Fan Speed Controller Problems

[KugarWeb]

Hi there,

I recently replaced my Fan Speed Controller as the old one failed. Unfortunately, the Fan Control Box (which connects inbetween the CPU Fan and the Controller itself and "talks" to the Motherboard) that came with my Gigabyte GForce Cooler isn't compatible with the connections of my current controller and so there is no connection with the Motherboard to transfer information regarding the CPU Fan's speed.

This has meant that upon bootup, a continuous beep can be heard after the POST screen and a quick check in the BIOS confirms that the CPU Fan is apparently running at 0RPM, even though it is working perfectly and all temperatures agree with the previous setup. However, when plugging the CPU Fan directly into the motherboard (thus meaning no control over it's speed), the fan is recorded as running at around 3300RPM.

Is there a separate control box I can buy which can tell the Motherboard what speed it is running at or is this only bundled with CPU Fans? Below is a picture of my current Fan Speed Controller and it's connections.

Cheers,

KugarWeb.

 

[Diggsy]

Assuming the fan you want to monitor the speed of is 3 pin, then normally the yellow wire is used to monitor the RPM.

The easiest way to do what you want would be to solder a 2nd yellow wire (with a 3 pin connector on it) onto the fan you want to monitor, and attach it to the motherboard header.

That way your controller will still be able to control it, and the motherboard will detect the RPM.

Hope this makes sense, see this pic to give you an idea...

You would be doing something similar, only with another 3 pin connection where the molex is on the image above.

 

[Ch3m1c4L]

Or you could just tell the bios not to care about the cpu fan spinning, then it wont beep at you. just monitor the speed with your fan controller?

 

[KugarWeb]

Thanks for the quick replies!

Assuming the fan you want to monitor the speed of is 3 pin, then normally the yellow wire is used to monitor the RPM.

The easiest way to do what you want would be to solder a 2nd yellow wire (with a 3 pin connector on it) onto the fan you want to monitor, and attach it to the motherboard header.

That way your controller will still be able to control it, and the motherboard will detect the RPM.

Hope this makes sense, see this pic to give you an idea...

Yes, the fan I want to monitor is a 3 pin. At the moment I have one of the 3 pin connectors from the Fan Controller (see above) connected directly to the CPU Fan. Will any yellow wire do? I could butcher a couple of leftover cables from my build if that will do it? Then I guess I just solder it directly to the leftover yellow wire from my CPU fan?

Problem is, I would rather not do that just incase I need to take my system apart but still want to keep the bits....that and my soldering isn't upto much lol. Is there another option like buying another part for it or something?

Or you could just tell the bios not to care about the cpu fan spinning, then it wont beep at you. just monitor the speed with your fan controller?

Thanks for the idea Chemical but I do a lot of heavy video editing so my CPU is always going to get hot and I want to know when it gets too much for it so I can do something about it...e.g. say the CPU fan isn't enough and I can't find out I need another fan in my system .

 

[Diggsy]

Thanks for the quick replies!



Yes, the fan I want to monitor is a 3 pin. At the moment I have one of the 3 pin connectors from the Fan Controller (see above) connected directly to the CPU Fan. Will any yellow wire do? I could butcher a couple of leftover cables from my build if that will do it? Then I guess I just solder it directly to the leftover yellow wire from my CPU fan?

Problem is, I would rather not do that just incase I need to take my system apart but still want to keep the bits....that and my soldering isn't upto much lol. Is there another option like buying another part for it or something?

You could always buy 2 of these (or similar, maybe slightly shorter and cheaper)... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-011-AK&groupid=701&catid=48&subcat=153

...and basically what you would need to do is strip one of them down so just the yellow wire is connected, then join it to the yellow wire in the other, either solder it or just use a terminal block if you don't like to solder. Then simply connect your fan into this new cable and the end with all 3 wires into your fan controller and the end with just the yellow wire into your motherboard. Job done

Just to be clear, taking the above fan cable as an example, what you want to end up with is a cable with one white (male) end with 2 orange (female) ends. 1 of the female ends should have all 3 wires, and the other just the yellow wire.

If you're stuck, let me know and I will have a look in the loft. I'm sure I have something up there that I could use to rustle one of these up for you

 

[KugarWeb]

Cool, thanks for advice! I'll order a couple of those or something similar tomorrow and will hopefully get something sorted .

What I can't understand is why I've run into this problem in the first place haha. I've looked everywhere for a 2 female and 1 male cable and it just doesn't exist. So how do people manage to get by with the same Fan controller if all they have is 1 female and 1 male lead. Surely everyone is in the same boat with a female Fan lead...

By the way, while looking around at other cables, I spotted this on another site - useful maybe?

 

[KugarWeb]

Sorry, just had another look at my current setup and had another thought.

Originally my fan controller's leads for the fans looked like the picture above. But, I took one of the "female" covers off which revealed male prongs. So...does that mean if I reattached the cover (it just slides back on again) and I bought a 1 female to 2 male cable, I could get it working that way?

In other words...

Female CPU fan lead >> 1 male connector
"Female" fan controller lead >> 1 male connector (prongs would touch, is this enough?)

Then simple female connector from the new lead would go into the motherboard.

That's the only way I can think that the manufacturer of the fan controller thought it could ever work....otherwise it's back to soldering or terminal blocks I guess? .

 

[Diggsy]

Okay, looking at that and having a rethink you might just be able to get it to work.

Assuming that those ends on your fan controller are converters (convert male to female) then you are in business. Easy way to check is remove one of them and try to attach the remaining cable to an untouched one.

What you need to do is get a 3 pin fan splitter, like this... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-013-AK&groupid=701&catid=48&subcat=153

You will want to disconnect the red + black cables going to the female connector (only want the board to see the fan RPM, which is the yellow cable), then plug your fan into the male connector with the yellow wire attached, and finally plug the other end (red and black) into your fan controller.

That is assuming as I said before that those are converters, and also assuming that your fan controller doesn't need to see the yellow wire to operate (some do, some don't).

If your fan controller does need to see the yellow wire, then don't worry, you need to search eBay for '3 pin fan splitter' and select one with a yellow wire on both ends of the split.

Hope that makes sense

 

[KugarWeb]

Great! Thanks a lot for your help. The fan controller has a "blanked" yellow wire (i.e. only the black and red are connected to the fan controller itself) so I'll go with this option.....

You will want to disconnect the red + black cables going to the female connector (only want the board to see the fan RPM, which is the yellow cable), then plug your fan into the male connector with the yellow wire attached, and finally plug the other end (red and black) into your fan controller.

Fingers crossed this will work - will keep you posted . Thanks again!