How do I make a fan power bus? - Overclock.net

seven9st surfer · 07-13-09

I've seen a few of these on this site, but can't find the pics again now that I actually want to look into making one... The ones I remember are just little bricks on the back of the mobo tray that (it looks like) you can plug all your fans into and just have one power cord running to it. I'm sick of all these molex plugs behind my mobo and I just want to clean it all up.

So if anyone knows what I'm talking about, or has any pics, or even better, how-to links, I would greatly appreciate it. I think I remember a series of youtube videos that had a how-to video about this. Thanks for any help

Sheehanigans · 07-13-09

Learn to solder? That's how my cables are managed cleanly.

seven9st surfer · 07-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheehanigans

Learn to solder? That's how my cables are managed cleanly.

lol, I know how to solder. I was wondering about a specific mod.

And of course, as soon as I post this after an hour of googling, i find what I'm looking for (kind of).

YouTube - Terminal Block Installation Guide (Part 1 of 5)

The audio got muted on part one, but that's what I'm generally trying to do.

If anyone has any tips or other guides, let me know. Thanks

CattleRustler · 07-13-09

terminal blocks rox
I did two of them in The Intelligence case. cleans stuff up immensely

seven9st surfer · 07-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by CattleRustler

terminal blocks rox
I did two of them in The Intelligence case. cleans stuff up immensely

what guide did you use to make yours? or did you just make one up yourself? ive never built anything quite like it, so I'm trying to get as much info as I can before I start

grishkathefool · 07-13-09

one point I might mention is to keep your umbilicals separated. That is to say make a terminal block for each umbilical that you are using. My PSU has 4 4 pin Molex umbilicals, so if I wanted to block these I would use a block for each umbilical. This way you aren't ganging up on one set of 18g leads, you will spread out the amperage instead.

seven9st surfer · 07-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by grishkathefool

one point I might mention is to keep your umbilicals separated. That is to say make a terminal block for each umbilical that you are using. My PSU has 4 4 pin Molex umbilicals, so if I wanted to block these I would use a block for each umbilical. This way you aren't ganging up on one set of 18g leads, you will spread out the amperage instead.

hmm, that was slightly over my head... if I understand you, you're saying to spread out the amount of things I'm plugging in over a few leads from the PSU.

I'm only planning on plugging in 3 fans. Would I still need more than one block?

ModMinded · 07-13-09

No, you wouldn't need more than one block for the 3 fans (imo).
What grishka was saying (I think) is that if you have one cable with a bunch of molexes on it (like they do) and you use that group to wire up a block, then you shouldn't use the other molexes in that same bundle to power a bunch of other stuff... and therefore should use another group of 4 molex cables to power things like hds, or other buses, avoiding overloading the circuit.

another thing is that the little terminal ends come in different sizes, depending on the gauge of the wire, as well as different styles: Open (like a 2 prong fork as seen in the vid) or closed (in a circular ring.) If you're not planning on removing them later, you can use the rings.

Terminal blocks are also sometimes known as barrier blocks.

seven9st surfer · 07-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModMinded

No, you wouldn't need more than one block for the 3 fans (imo).
What grishkat was saying (I think) is that if you have one cable with a bunch of molexes on it (like they do) and you use that group to wire up a block, then you shouldn't use the other molexes in that same bundle to power a bunch of other stuff... and therefore should use another group of 4 molex cables to power things like hds, or other buses, avoiding overloading the circuit.

makes sense. and that shouldn't be a problem, the 3 fans are the only things that are molex in my rig. thanks for the help

grishkathefool · 07-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by ModMinded

No, you wouldn't need more than one block for the 3 fans (imo).
What grishka was saying (I think) is that if you have one cable with a bunch of molexes on it (like they do) and you use that group to wire up a block, then you shouldn't use the other molexes in that same bundle to power a bunch of other stuff... and therefore should use another group of 4 molex cables to power things like hds, or other buses, avoiding overloading the circuit.

another thing is that the little terminal ends come in different sizes, depending on the gauge of the wire, as well as different styles: Open (like a 2 prong fork as seen in the vid) or closed (in a circular ring.) If you're not planning on removing them later, you can use the rings.

Terminal blocks are also sometimes known as barrier blocks.

^^THIS^^

In fact, you would de-terminate the harness prior to the first Molex connector on an umbilical and then terminate it to the terminal block, thus eliminating the temptation to add more t-blocks further down the line. So, if you had 4 4 Pin Molex Umbilicals, you could creat 4 Terminal Blocks. These blocks could be used for illumination too... I don't know much about liquid cooling, as in power requirements for pumps, but you could terminate them at the t-blocks too, if they would normally terminate on a 4 pin connector.

Also, you could terminate any other connector to a t-block if you had a convincing reason for its functionalitly.

We use T-Blocks for motor control, robotics control, limit control, and a myriad other reasons in factories all the time. (IBEW Electrician)

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Case Mods & Cases > Case Mods - General Discussion
How do I make a fan power bus?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)