Define R4 black out after quickly changing fan controller!

[Coolones]

My computer just blacked out after I quickly chanched the amount of volts for the fans (from 5 volt to 12 volt and the other way around). I don't know if this is a verry common problem for the define R4 and if I should let this get fixed. I don't think I have problems when not touching the controller.
I also read in a other thread that I better can plug the fans in my motherboard and download some software, but I can't remember which one.
So is this a common problem and how should I fix this?

 

[americanbrian]

well, if you have 5V fans and you put 12V through them you could have tripped overcurrent protection on your PSU. Just a guess, but you really shouldn't switch voltages arbitrarily.

 

[Coolones]

well, if you have 5V fans and you put 12V through them you could have tripped overcurrent protection on your PSU. Just a guess, but you really shouldn't switch voltages arbitrarily.

I use the original fans delivered with the case so that can't be the problem, but I think the wires may be a little bit broke.

But I heard it would be better if I just use the motherboard fan controller instead of the fan controller of the case. Is that right>

 

[americanbrian]

ok, I am confused, did you change the supply cable over to a different voltage and also change the setting on the controller at the same time? where are you plugging into? The molex ONLY provide 12V. If you plug into the molex and change the controller to 5V you will draw excess current from a 12V line.

 

[Coolones]

ok, I am confused, did you change the supply cable over to a different voltage and also change the setting on the controller at the same time? where are you plugging into? The molex ONLY provide 12V. If you plug into the molex and change the controller to 5V you will draw excess current from a 12V line.

The controller is just a notch which you can move into 5 volts, 7 volts and 12 volts and the fan controller is connected to a molex conector.
The fancontroller is build in my Fractal Design Define R4 case.

 

[volcanoscout]

This is not a common problem, but not unknown. The source of the problem is how the integral fan controller derives voltage levels. For 5V and 12V, the switch just shifts the draw from the PSU, via the 4-pin Molex connector. For 5V, it connects to the 5V line and ground, and for 12V, the 12V line and ground. To get 7V however, they basically "trick" the PSU - there's no 7V line, so it connects the 12V line to the 5V line instead of a ground. I know, it sounds crazy, but it works.

There are several potential (and in your case, realized) problems with this. If the PSU is not high enough quality, it may sense the current intersection as a fault or short and shut down to protect itself. If the switch cannot completely break a connection before making the next, it can a cause a surge that makes your system BSOD or black out. In extreme cases, especially if there are any physical faults in the wiring, connectors, switch or front panel PCB, it can cause a fire. The switch itself is not a particularly high tolerance component - it's only rated at .42 amp.

A short-term solution is to make sure that your desired voltage position is selected before you power up your system, and if you need to change it, power down first, make the switch, then turn it back on. Long-term, you can contact Fractal and report it to their support team. They may offer to send a new switch, but most likely they'll offer to RMA the whole case. A pain in the ass, and there's no guarantee that the next one won't have the same problem.

The alternative is to take the switch out of the equation completely, as you mentioned in your original post. Disconnect the fan leads (I recommend removing them completely by unplugging from the front panel) and running your fans from either an aftermarket fan controller or directly from your motherboard. If you decide to go this route, let me know what motherboard you have and I'll be happy to walk you through the setup.

Good luck!

 

[Coolones]

This is not a common problem, but not unknown. The source of the problem is how the integral fan controller derives voltage levels. For 5V and 12V, the switch just shifts the draw from the PSU, via the 4-pin Molex connector. For 5V, it connects to the 5V line and ground, and for 12V, the 12V line and ground. To get 7V however, they basically "trick" the PSU - there's no 7V line, so it connects the 12V line to the 5V line instead of a ground. I know, it sounds crazy, but it works.

There are several potential (and in your case, realized) problems with this. If the PSU is not high enough quality, it may sense the current intersection as a fault or short and shut down to protect itself. If the switch cannot completely break a connection before making the next, it can a cause a surge that makes your system BSOD or black out. In extreme cases, especially if there are any physical faults in the wiring, connectors, switch or front panel PCB, it can cause a fire. The switch itself is not a particularly high tolerance component - it's only rated at .42 amp.

