[SOLVED] Fan Help

[coneil3822]

Hello I have six 0.30amp fans to install into my case, can i plug the fan controller into a system fan header then plug the 6 fans into the controller?

 

[HiggsPrime]

Your motherboard comes with buildin fan controller. depending upon the MoBo, you cam find the headers by refering its user manual. Some Mobo have upto 5 fan support which control speed individually via application.

your Motherboard?

 

[coneil3822]

Your motherboard comes with buildin fan controller. depending upon the MoBo, you cam find the headers by refering its user manual. Some Mobo have upto 5 fan support which control speed individually via application.

your Motherboard?

Msi B450 gaming pro carbon ac, i need to add more fans thats why im asking, i have filled 3 of the 4 system fan headers so i a purchased a fan hub to connect more, i just wanted to know of it is safe for me to install 6 fans into the hub then plug the hub into one system fan header.

 

[Paperdoc]

Tell us two things so we can be precise:

What maker and model is the fan Hub? Sellers misuse the terms "Hub" and "Splitter", so we need to know exactly what you have.

What maker and mpodel are these fans? If there are more that one model, tell us how many of each model.

It is VERY likely that this will all be easy, but details make it even easier.

 

[coneil3822]

Tell us two things so we can be precise:

What maker and model is the fan Hub? Sellers misuse the terms "Hub" and "Splitter", so we need to know exactly what you have.

What maker and mpodel are these fans? If there are more that one model, tell us how many of each model.

It is VERY likely that this will all be easy, but details make it even easier.

Thanks for the reply mate, im using this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raij...rol-set-rgb-and-fan-controller-fg-01u-rt.html but i wont be using the rgb bits. The fans i have are Corsair RWF0016 and ill be using 5 of them

 

[Paperdoc]

That Hub will not work for your fans, but there is a simple solution you can use. First, a bit of background.

The fans you have, I believe, are named on the Corsair website as their SP120 RGB High Performance 120mm fans, often sold in a 3-pack with a small pair of control boxes. With respect to the fan motors, these are called 3-pin fans that require Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode) signals from a mobo header to control their speed. Regarding their lighting components in the frames, each fan has a separate cable that connects to the Lighting Hub you get with the 3-pack (if that is what you bought) to power and control the lights only. Since you did not plan to use the Rajintek Hub for light control, maybe you will use the Corsair control boxes for that.

The problem here regarding fan motor speed control is that the Rajintek Hub, like almost all fan Hubs, is designed only to work with the new 4-pin PWM type of fans, and yours are NOT that style. When you connect a 3-pin fan (as you have) to a mobo header using the new PWM Mode for control, you get NO speed control, only constant full speed. Instead you need to connect such a fan to a header using the older Voltage Control Mode, and you normally cannot do that using a Hub. BUT you CAN do that with your mobo by using much simpler devices called SPLITTERS. Here is an example of a two-pack of 3-output Splitters

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-2-Pack-Way-Splitter/dp/B07PXLHNZ6/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=fan+splitter&qid=1590690566&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyS1JZV1lQREZHVkMyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjAyMzIxMlZKMVQxVlFWVFFEQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjA0Nzc1MlFHTkJWOE5FVVQ4SyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Each of these items would allow you to connect three of your fans to a single mobo SYS_FAN header. Note three points here:
(a) Each Splitter has one "arm" ending in a female (with holes) fan connector that plugs into a mobo header, and three output "arms" with male pins for plugging in fans. The Splitter has NO other types of "arms". A HUB (such as the Rajintek unit) has an additional connection that must be made to a power output from the PSU for fan power.
(b) A mobo header can accept the speed pulse signal coming back to it from ONE fan only, so a Splitter will only send back that signal from ONE of its fans. If you look closely at the photo of the three outputs, you will see that only one of them has all four of its pins, while the others are missing Pin #3. The mobo header used will only "see" the speed of the fan connected to the output with all 4 pins. This has NO impact on ability to control speeds.
(c) These are 4-pin Splitters, but they work perfectly with 3-pin fans.

