Overclock.net banner

how do i 5V my fans?

934 Views 30 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  aquavortex1
hi guys, i want to know how to make my fans 5V on my rad,
i heard it is as simple as switching some wires on the connector.
Its a 3-pin connector. What colors did i have to switch?
I have red,black and yellow going into my psu, then just red and black into the fan.
thanks
1 - 20 of 31 Posts
You know the 4 pins on the molex connectors? The red one supplies +5v, and the black one next to it is the ground. You have to figure out a way to get the wires of the fan hooked up to those wires from the PSU. If the fan connector is a 4-pin style, you can push the female connectors out and then put them back in the other slots, that would probably be the easiest way.
3
hmmm alright...because it goes like this:

Fan > 2 wires(black and red) > into a 3-pin male connector with 3 wires (black,red and yellow) > then into a 3-pin > female then into a molex.

so how would this be done


the molex is transparent
and so are the wires from the 3 pin female to the molex)
im a real noob with this so step by step ?
See less See more
You have any pictures? you know what works really good to is the zalman fan controller, it has a really good range. Are your 10 fans kinda loud?
So the red and black wires from the 3-pin go to the yellow and black wires on the molex right, or are there no colored wires on the molex?

At any rate, you will probably have to cut, strip and solder some wires. Should we continue?
hmmm cant i just rearrange some pins on the molex?
Hmm, well let's see, the wires coming from the fan are spliced right into the wires on the 4-pin molex right? If so, you could switch the outside/inside pins on the female molex (female with regard to the pins, not plastic). It would really help to have a picture of the setup though. Is the connector one of those single ones, or does it have wires between the two 4-pin connectors?

If you can imagine taking the connector off, leaving the pins where they are, and rotating it 180 degrees and putting it back on, that is what you would have to do.
See less See more
2
Quote:

Originally Posted by RyGuy View Post

If you can imagine taking the connector off, leaving the pins where they are, and rotating it 180 degrees and putting it back on, that is what you would have to do.
exactly as long as you dont have any other components running through (daisy chain) it that you dont want to run at 5V.
See less See more
molex yellow is 12V if red is 5V you can just splice (hardwire) a red molex to red fan wire and black to black. Better yet just buy adjustable fans.
was lazy so just took a pic LoL


where the top left leads to the fan,

and the black wires are from the PSU
See less See more
3
Quote:

Originally Posted by fstfrddy View Post
molex yellow is 12V if red is 5V you can just splice (hardwire) a red molex to red fan wire and black to black. Better yet just buy adjustable fans.
yup i do have a fan controller for my fans on my rads,
im just waiting for the extensions to arrive


and also, i always wanted to learn how to 5V mod fans, so just brought it up.
See less See more
You are F'd with that connector brother. I have never been able to get one of those apart. Your best bet is just taking the wires from the fan and sticking them in the other 2 pins on a 4-pin molex, or find a spare male 4-pin you can solder the fan leads into.
  • Rep+
Reactions: 1
haha alright, thanks for the help man!
2
Quote:

Originally Posted by Apollo4g View Post
was lazy so just took a pic LoL


where the top left leads to the fan,

and the black wires are from the PSU
ahh! that type of connector. you are going to have a hard time doing it with that type. If you wanted to temporarily change it to 5v the easiest way is to swap the 2 outer pins on your power supply lead, just don't forget to change them back.
See less See more
even if you swapped the wires out your other devices would still get the normal 12 because the extension is spliced in.
2
Quote:


Originally Posted by Apollo4g
View Post

haha alright, thanks for the help man!

No problem! I started out like you, just figuring out how everything works, now I am making all sorts of custom connectors. Here is one I made a couple days ago to split a PCI-EX connector into three 4-pin connectors (12v only):
See less See more
Do you have a pin crimper or do you just do it by hand? I did it by hand on my pumps and it took forever. To make sure they stayed I even put some solder on.
1 - 20 of 31 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top