Question PWM Repeater- how is it supposed to work?

[Garou]

Hi!

I recently bought a new PC. Below are the specs

Corsair AX1600i
Kingston KC3000 M.2 2280 NVMe SSD 2TB
ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 OC Edition
Intel Core i9-13900K CPU
ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-F GAMING WIFI
Corsair 7000D Airflow Big Tower (White)
Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6200MHz 32GB RGB
NZXT Kraken x73 White CPU Cooler

Everything is working as it should. W11 installed and all, but I am confused on how to use the PWM Repeater on the back of the chassis. I've connected both SATA power to it and put the 4 pin connector into the motherboard (CHA_FAN1P). Into the repeater I've connected three fans. However only one of the three are spinning. A solution is of course to just directly connect them to the motherboard. However I really liked the idea of just using the repeater. What am I missing? Am I misunderstanding what the repeaters functionality is?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Corsair 7000D Airflow Big

you'll have to include a link to the product support page and/or offer images of this fan hub_"repeater".
i've seen many versions of this case but never one that includes an external fan hub.

 

[Garou]

you'll have to include a link to the product support page and/or offer images of this fan hub_"repeater".
i've seen many versions of this case but never one that includes an external fan hub.

Maybe its not what I thought it is. I dont know. Here is a picture

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

Here is a picture

yes, this would be a fan hub as you suspected that allows multiple fans to be powered and controlled through a single motherboard header.

though it is located on the inside of the chassis behind the motherboard tray.
i would consider the "back" as the outside_rear of the case.

should be a pretty simple setup;
a 4 pin PWM cable that will lead out to a header
and a power cable like the SATA you mentioned.

i've used and setup these type of hubs many times and usually don't have any problem with them.
just make sure cables are firmly seated and the SATA connection is in a proper PSU socket.

maybe try different fan headers, like SYS_FAN*, etc.

 

[Paperdoc]

First, I hope all the fans you are using on this "repeater" board are case ventilation fans, and NOT the CPU cooler ones.

What you have done sounds right. There are a few items to check.

1. Ensure that at least one fan is plugged into the board output labelled #1. That is the ONLY output that can sent back to the mobo host header the speed of its fan, and the header needs that info.
2. As JohnBonhamsGhost said above, ensure all fans are securely connected to their outputs.
3. Try using another CHA_FAN header. The 1P header has some special features I don't know, so that MAY cause odd behaviour with that board.
4. Whichever header you use, check its configuration for the MODE setting. If is has options like Voltage (or DC), PWM and automatic, set it to PWM, not other settings.
5. IF this behaviour continues, you can try in the configuration of the header to change its "fan curve" so that at the lowest temperatures it tells the fans to run a bit faster so that they never stall.

 

[Garou]

First, I hope all the fans you are using on this "repeater" board are case ventilation fans, and NOT the CPU cooler ones.

What you have done sounds right. There are a few items to check.

1. Ensure that at least one fan is plugged into the board output labelled #1. That is the ONLY output that can sent back to the mobo host header the speed of its fan, and the header needs that info.
2. As JohnBonhamsGhost said above, ensure all fans are securely connected to their outputs.
3. Try using another CHA_FAN header. The 1P header has some special features I don't know, so that MAY cause odd behaviour with that board.
4. Whichever header you use, check its configuration for the MODE setting. If is has options like Voltage (or DC), PWM and automatic, set it to PWM, not other settings.
5. IF this behaviour continues, you can try in the configuration of the header to change its "fan curve" so that at the lowest temperatures it tells the fans to run a bit faster so that they never stall.

So after trying to your steps (and JohnBonhamsGhost tips) I noticed that two of the connectors were not completely in. It fixed the issue. Thanks to you both! (much friendlier and better responses here than on my programming questions on stackoverflow...)