Fan Issue

[fortuneseeker]

My youngest lad has just informed me that his computer is making a strange noise, following a bit of investigation it seems that the fan at the back of his PC is rotating slowly and making a whirring noise - so I figure its on the way out.

As I have some spare fans I followed the cable back to the motherboard and was about to swap it out when I realised that the cable has an additional cable coming out of it that appears to be attached to another fan (if that makes sense). To put it another way, starting from the motherboard 2 cables come from the same fan header, 1 is directly wired into the fan, the other is a couple of inches long and has a connection that another fan cable is attached to.

Can someone recommend a good replacement fan? There are plenty on ***Elsewhere***/Overclockers etc but I don't really know what I'm looking for re. the cable and don't want to end up with another similar to the ones I already have (without the little extension bit)

Hope that makes sense!

Thanks.

 

[fortuneseeker]

Might be worth just posting a picture of the current fan/connector to be on the safe side, but in all likelihood it's probably a 120mm PWM Fan with a passthrough connector.
Arctic make some decent performing ones that are reasonably priced and come with the passthrough connector (which they call PST)

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Arctic P12 PWM PST Black Fan - 120mm (SKU: FG-04H-AR) = £5.95

Total: £9.95 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

Yeah that looks right, I've gone ahead and ordered it.

Thanks for the reply and knowledge!

 

[fortuneseeker]

Okay so the fan has just arrived and I've swapped the old noisy slow one out for the new one, plugging the cables in exactly as they were.

The fan at the back of the PC (the new one) now doesn't work, but the 3 fans that run off the pass through connector do. I have pulled the cables out/plugged them back in again to make sure that wasn't the problem.

Any ideas?

 

[fortuneseeker]

The new fan is the one recommended above, the Artic P12 PWN PST

The old fan is a BitFenix BFF-ADD-12025SK-CP

I removed the old fan and carefully replaced it with the new, one putting the cables in exactly the same places (minus the RBG cable that the old fan had).

Once everything was attached the fan at the back of the case doesn't work, but the 3 fans at the front of the case do.

When I detach the passthrough connector non of the fans work.

I have just put the old fan back in to test... It will spin slowly and make a whirring noise (and the three fans at the front will work)

The PC was built by Overclockers approx 18 months ago.

EDIT: Motherboard is the Asus Prime B660M-A D4 - Intel B660 DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard

 

[fortuneseeker]

My Google skills must be
Having a bad day

All I can find
Is a 3 pack of fans which include
A fan hub/controller
And remote control for rgb lights
Basically same model number just with 3 in it
Presumably for 3 pack
No sign of pass though/daisy chain on there
Not ocuk so can't link it
Just in case its classed as a competitor website
even though its USA
And bitfenix site
Since theres a price there i wouldn't want to
unintentionally break a rule
model number i found is
BFF-ADD-12025SW-3CP

edit
AApologies
only once posted where I could see
Both at once can I see
there's a difference in model number

This is the old fan that I have just taken out

IMG-20231215-184910 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-20231215-184910 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

IMG-20231215-184917 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-20231215-184917 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

There are 4 of them in the PC - 3 at the front and 1 at the back. It was a standard Overclockers build from approx a year ago

 

[fortuneseeker]

Okay I've done some googling and it seems like the fan I removed had a 3 pin connector and the new fan has a 4 pin connector.

I've just checked the BIOS and changed 'auto' to 'PWM' for the correct fan header but I get the same outcome - the new fan at the back of the case isn't spinning but the 3 fans at the front of the case (running off the pass through connector) are.

 

[fortuneseeker]

For what it's worth
You could just connect the new one
To a different header
Says you have

Fan and Cooling related
1 x 4-pin CPU Fan header
1 x 4-pin CPU OPT Fan header
2 x 4-pin Chassis Fan headers

So assuming 3 are daisy chained to one header
You should have available headers
Even allowing for cpu cooler
Taking up another header

You can't mix 3 and 4 pin
On the same pass through
And expect both pwm and voltage control
to both work

Okay I have now got the front 3 directly plugged into the CHA Fan 2 header - they continue to work.

The new fan is now plugged directly into CHA Fan 1 header - still not working.

EDIT:
In the BIOS I have gone to Q-Fan control and changed it from Auto-Detect to PWM mode (and back again) to see whether the fan works in either mode (it doesn't). I have also changed the fan speed from Standard to Full Speed (and back again) to see whether the fan works in either mode (it doesn't).

 

[fortuneseeker]

Well now that I know I have a spare fan header on my motherboard I used one of the fans I already had knocking around... and that worked - so problem solved, we're now back running a full compliment of fans!

I did google (albeit after the event) that as Armageus said you can mix and match 3 and 4 pin headers with no issues, so maybe its a faulty fan? For what it cost is barely worth returning, I'll just chalk it up as a life lesson.

Thanks everyone for you help