Fan control idea

John24

John24

John24

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25 Oct 2007
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Requirements:
Turn On/Off and control the speed of individual fans.

Solution:
Each fan connected to a 2 possition toggle switch which then connects to a fan controller header.

The switch turns the fan On/Off and the fan controller provides power and speed control.

I'd need:
Two possition toggle switches
Fan controller
Fan extention cables to cut in halve and solder to the toggle switches
Drill to mount the switches onto a 5.25" blanking plate.
Other minor things

My inspiration is from the Fan-Atic: 5-port. It's a basic fan controller that has a 3 possition toggle switch to control the fans, Off/7v/12v.

Would this work and what toggle switches would I need, 6 terminals, 3 In 3 Out? Any of these look any good?
 
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If you do one switch per fan, you only need one two position switch per fan with two terminals. Put it on the live line and it should be fine. Be careful not to ground them on the case... I have a similar idea.
 
I'm confused how these switches are wired, going to do some more reading. I'm thinking of a switch that has 3 input and 3 output terminals, I'd solder the 3 fan wires to the input terminals and another 3 wire lead to the output which goes to the fan controller. The reason for 3 wires is to pass through the fan speed signal. The lever opens and closes the cuircuit. That's how I see it in my head but do these switches function that way?

How would I avoid grounding them on the case, rubber washers? Your similar idea sounds intriguing, what is it?

Thanks for your help :)
 
I really do not see what you are tyring to achieve?
Why do you want to turn the fans off when the fan controller does this for you?
 
Ok DWorrall I'm with you now, the switch goes inline on the live wire. I was thinking the fan was wired to the switch and the switch wired to the controller :confused:

So I just need SPST switches, simples. ;)

Just need to decide what size switches to get now.
 
According to your list of needs, it suggests you don't currently have a fan controller. So why not buy one which allows all channels to be switched off?
 
Because I can't find one that does. I have pretty exacting requirements too, so even if I could find a controller that you can turn off individual channels, it would also have to meet these:

8 Channels
No lights, or the abitily to turn them off
Actuall knobs not touch screen or anything like that
No alarm feature
High output on each channel incase I want to dasy chain
Ability to turn individual channels off

If you know a controller that ticks off all these I'm all ears :) The Lamptron FC8 looks like it does.. accept the ability to turn off individual channels. I'll probably go with that if somewhere in the UK starts to stock it.

I ordered the switches last night, just need a controller and some short fan extention leads now.
 
Perhaps you'll like my fan controller. It's two toggle switches and some solder, runs however many fans I like from a molex connector. Only needs one toggle switch really, but I wanted slightly more control over the fans.

The 12V line is connected to the fan all the time.

The other wire from the fan is switchable between the 0V and the 5V lines, and the centre position leaves it disconnected.

So, I can choose between 12V, 7V, and off. That's proven to be sufficient, as I want quiet / cool / silent as my choices rather than a continuous spectrum. It's a minor advancement on the generic 7V fan mod.
 
WTF?
If you need to turn individual fans off, just turn them down to the end and they are off? I really dont understand what you are trying to achieve. Fully anticlockwise = off, fully clockwise = on..
 
All controllers effectively turn the fans off when the knob is turned fully anti-clockwise. Maybe 0.5 volts is being supplied still but it isnt enough to turn the fan on.
 
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