Connecting fans to PSU/Mobo wtf am i doing?

[HarukiHanai]

hello everyone,

this is my first build, and no i shouldnt be building computers lol, but i need to start somewhere, so

im trying connect my fans to my system, what ive been trying to do is connect
a 230mm X 230mm X 30mm Red LED fan to the power supply, the fan its self is the one that comes default in the CoolerMaster HAF X case, which is a 3 pin connection which came with a molex male & female adapter, i tried to do that and the fan didnt switch on, i tried to unplug the adapter and put it into the mobo, which has 4 pin connections to the fans which also didnt work.

can anyone help me stop being an idiot and tell me specificly how to do it?

 

[RiseAgainst]

could be a dead fan, it does happen.
try a different molex connector ? but as it doesn't work with either that molex or fan header then I would be inclined to say that its dead

 

[Surveyor]

You should be able to either:

a) Connect the 3 pin fan plug directly to one of the headers on the motherboard (either 3 or 4 pin) or

b) Connect the 3 pin fan plug to the molex adapter and then plug this into a molex connector from the power supply like the picture below.

There's a separate 2 pin connector going from the fan to the switch on the top of the case which switches the LED's on or off. If this is disconnected, or the switch has been pressed, the LED's won't come on.

 

[HarukiHanai]

You should be able to either:

a) Connect the 3 pin fan plug directly to one of the headers on the motherboard (either 3 or 4 pin) or

b) Connect the 3 pin fan plug to the molex adapter and then plug this into a molex connector from the power supply like this:



There's s separate 2 pin connector going from the fan to the switch on the top of the case which switches the LED's on or off. If this is disconnected, or the switch has been pressed, the LED's won't come on.

thats what i did 4 both :/ ill have 2 try i different fan to see if it is just the fan

 

[HarukiHanai]

ok just tried more fans and still no spin or lights :/ i dunno have i missed somthing? any suggestions that mgiht help? im using asus maximus IV exteme-z Mobo and currently 750w coolermaster GX PSU, but i will be changing for an 850w 80 Gold plus. mobo is on because lights are on. list any possible thing i need to do, all i have is the main power supply cable hooked up to the mobo and nothing else yet.

 

[Surveyor]

Are you're saying none of the fans work however you connect them?

Tell me if this is a daft question but are you actually switching the computer on, as in having it running not just connected to the mains? Your comment "all i have is the main power supply cable hooked up to the mobo and nothing else yet" leads me to believe not.

The fans won't work until you have everything connected up and press the power button to start the computer.

 

[HarukiHanai]

Are you're saying none of the fans work however you connect them?

Tell me if this is a daft question but are you actually switching the computer on, as in having it running not just connected to the mains? Your comment "all i have is the main power supply cable hooked up to the mobo and nothing else yet" leads me to believe not.

The fans won't work until you have everything connected up and press the power button to start the computer.

no i have the mains connected as i said i know the mobo is on cause its lit up

 

[HarukiHanai]

no idea?

 

[Purgatory]

If no fan is working when you plug them into the PSU cable with the molex to fan adapter, means the the adapter is dead eg has a wire broken on it, or try another PSU molex plug and see. Other thing it could be is the PSU molex chain has failed, so if you have more then one PSU molex chain try another one too. You may have been rough installing the PSU and pulled a cable out of the PSU circuit board.

MAKE SURE PC IS ON and you see windows running. POWER LED on motherboard ON does not mean it's on, it's just getting power from the PSU and in a state waiting for you to hit the power switch or take it out of standby. So make sure you can use the pc and see your windows desktop. Fans will not run when the PC is not fully running and into the operating system or booting up.


Also in the BIOS you can go into there and make sure all the fan headers are switched on and not on any quiet option that can slow the fans down or speed them up as needed. The fan headers should work then and power any fan.

Sounds to me you are not making sure the PC is totally on or the molex to fan header adapter is broken so try another one. Also I would not plug a 230mm fan into the motherboard header, it could fry it if it requires more power then then motherboard header can give it.

 

[Surveyor]

no i have the mains connected as i said i know the mobo is on cause its lit up

That wasn't my point.

Just plugging the power supply into the mains, and the power cable into the motherboard, won't make the fans spin.

You need to assemble enough components to have a functional PC so that you can power it up.

This does not make a functional PC and the fans won't be working if this is all you've done:

all i have is the main power supply cable hooked up to the mobo and nothing else yet

 

[Tealc]

The PSU while in standby won't supply power to the fans. You need to fully connect all power cables (24 and 8 pin) at the very least to even get the motherboard to switch the fans on.