Trouble with fans
- Thread starter Danny1323
- Start date
dark_lord69
Splendid
- Jun 6, 2006
- 3,227
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you can buy power adapters that go from different types of connectors to the 3 or 4 pin fans
I have 2 fans that stay on at all times unless I turn my system off this is because I don't use any type of fan controller.
or you can just buy a fan controller
here's a nice one that will allow you to change fans speeds on the fly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992012
I have 2 fans that stay on at all times unless I turn my system off this is because I don't use any type of fan controller.
or you can just buy a fan controller
here's a nice one that will allow you to change fans speeds on the fly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992012
cdabc123
Honorable
- Jun 9, 2015
- 3,638
- 2
- 9,965
a 3 pin fan connector has a +12v ground and a sensor cable. you should be able to strip the wires on one fan and cut the +12v and ground on the other. you can have the +12v and ground from both fans going into the +12v and ground of the cord and just use the sensor from one fan leaving the other sensor. you could also run one of the fans on the +12v on the psu but you wouldn't be able to control its rpm
The PWR_FAN port of the mobo is not intended to provide power to fans. Confusing name, eh?
You should be plugging case ventilation fans into mobo ports labeled CHA_FAN or SYS_FAN. But the pin count on the fan and port is important. Tell us exactly what mobo you have - maker and Model No., including and notes on the mopo about a Revision Number (often something like "Rev 1.30"). The we can advise exactly what to do to connect 3 fans to your mobo ports.
You should be plugging case ventilation fans into mobo ports labeled CHA_FAN or SYS_FAN. But the pin count on the fan and port is important. Tell us exactly what mobo you have - maker and Model No., including and notes on the mopo about a Revision Number (often something like "Rev 1.30"). The we can advise exactly what to do to connect 3 fans to your mobo ports.
Since your mobo has only one CHA_FAN port your only choice is to connect all three fans to that port. (Well, almost, but that detail later.) The dilemma is that most mobo fan ports cannot supply power to more than 2 fans. BUT there's a good way around that problem if the mobo port is 4-pin (PWM control) as your is. You buy and install a PWM Fan Hub. This unit draws its power for the fans directly from the PSU and is capable of powering many fans. But for control purposes, it picks up the PWM control signal from the mobo 4-pin CHA_FAN port and shares that out to the 4-pin fans plugged into the hub. Then they all are controlled by the same automatic system on your mobo.
Now, you have two glitches with that, OP, and there are solutions for those, too.The first is that your 3 fans are not 4-pin (PWM) fans. They are 3-pin (Voltage control) fans that cannot be controlled by a true 4-pin port. HOWEVER, there is a 4-pin fan hub by Phanteks that solves that dilemma here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811984004
It is unusual in this: all of its output ports have 3 pins, and function as true 3-pin (voltage control) ports even though its original control signal comes from a PWM header. So this hub CAN control the speed of several fans, BOTH 3-pin and 4-pin, based on the control signal from one mobo CHA_FAN 4-pin port. (4-pin fans connected to a 3-pin port work exactly as 3-pin fans and ARE controlled by such a port.)
Now, we still have the problem that you say the video card interferes and won't let you plug anything into your only CHA_FAN port. There are two possible solutions for this. The first is a maybe. MAYBE if your problem is that the connector will fit in under the video card edge BUT the wires sticking up interfere with the card, you can make it work by just bending the wires right at the connector. Or MAYBE you can even modify the connector body slightly with a knife, cutting away a bit of the plastic beside each wire so it bends down better.
But if the video card can't even allow a connector to fit under it, we have to go a different route. This will still give you automatic control of your three case ventilation fans, but just not quite the ideal way. For this option you get the same hub and plug its 4-pin fan port connector into the CPU_FAN port of the mobo. Then you plug the real CPU cooling fan into the hub's Port #1 that is marked with a white connector body. It does not matter whether your CPU cooler is a 3-pin or 4-pin fan, both types can work with this hub. By plugging the CPU fan into hub Port #1, you ensure that it is THIS fan's speed signal that gets sent back to the mobo CPU_FAN port so that it can be monitored for failure, and your mobo can report that one fan's speed. THEN you plug your three case ventilation fans into any three other ports of the hub. None of them can report speed signals to the mobo, so you'll never see them. BUT all of them WILL have their speed controlled by the mobo. What is not really ideal is this: the speed of those fans will be based on the temperature and cooling needs of the CPU chip, and not on the cooling needs of the mobo components. Now there is a reasonable correlation between the two - more work (and heat generation) by the CPU usually means more work and heat from mobo components, too. So this can work for you, even if not ideal. But if you simply cannot connect anything to the CHA_FAN port, this way is a good second choice.
