Dawgdoc

A few electrical engineering/computer related questions for the experts......

This is definitely one of my weaker points.

On one of my systems, I am using these Yate Loon Fans from Petras, and this Sunbeam 6 way fan controller. Brief specs on the controller are Input 12V±10%, output 4-12V±10%, (max output 30 Watt each channel) but theres prob more details on the spec page too if thats not enough.

1. I find that when the fans are hooked up directly to the mobo, they spin SIGNIFICANTLY faster and generate much better air flow as compared to when they are hooked up to the fan controller. Ive switched power cables both PSU side and controller side. I happen to have 2 of these controller and I switched out the controllers and nothing I do makes them spin as fast as when directly hooked up to the mobo. Yes ive tried turning the dial to max on the controller :P

Any suggestions?

2. Can I splice/solder the wires from multiple fans together to work with a single 3 pin fan attachment? Can I do that if I want to plug them into the mobo? How about the fan controller? Will they spin as fast and get as much voltage as if I run the wires seperately with seperate connectors?

Thanks!

redsox83381

I think the fan controller is sharing the power over several fans. Maybe that's why?

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CorryBasler

That blows my mind! Mabe get a diff. brand/model fan controller

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PSUlions

Dawgdoc- From an electrical engineering point of view I can come up with one explanation for your problem right off the bat. The fan controller you are using is none other than a simple device called a “potentiometer”. A potentiometer acts as a resistor (which limits current which in turn limits the speed of your fan) and varies in resistance as you turn the knob. When you are turning the knob to decrease the RPM’s of the fan you are really increasing the resistance so less and less current can get by to power the fan. On the other hand, when you turn the knob to increase the RPM’s you are decreasing the resistance which is allowing more and more current through. Now after knowing that, all I can think of is that even when your knob is turned all the way up there is still some resistance in the potentiometer. These currents are low enough that even small resistances will affect performance. Also, those bright LEDs are stealing some power from you too.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know much more about EE than I do with computers. I don’t know if the motherboard has feedback from the fan so that it would know to supply more current if the RPM’s weren’t high enough. Therefore, it could be one of several possible problems. Only plug one fan into the controller and see if it runs at max speed. Then plug in a second fan and see if the RPM’s drop. If that happens then your current is becoming split and your mobo isn’t responding to the increased power demand.