There is an adjustment you must make to get your fans under mobo speed control. See your manual, p. 63. Your mobo has four SYS_FAN headers for case ventilation fans, and I am suggesting that you can use two of those splitters, one each to connect three fans to a total of two headers. On p. 63 note that at top right you select which header you are configuring, and you need to configure at least the two you are using for your fans. Below the graph and to the right, choose "All Set Default" so that the system will use its default automatic fan speed controls. This will use a temperature sensor on the mobo as its guide, and will constantly adjust the case fan speeds as your workload changes to keep that temperature on target. Key item here is in the central graph block, to upper left. You must set it to DC Mode for the fans you have so that it can send the correct signals to them. When you have configured the fan headers, remember to use Esc to return to Main Menu (p 46) and then the F10 key to get to the Exit Menu. Choose to SAVE and EXIT to save your settings.

Doing things this way will provide both power and speed control of all your fans from these two SYS_FAN headers, using the Splitters to make the connections.

This means you do not have any need for the Rajintek unit, so you might consider returning it.

 

[coneil3822]

That Hub will not work for your fans, but there is a simple solution you can use. First, a bit of background.

The fans you have, I believe, are named on the Corsair website as their SP120 RGB High Performance 120mm fans, often sold in a 3-pack with a small pair of control boxes. With respect to the fan motors, these are called 3-pin fans that require Voltage Control Mode (aka DC Mode) signals from a mobo header to control their speed. Regarding their lighting components in the frames, each fan has a separate cable that connects to the Lighting Hub you get with the 3-pack (if that is what you bought) to power and control the lights only. Since you did not plan to use the Rajintek Hub for light control, maybe you will use the Corsair control boxes for that.

The problem here regarding fan motor speed control is that the Rajintek Hub, like almost all fan Hubs, is designed only to work with the new 4-pin PWM type of fans, and yours are NOT that style. When you connect a 3-pin fan (as you have) to a mobo header using the new PWM Mode for control, you get NO speed control, only constant full speed. Instead you need to connect such a fan to a header using the older Voltage Control Mode, and you normally cannot do that using a Hub. BUT you CAN do that with your mobo by using much simpler devices called SPLITTERS. Here is an example of a two-pack of 3-output Splitters

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-2-Pack-Way-Splitter/dp/B07PXLHNZ6/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=fan+splitter&qid=1590690566&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyS1JZV1lQREZHVkMyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjAyMzIxMlZKMVQxVlFWVFFEQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjA0Nzc1MlFHTkJWOE5FVVQ4SyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Each of these items would allow you to connect three of your fans to a single mobo SYS_FAN header. Note three points here:
(a) Each Splitter has one "arm" ending in a female (with holes) fan connector that plugs into a mobo header, and three output "arms" with male pins for plugging in fans. The Splitter has NO other types of "arms". A HUB (such as the Rajintek unit) has an additional connection that must be made to a power output from the PSU for fan power.
(b) A mobo header can accept the speed pulse signal coming back to it from ONE fan only, so a Splitter will only send back that signal from ONE of its fans. If you look closely at the photo of the three outputs, you will see that only one of them has all four of its pins, while the others are missing Pin #3. The mobo header used will only "see" the speed of the fan connected to the output with all 4 pins. This has NO impact on ability to control speeds.
(c) These are 4-pin Splitters, but they work perfectly with 3-pin fans.

There is an adjustment you must make to get your fans under mobo speed control. See your manual, p. 63. Your mobo has four SYS_FAN headers for case ventilation fans, and I am suggesting that you can use two of those splitters, one each to connect three fans to a total of two headers. On p. 63 note that at top right you select which header you are configuring, and you need to configure at least the two you are using for your fans. Below the graph and to the right, choose "All Set Default" so that the system will use its default automatic fan speed controls. This will use a temperature sensor on the mobo as its guide, and will constantly adjust the case fan speeds as your workload changes to keep that temperature on target. Key item here is in the central graph block, to upper left. You must set it to DC Mode for the fans you have so that it can send the correct signals to them. When you have configured the fan headers, remember to use Esc to return to Main Menu (p 46) and then the F10 key to get to the Exit Menu. Choose to SAVE and EXIT to save your settings.