A short-term solution is to make sure that your desired voltage position is selected before you power up your system, and if you need to change it, power down first, make the switch, then turn it back on. Long-term, you can contact Fractal and report it to their support team. They may offer to send a new switch, but most likely they'll offer to RMA the whole case. A pain in the ass, and there's no guarantee that the next one won't have the same problem.

The alternative is to take the switch out of the equation completely, as you mentioned in your original post. Disconnect the fan leads (I recommend removing them completely by unplugging from the front panel) and running your fans from either an aftermarket fan controller or directly from your motherboard. If you decide to go this route, let me know what motherboard you have and I'll be happy to walk you through the setup.

Good luck!

I have already plugged in my fans on the motherboard, but that's the only thing I did, so if you have some other advice I would like to hear it. My motherboard is a Z97-PRO from ASUS.

 

[volcanoscout]

As far as the switch and leads go, that's pretty much it. You can disconnect the fan leads from the front panel to get them out of the way (I did that on one build and cannibalized the connectors for other projects), or you can just coil them up and zip tie them somewhere convenient. If you're interested I can also tell you how to use them to power and control LED case lighting.

As far as fan control through the motherboard, Fan Xpert does a pretty good job of running everything, but I'd be happy to help you fine tune your setup if you need it. Just let me know.

 

[Coolones]

As far as the switch and leads go, that's pretty much it. You can disconnect the fan leads from the front panel to get them out of the way (I did that on one build and cannibalized the connectors for other projects), or you can just coil them up and zip tie them somewhere convenient. If you're interested I can also tell you how to use them to power and control LED case lighting.

As far as fan control through the motherboard, Fan Xpert does a pretty good job of running everything, but I'd be happy to help you fine tune your setup if you need it. Just let me know.

While I don't need any help with my fans, I don't have any experiencen with fine tuning a pc. So I could maybe use some help with fine tuning my pc.

This is my settup;

I7 4770K (stock)
AMD R9 290 OC vapor x from sapphire
16 GB of corsair vengeance
Asus Z97-PRO
3TB HDD from seagate
250 GB SSD 840 EVO Samsung
850 Watt power suply from BeQuite
Windows 8.1
and a LG bluray read and wright optical drive.

I also recently played a free game from steam called warface and the light on my GPU went red from the heat, I gues the game is just badly optimized because other games run just fine. Only watchdogs has a low FPS and all battlefield games have stutter, but for the rest games run just fine on this rig.

 

[volcanoscout]

If you're good with the fans, you should select a best answer to close the thread. Then PM me and we can talk about your settings. I'll caution you that I'm no expert, but I'm more than happy to help you to the best of my ability. Once you and I exhaust our collective wits, you can throw the results up in a new thread and let the real pros take a whack at it.

Some questions that you can answer in your PM:
- Which software are you using for the case fans? Or are you running them from a bios profile?
- Which software are you using for the R9 fans? Or are you running them from the GPU default?
- What kind of frame rates are you currently getting for Watch Dogs?
- How long into play till your R9 gets hot? How hot is it getting?
- When the GPU temp maxes out, what is your CPU doing temperature-wise?
- Does the frame rate drop in relation to the GPU temp, or are you getting
low rates from the get-go?
- What are you're current game settings?
- What resolution and refresh rate are you playing at? What monitor?
- What other games are you playing? Which battlefield games are stuttering?

 

[builtospill]

I just had my fan controller on my Fractal Design R4 case burn up on me. I had the case open to install hardware, when I started computer it seemed to be working fine but I noticed the computer was stuttering and had delay when I clicked on things. I then noticed a burning smell coming from the case and quickly shut the computer down (I noticed the rear R4 case fan wasn't spinning). Computer wouldn't boot up afterwards. I took the front bezel off and noticed the burned smell was coming from that 5v/7v/12volt switch. I unscrewed it out and sure enough, one of the magnets came unglued that holds the front door in place, and landed right on the switch circuit board. The weird thing was that the computer still wouldn't boot up even after I disconnected the 4-pin molex power cable from my ATX power supply. It wasn't until I completely disconnected the ribbon cable to the case fan switch that the computer finally powered up! I'm assuming for now I could plug in the case fans into the motherboard, although my MB has 4 pin fan connectors.