Fans to control using a 5.25" device. - Overclock.net

rsnt · 06-08-07

I'm supposed to pick up my case today and I had a question regarding fans I'm going to purchase afterwards and use the following 5.25" bay device to control them with, it will be used to control at least SIX 120mm fans:

http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-chorma...ill-black.html

I'm a bit confused over what fans can be controlled really... for instance, if a 120mm fan is rated at 12V but doesn't say what Voltage it starts at, it wont be controlled? Do I need to look for fans that operate within a specific range (anywhere between 5V - 12V) to be able to control them?

What about LED fans? I've read on certain forums that LEDs tend to die out after a short period of time because of the constant voltage change. Searching for credible 120mm fans has proven to be a big headache.

Cheers.

Niklas · 06-08-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsnt

I'm supposed to pick up my case today and I had a question regarding fans I'm going to purchase afterwards and use the following 5.25" bay device to control them with, it will be used to control at least SIX 120mm fans:

http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-chorma...ill-black.html

I'm a bit confused over what fans can be controlled really... for instance, if a 120mm fan is rated at 12V but doesn't say what Voltage it starts at, it wont be controlled? Do I need to look for fans that operate within a specific range (anywhere between 5V - 12V) to be able to control them?

What about LED fans? I've read on certain forums that LEDs tend to die out after a short period of time because of the constant voltage change. Searching for credible 120mm fans has proven to be a big headache.

Cheers.

The fan controller will control the fans, even if it doesn't say what voltage they start at. However, going to low may stop the fan completely...As for LED fans, with this controller the LEDs will blink. This controller uses PWM (pulse width modification) which basically lowers then raises the voltage rapidly to "simulate" a lower voltage. However, this makes the LEDs go bright-dim-bright-dim. Read more here:

http://www.xoxideforums.com/898583-post5.html

Niklas · 06-08-07

If you want LED fans, you could always invest in a quieter set and not get a fan controller...as an added bonus you could sell the louder ones on ebay!

Or, as the url in my last post said, get UV reactive fans (and UV cathodes)

rsnt · 06-08-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Niklas

The fan controller will control the fans, even if it doesn't say what voltage they start at. However, going to low may stop the fan completely...As for LED fans, with this controller the LEDs will blink. This controller uses PWM (pulse width modification) which basically lowers then raises the voltage rapidly to "simulate" a lower voltage. However, this makes the LEDs go bright-dim-bright-dim. Read more here:

http://www.xoxideforums.com/898583-post5.html

Ah! I see now, I didn't know that fan controller was PWM! Bummer, it's probably the only piece of hardware I found that can control that many fans. I'll look into UV fan choices although I doubt I've seen anything I liked while looking for fans regardless. Thanks anyway, this helps a lot

Quote:

Originally Posted by Niklas

If you want LED fans, you could always invest in a quieter set and not get a fan controller...as an added bonus you could sell the louder ones on ebay!

Or, as the url in my last post said, get UV reactive fans (and UV cathodes)

That's a good choice too, thing is as I stated in the first post, getting credible fans is not easy as factory rated dBA's and CFM hardly ever matches. I will be using cathodes for the inside but I was looking into getting 3 LED fans on the front, looks better on a stacker

Niklas · 06-09-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsnt

Bummer, it's probably the only piece of hardware I found that can control that many fans.

You're forgetting a really important concept here! Each of the 7 fan channels supports 10 watts! That means that as long as you don't exceed 10w, you can controll 2-3+ fans on each channel! For example, this fan consumes 3w, so you could safetly have up to 3 of them on a single channel!

If you want to controll LED fans, may I suggest a controller for you?

rsnt · 06-09-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Niklas

You're forgetting a really important concept here! Each of the 7 fan channels supports 10 watts! That means that as long as you don't exceed 10w, you can controll 2-3+ fans on each channel! For example, this fan consumes 3w, so you could safetly have up to 3 of them on a single channel!

If you want to controll LED fans, may I suggest a controller for you?

Thats interesting and never really crossed my mind, but how? I mean, how can you hook up more than one fan to a single channel?

And of course you can recommend something

Niklas · 06-09-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsnt

Thats interesting and never really crossed my mind, but how? I mean, how can you hook up more than one fan to a single channel?

And of course you can recommend something

It's simple! Well, you know how there are 4-pin y cable splitters right? Well, there are 3-pin splitters as well! Like this one!
That's currently what I'm doing...I have 6 LED fans connected to 2 channels.

As for my recommendation, I recommend (lol) a fan controller that simply has 3 settings : Off, LOW, and HIGH (100%). I mean, think about it, do you really need to be able to control from 0-100%. Unless you have some very unusual needs, a "quiet mode" (for web browsing, typing, etc) and a "louder mode" (for gaming, etc) should be adequate, right?

You may be thinking, well what's "LOW"....Well the fan controller I use has a tiny nob you can turn on each channel that allows you to control the voltage (I think it's from 5V-12). So, when the nob is in "Low" you get to decide how low it should be. And as you can imagine, this is constant voltage, not PWM!

Niklas · 06-09-07

Oh, and to elaborate a bit on my last thread, do you really want to be turning a tiny little nob to get teh 'perfect' setting? On each channel?? Talk about inefficient!!

O, lol, and here's a product I like, but it might not be your style. I'm sure there are others that work the same way:

http://www.xoxide.com/duvo6pobawbl.html

Ah, "Adjusts from 7-9V" for "low" setting....

And

"14W on each channel at once, for a total power consumption of 84W across the baybus." !!

rsnt · 06-09-07

You have a good point there, I'm really not looking for perfect speeds so that makes sense. I was hoping to get something with temp monitoring so obviously it's going to have an LCD on it. However I "might" make an exception IF I can't find something suitable with a screen. Which one of these would you say is good?

1. http://www.bigfootcomputers.com/Merc...egory_Code=130
Each Channel Supports Up To 18 Watts.

2. http://www.bigfootcomputers.com/Merc...egory_Code=130
Maximum current per Channel: 1 Ampere (= max. 12W consumption).

3. http://www.xoxide.com/subl4poblred.html
each channel can provide 20 total watts of output.

Any other suggestions are appreciated, I'd really like something with an LCD display. If things come down to not controlling the LED fans then it doesn't matter since I'm only going to have 3 front LED fans.

Niklas · 06-09-07

If I had to guess, I'd say all those controllers use PWM, but I could be wrong....

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsnt

If things come down to not controlling the LED fans then it doesn't matter since I'm only going to have 3 front LED fans.

3 full-RPM fans will totally pollute any efforts at silencing your system!

You could buy a PWM controller, and when you need quiet, just turn off the LED fans completely.

Here's the 3.5" baybus that I have: http://www.virtual-hideout.net/revie...us/index.shtml

It's really nice! Takes a little while to put together tho.

You could get that and the initial controller you liked.
I mean, your system will look even cooler with something in the 5.25" bay and in a 3.5" bay!

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Fans to control using a 5.25" device.

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