[SOLVED] CPU fans on my h100i wont work/not detected

[Mitchs1]

Ok so I am truly stumped here. My system is about 6 years old, and I have never had a single issue with fan performance until now. I am running a Asus Maximus VII Hero with i7-4790k.

I noticed the other day that both of my fans on my h100i were not working and my pc was getting way too hot. They will every few seconds try to spin, and move about a quarter turn and thats it. Come to realize, that my pc is no longer recognizing these fans. They do not show up in corsairlink, ai suite 3 (the only fan management I currently have), or BIOS.

The weird thing is though that in CorsairLink, it says that I have 4 mb fans, when I only have 3 mb fans (two intake, and one out in the back) and my two unrecognized and unresponsive fans on my h100i.

I have tried updating both of these, as well as the BIOS as well. I have double checked all connections, and the h100i is connected to the cpu_fan port on the board. I even tried removing them and cleaning them of dust, which seemed to fix one of them, but I later doubted even that, as when I updated the BIOS, it stopped again.

My initial thoughts are a BIOS mis-configuration, or a dead fan or H100i. I have tried everything that I can think of, but I am completely lost here. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this? Please help, I really hope this is just something im overlooking.

 

[Paperdoc]

I'm intrigued by your description of how things are plugged in, becasue that is NOT what the H100i manual says to do.

The instructions say that the female 3-pin fan connector on the joint cable coming out of the PUMP unit must go to the mobo CPU_FAN header; the other connector on that cable goes to a SATA power output from the PSU. Then the unit comes with a special splitter that plugs into a port on the side of the pump, and is used to plug in BOTH of the rad fans. Finally, there is the cable from a pump unit socket to a mobo USB2 header, and that is how the Corsair Link software communicates with the entire system.

The intent of this design is that the CPU_FAN header of your mobo gets the speed of the PUMP from that connection. The pump power comes from the PSU, not the CPU_FAN header, and for the most part the pump will run at full speed all the time. Control of cooling by the system is done by changing the speed of the FANS on the rad; that is done by Corsair Link through the output socket on the pump unit. It is NOT done by any mobo fan header. Further, Corsair Link can tell you the rad fans speeds because it gets that from their connections to that socket on the PUMP, and NOT from any mobo header.

So, what IS plugged into the CPU_FAN header? And where are the rad fans plugged in? IF the rad fans are plugged into the socket on the side of the pump using the Splitter supplied, you MIGHT have a loose or dirty connection there, so try this. Unplug each fan from the Splitter, then plug back in. Do this several times. Now, go to where that Spplitter is plugged into the socket on the pump. Unplug and re-connect this also, several times. IF there are any oxidized or dirty contacts involved, these actions may scrub them clean.

 

[purple stain]

What type of power supply do you have and how old is it?

I'm assuming this is the First edition of the H100i. And I can't tell if the fans that come with it are using their proprietary connection. They look like standard 3 pins to me. If that's the case you can plug them directly into the CPU Fan headers on your mobo. I see CPU and CPU_OPT right above the CPU socket you can use. You won't see them in the Corsair software but you should see them in the BIOS. Try this and see if it works. Leave the CPU Pump plugged into SATA.

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-liquid-cooling-system/p/N82E16835181032

 

[Mitchs1]

I'm intrigued by your description of how things are plugged in, becasue that is NOT what the H100i manual says to do.

The instructions say that the female 3-pin fan connector on the joint cable coming out of the PUMP unit must go to the mobo CPU_FAN header; the other connector on that cable goes to a SATA power output from the PSU. Then the unit comes with a special splitter that plugs into a port on the side of the pump, and is used to plug in BOTH of the rad fans. Finally, there is the cable from a pump unit socket to a mobo USB2 header, and that is how the Corsair Link software communicates with the entire system.

The intent of this design is that the CPU_FAN header of your mobo gets the speed of the PUMP from that connection. The pump power comes from the PSU, not the CPU_FAN header, and for the most part the pump will run at full speed all the time. Control of cooling by the system is done by changing the speed of the FANS on the rad; that is done by Corsair Link through the output socket on the pump unit. It is NOT done by any mobo fan header. Further, Corsair Link can tell you the rad fans speeds because it gets that from their connections to that socket on the PUMP, and NOT from any mobo header.

So, what IS plugged into the CPU_FAN header? And where are the rad fans plugged in? IF the rad fans are plugged into the socket on the side of the pump using the Splitter supplied, you MIGHT have a loose or dirty connection there, so try this. Unplug each fan from the Splitter, then plug back in. Do this several times. Now, go to where that Spplitter is plugged into the socket on the pump. Unplug and re-connect this also, several times. IF there are any oxidized or dirty contacts involved, these actions may scrub them clean.

Ok, so let me start by saying that I should have been more specific about how I have it connected. I do have everything connected as you described with the three pin connector on the cpu_fan header, the usb connection is going to the side of the pump and the radiator fans are connected to the splitter on top of the pump, and it has data power as well. The issue now is that the fans are not being recognized by the pc or corsairlink despite being hooked up correctly.
And one of them is still not spinning up but the other is after attempting this. When plugging non functional fan into other motherboard fan header it works but seems to have trouble and skips every once in a while. But works. Yet when I plug a 3pin case fan into the splitter on the h100i it functions as well.

 

[Mitchs1]

What type of power supply do you have and how old is it?

I'm assuming this is the First edition of the H100i. And I can't tell if the fans that come with it are using their proprietary connection. They look like standard 3 pins to me. If that's the case you can plug them directly into the CPU Fan headers on your mobo. I see CPU and CPU_OPT right above the CPU socket you can use. You won't see them in the Corsair software but you should see them in the BIOS. Try this and see if it works. Leave the CPU Pump plugged into SATA.

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-liquid-cooling-system/p/N82E16835181032

I have a 750 watt evga fully modular gold. It is as old as my system is about 6 years old. It is the first version of the h100i that I have. I do not have the stock fans that came with it on the radiator though. I have two 120mm corsair four pin pwm fans on there that I purchased when I built my system. However when I plugged those directly into the cpu header and opt header I got a cpu error on boot up and bios didnt pick up either one. I'm assuming bad fans?

 

[Paperdoc]

Yes, I'd be suspicious of at least one of those fans. If I understand, at least one of them plugged into a mobo CPU_FAN header did not spin and gave no speed reading, causing the mobo to detect a fan error. And now at least one of them will not work on the rad when plugged into the Corsair pump fan output.

 

[Mitchs1]

Yes, I'd be suspicious of at least one of those fans. If I understand, at least one of them plugged into a mobo CPU_FAN header did not spin and gave no speed reading, causing the mobo to detect a fan error. And now at least one of them will not work on the rad when plugged into the Corsair pump fan output.

Just ordered two new fans so I will see soon enough. If that doesnt fix it then I probably have larger issues. Thanks for the help!

 

[purple stain]

"When plugging non functional fan into other motherboard fan header it works but seems to have trouble and skips every once in a while. "

I'm suspicious of the fans and the pump fan header, imo. If one of those fans works when plugged into the motherboard but not the pump. Getting new fans will at least give you an idea. Goodluck!

 

[Mitchs1]

Update: received 2 replacement fans and they powered up immediately. Not sure what would cause both my cpu cooler fans to burn out at the same time, but thats an issue for the next time something stops working haha. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Paperdoc]

I agree, that's an interesting puzzle. But you HAVE solved your problem, so HOORAY! Thanks for the update.