Doing things this way will provide both power and speed control of all your fans from these two SYS_FAN headers, using the Splitters to make the connections.

This means you do not have any need for the Rajintek unit, so you might consider returning it.

The fans i have are 4 pin PWM

 

[Paperdoc]

Really? When I searched for the number you gave, Corsair did not tell me what they are. But many places said that number is the model I cited, the SP120 RGB LED High Performance model. Here's the web page for that

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Fans/sp-series-rgb-led-config/p/CO-9050059-WW

That model should have two cables from it. One should have three wires and end in a female connector with 3 holes. The other will have a different connector with 4 holes that fit into the ports of the lighting control box from Corsair.

There is lots of opportunity for confusion here. Fan MOTORS come in 3-pin and 4-pin designs. RGB LIGHTS (including those in fan frames) come in two major types, often called 3-pin and 4-pin also. Confusing! In the LIGHTS side of things, the plain RGB design uses a 4-pin connector that supplies a common 12 VDC power and three separate Ground lines for the three main LED colours, and that is the type of lights in the SP120 RGB LED fans. The more complex ADDR RGB type of lights uses a 3-pin connector that supplies +5 VDC and Ground power lines, and a digital Control Line that carries addressed instruction packets.

In photos of the SP120 RGB LED fans I saw, the number you gave is shown in the label on the fan blade hub, even though Corsair's website cannot find that number. Is there any other identification on your fans?

 

[coneil3822]

Really? When I searched for the number you gave, Corsair did not tell me what they are. But many places said that number is the model I cited, the SP120 RGB LED High Performance model. Here's the web page for that

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Fans/sp-series-rgb-led-config/p/CO-9050059-WW

That model should have two cables from it. One should have three wires and end in a female connector with 3 holes. The other will have a different connector with 4 holes that fit into the ports of the lighting control box from Corsair.

There is lots of opportunity for confusion here. Fan MOTORS come in 3-pin and 4-pin designs. RGB LIGHTS (including those in fan frames) come in two major types, often called 3-pin and 4-pin also. Confusing! In the LIGHTS side of things, the plain RGB design uses a 4-pin connector that supplies a common 12 VDC power and three separate Ground lines for the three main LED colours, and that is the type of lights in the SP120 RGB LED fans. The more complex ADDR RGB type of lights uses a 3-pin connector that supplies +5 VDC and Ground power lines, and a digital Control Line that carries addressed instruction packets.

In photos of the SP120 RGB LED fans I saw, the number you gave is shown in the label on the fan blade hub, even though Corsair's website cannot find that number. Is there any other identification on your fans?

There is no other name for them, I got them from here https://www.novatech.co.uk/products...=affiliate&utm_campaign=https://www.delupe.de

There is no RGB on them, just one 4 pin cable

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for that info. I still find it a little confusing, but I think it may be that the fans you have simply are not on the Corsair website. The seller page you linked to shows that product number with a photo and description of 9 grey blades in a black frame, and Red LED's only. The specs it gives match exactly with the current Corsair ML120 Pro LED Red fan, but it has SEVEN WHITE blades, and some red pads around the frame corners.

All that aside, you have a 4-pin PWM type of fan, and I think it includes Red LED's, and not multi-colour RGB lights. That means the fans would glow red all the time. That would agree with its max current pull of 0.30 A. So, my advice must change.

First, YES, that Rajintek Hub you have is the right way to connect all those fans to a single mobo header. The Hub has five 4-pin fan ports you can use for that. A small inconsistency above: you start out talking about 6 fans, then switch to 5. IF you actually have six of these, you CAN use a simple Splitter if you need to, to connect TWO of them to a single Hub output port. Or you can simply plug the sixth into an unused mobo SYS_FAN header and configure it exactly the same as the one supporting the Hub.

Another important point that changes. In my post from yesterday in the paragraph about adjustments, I said a Key Point was to configure to use DC Mode. Do NOT do that with the Hub and these fans. Set the mobo header to use PWM Mode so it will send the required PWM signal to the Hub for use by the fans.

You already plan not to attempt to use the Hub's ARGB ports which is good, because there are no such lights in these fans.