Question Thermaltake PSU RGB fan re-use, confused by the cables ?

[BlueShirtGuy]

So i got this Non working PSU from a friend and i wanted to reuse the RGB fan in it as a case fan, but the cables confused me since i never seen this type before,

so it would be very helpful if someone can tell me which is the fan cable and which is the RGB led cable ?

 

[Paperdoc]

Since this fan came from inside a PSU, its wiring and connectors are NOT standard for use on mobo headers. I fully expect that the one with TWO holes is for the fan MOTOR, and that is designed for 12 VDC max power, with polarity important between its two leads. This operates like an older THREE-pin fan in the sense that its speed can be controlled only by varying the VOLTAGE supplied to it from a mobo header. At the header, Pin #1 is Ground, Pin #2 is the (variable) DC Voltage supply and Pin #3 is the speed signal returned from the fan. This fan has NO Pin #3; in fact, its connector will NOT fit onto the first two pins of a mobo header, so you will need to do a small custom wiring mod to fit the proper connector on it with the wires connected in proper polarity.

The other fan cable has four holes and LIKELY is for a plain RGB lighting system, NOT the Addressable RGB (ARGB) system. Again, we have no info on which wire is which on their connector, so it will require some experimentation to discover that unless Thermaltake Tech Support can help. Then you'd also need to custom attach a proper connector. To start, look closely at that connector for any labels. A 4-pin plain RGB system normally has lines for +12 VDC, G, R and B in that order.

 

[BlueShirtGuy]

Hey there Paperdoc, thank you for the reply, i have used a USB 3 port and a usb cable to check the 4 lines cable and it turns out that cable is actually for the fan motor, the motor worked but not the RGB, so i believe that's a standard 4 lines Fan cable just with a diferent Plug that i could just modifiy with an old fan cable and plug direectly to the motehrboard, as for the two lines cable i think 90% it is the RGB one because i have seen some RGB cables with only 2 lines like the one on my gtx 1060 Led, what do you think?

 

[Paperdoc]

That does not seem right to me.

The LIGHTS in the fan inside that PSU are really wired as a plain RGB system, which requires FOUR lines: +12 VDC common, plus three separate Ground lines, one for each of the three RGB colours. In this application, power and control of those lights is done by a small Controller system built into the PSU, and the user has some ability to make manual selections of display via a pushbutton the the PSU rear plate - it does NOT involve connection to a mobo header. So, from the embedded controller to the lights in the fan frame requires FOUR lines. It could not offer alternative colour displays via only two lines.

Power and control of the fan MOTOR can certainly be done with only two lines - a Ground and a +VDC line with voltage varying to control fan speed. That is why I speculated as before on the function of the two connectors.

I can imagine a scheme in which the +12 VDC line of the LIGHTING connector and a Ground line are tied internally in the PSU to the similar lines feeding the MOTOR wires. So IF you fed +5 VDC and Ground from a USB port into the right LIGHTING lines, you might get the MOTOR to turn slowly, although I would expect some lights to go on faintly, too. You do not report whether you tried to feed power into the two wires of the 2-hole connector. If you do that, what happens?

 

[BlueShirtGuy]

You might be right, there is a small controller that these two cables were hooked to inside the PSU, and yes i have tested the cable with two holes the same way and nothing happened, it could be that the RGB ground and power line are the same as the motor's 12v and ground, in that case that specific controller is required and there is no other way to hook this up, in this case i will just drop this, not worth the hustle tbh, and thank you so much for taking your time to help i really appreciate it!

 

[Paperdoc]

You're welcome. Re-using non-standard components is always a detective job!

 

[sotpar]

You might be right, there is a small controller that these two cables were hooked to inside the PSU, and yes i have tested the cable with two holes the same way and nothing happened, it could be that the RGB ground and power line are the same as the motor's 12v and ground, in that case that specific controller is required and there is no other way to hook this up, in this case i will just drop this, not worth the hustle tbh, and thank you so much for taking your time to help i really appreciate it!

Hello
I wonder if you found out how it works.
I also have the same fan (140mm fan from thermaltake toughpower 650w rgb)
The two pin header is connected to a button on the rear of the psu that allows you to change (cycle) colors

 

[Paperdoc]

For the LIGHTS in this unit, there is a Controller built into the PSU, and it will use four lines to the actual lights. But it also has a TWO-wire connection to the button exposed on the back of the PSU. This is NOT a power input. No doubt the button is a simple normally-open momentary-contact pushbutton (like a doorbell button), just as many third-party lighting controller boxes use for manual selection of displays. Pushing the button merely causes a temprary short of that signal circuit on the Controller board to tell it to change to the next possible display. You cannot input any signal or voltage source on these lines.

 

[BlueShirtGuy]

Hello
I wonder if you found out how it works.
I also have the same fan (140mm fan from thermaltake toughpower 650w rgb)
The two pin header is connected to a button on the rear of the psu that allows you to change (cycle) colors

I haven't figured it out, the fan is intended to be used with the controller in the PSU so i think there is no way to use it without the PSU, too much hassle so i dropped it lol, if you figure out a solution tell me