[SOLVED] Are LED's in RGB fans ws2812?

[ddolzhen]

I plan on adding some colors to my build using some LED strips and RGB LED fans, but I want to drive them using my Arduino as a controller. I know that pretty much all of the individually addressable RGB LED's available are usually WS2812b or something similar. So can I drive the lighting on RGB fans using the same technique as the LED strips?

Here's an example of a fan I'm talking about.

 

[Lutfij]

If you're looking at the Aigo fans in the link provided, you're not going to need an additional component. The fan pack comes with a remote and a controller/hub.

 

[ddolzhen]

If you're looking at the Aigo fans in the link provided, you're not going to need an additional component. The fan pack comes with a remote and a controller/hub.

Yes, but I would like to have precise control of the lighting and animations in those, hence my own controller

 

[carl3963]

Yes, but I would like to have precise control of the lighting and animations in those, hence my own controller

I finally found definite proof this is possible!

There was a teardown done of a popular, major brand individually addressable rgb fan. This type of fan is obviously compatible with all the major ARGB, DRGB, ADD RGB, (3-pin 5v) RGB motherboards out there. Duh. That's what it was built for! But wait for the payoff...

What was found inside the rgb fan was a normal led light strip, based on the ws2182b.

So we now have proof that any ADD RGB capable motherboard can drive a ws2182b fan directly. COOL! But that still wasnt the question was it...

Ah, we can now see that, yes, absolutely you can drive ANY vendor fan that claims compatibility with the standard 5v ARGB motherboard header with ANY controller capable of driving a ws2182b led strip.

An awesome example of such a controller could be an esp32 board loaded with "wled" software. You can get a 100% customizable platform to create a really unique light show.

I feel like this fact is the biggest secret in the RGB world right now. The fire from the gods has been given to the people! Hope we don't recieve the promethean reward!

Source of all these findings: and huge thanks to the original author for risking their nice rgb fan and sharing the findings.

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/5q7oc3/the_quest_for_the_perfect_rgb_fans_or_how_i/


Anyone wanting to build a low cost RGB fan controller can check this out:

https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED

If you go this route you can literally tell Alexa to turn your RGB setup to unicorn puke mode. Esp32 with WLED integrates natively with HomeAssist, so you could setup any rules you want to turn on/off the rgb, adjust the rgb with your smartphone etc. Possibilities really are endless if you go this direction for your rgb fan controller.

Esp32 hardware is about $7, so this is an extremely cheap way to add a very advanced rgb controller to your setup.