload at the time. You can simply place it upside down to hide it. Or just don't print those last layers and save 1 or 2 centimeters of filament ;)

You need to solder wires on the Arduino of course… 

• All the (blue) pwm signal wires on a separate digital output channel that supports pwm (eg 3, 5 and 6) to the fan connectors
• (black) negative 12v DC from DC connector to Arduino ground
• (black) negative 12v DC from Arduino ground (another) to fan connectors
• (red) positive 12v DC directly to fan connectors

To mount it on the rig I've made two holes for M8 bolts. With my bolts and the USB-C and 12v DC connectors there was not enough room. So I fixed the case with just one bolt, which is plenty strong. But it was a bit annoying for sure. Perhaps your bolts are less bulky.

Other parts needed for the windsim

• Simhub software on pc.. (link / pwm tutorial)
• The fans are Arctic P12 Max pwm fans, they are plenty strong, especially with the amplifier below. But any 120mm pwm fan should work, or other size pwm fans with completely different mounting designs.
• For mounting the fans I used these designs made by others, but any solution should work.
  • A remix of the Noctua NV-AA1-12 Airflow Amplifier with GoPro mount by cl33 (link)
  • The Noctua High Efficiency grill by Noctua_at (link)
  • Some general GoPro extensions and mounts (depends on what you need)

Need some editing?

The design files I made in Fusion are also added for you to make easy adjustments. Please upload your adjustments as a remix, so others can enjoy it as well.