By the way, the reason that your fans don't perform as you wish when connected to the PWR_FAN port is that this port is intended for something else entirely. So although that port has power available to a fan, it has NO ability to change its output voltage, so any fan on that port always runs at full speed. Besides, you really should not connect 3 fans to one mobo fan port of any type, anyway.
Edit: I just remembered something you'll need to do. In your mobo's manual on p. 48 it says that for BOTH the CPU_FAN and CHA_FAN ports, the default setting if Full On (odd, but that's what it says). To get them to do automatic fan speed control, you will have to go into BIOS Setup and change that to Automatic Mode for each port.
Now, you have two glitches with that, OP, and there are solutions for those, too.The first is that your 3 fans are not 4-pin (PWM) fans. They are 3-pin (Voltage control) fans that cannot be controlled by a true 4-pin port. HOWEVER, there is a 4-pin fan hub by Phanteks that solves that dilemma here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811984004
It is unusual in this: all of its output ports have 3 pins, and function as true 3-pin (voltage control) ports even though its original control signal comes from a PWM header. So this hub CAN control the speed of several fans, BOTH 3-pin and 4-pin, based on the control signal from one mobo CHA_FAN 4-pin port. (4-pin fans connected to a 3-pin port work exactly as 3-pin fans and ARE controlled by such a port.)
Now, we still have the problem that you say the video card interferes and won't let you plug anything into your only CHA_FAN port. There are two possible solutions for this. The first is a maybe. MAYBE if your problem is that the connector will fit in under the video card edge BUT the wires sticking up interfere with the card, you can make it work by just bending the wires right at the connector. Or MAYBE you can even modify the connector body slightly with a knife, cutting away a bit of the plastic beside each wire so it bends down better.
But if the video card can't even allow a connector to fit under it, we have to go a different route. This will still give you automatic control of your three case ventilation fans, but just not quite the ideal way. For this option you get the same hub and plug its 4-pin fan port connector into the CPU_FAN port of the mobo. Then you plug the real CPU cooling fan into the hub's Port #1 that is marked with a white connector body. It does not matter whether your CPU cooler is a 3-pin or 4-pin fan, both types can work with this hub. By plugging the CPU fan into hub Port #1, you ensure that it is THIS fan's speed signal that gets sent back to the mobo CPU_FAN port so that it can be monitored for failure, and your mobo can report that one fan's speed. THEN you plug your three case ventilation fans into any three other ports of the hub. None of them can report speed signals to the mobo, so you'll never see them. BUT all of them WILL have their speed controlled by the mobo. What is not really ideal is this: the speed of those fans will be based on the temperature and cooling needs of the CPU chip, and not on the cooling needs of the mobo components. Now there is a reasonable correlation between the two - more work (and heat generation) by the CPU usually means more work and heat from mobo components, too. So this can work for you, even if not ideal. But if you simply cannot connect anything to the CHA_FAN port, this way is a good second choice.
By the way, the reason that your fans don't perform as you wish when connected to the PWR_FAN port is that this port is intended for something else entirely. So although that port has power available to a fan, it has NO ability to change its output voltage, so any fan on that port always runs at full speed. Besides, you really should not connect 3 fans to one mobo fan port of any type, anyway.
Edit: I just remembered something you'll need to do. In your mobo's manual on p. 48 it says that for BOTH the CPU_FAN and CHA_FAN ports, the default setting if Full On (odd, but that's what it says). To get them to do automatic fan speed control, you will have to go into BIOS Setup and change that to Automatic Mode for each port.
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