Splice two case fans together?

[atBrenthor]

Hello,

I have two intake fans that have to go into the same header. I live in a pretty remote area and it's looking like it's pretty expensive to ship in a single molex/Y splitter.

I am a electrician by trade, I just want to know if I can cut and splice the two intake fans together and pigtail them into a mobo header connection and then plug them into sys fan 3

This would be a much less expensive option for me and also I'd be able to hook it up tonight instead of waiting two weeks for a dinky little part. I can also hide the taped up parts.

Thanks!

 

[geofelt]

Motherboard headers will have a max amperage capability.
Your motherboard specs should tell you what it is.
It is usually sufficient to run two normal fans.
A normal 120mm fan will have a 0.30 amp draw @12v.
I see no reason why you should not do the job yourself.
Just cut one of the yellow speed sensing wires so the speed sensing does not get confused.
If you use motherboard speed control, both fans will be controlled the same.

 

[Geekwad]

Investigate what the current rating for each header is for you motherboard and as long as your two fan-loads doesn't exceed it, it's fine.

 

[atBrenthor]

Thanks everyone. I can't find amperage ratings anywhere. It's an MSI x99a SLI PLUS. I want to connect 2 corsair af140s to it. I believe they draw .23A apiece so I'm not worried. Most people are saying you get an amp per header.

 

[James Mason]

Well, considering they make 3 and 4 pin fan splitters, I don't see why not: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200991

Being an electrician, it should be easy for you to replicate.

 

[atBrenthor]

I ended up doing it and it all worked fine!

I get a little wary of low voltage stuff. I know it all works the same but once you start getting into 12V things get finicky.