How to connect 2 fans to one 3pin socket

[subbytna]

I've got a 600t case I'm going to be swapping out my front 200mm for 2x120mm Corsair AF fans. My 600t fan controller only lets me control 4 fans in total. As of now I have 2x120mm roof fans on the h100 cooler, 1x120mm rear and 1x200mm front intake.

How can I get the replacement 2x120mm front fans to be controlled by the fan controller (i'll have 5x120mm fans in total after the mod)

The fan controller uses four 3pin sockets....how can I get two 120mm fans to run off one 3pin fan controller socket? Is there an adapter?

Also will the fan controller have enough juice to run 5 fans?

 

[Artery]

Just get a fan splitter.

 

[yaboydom]

Yes you can buy 3 pin fan splitters pretty cheaply , i can't answer your other question but best to check corsair's website and check how many watts the fan controller can take and you can find your answer through that.

 

[ttaskmaster]

The fan controller uses four 3pin sockets....how can I get two 120mm fans to run off one 3pin fan controller socket? Is there an adapter?

With something like this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-cable-y-splitter-2-fan-pwm-10cm-wc-551-ek.html

You can get 'em in 2, 3, even 5 fan splitters!

Also will the fan controller have enough juice to run 5 fans?

Your fan controller should specify a certain number of watts per channel.
Look up the fans you have and see what their wattage is. Some even state it on the hub sticker. Add them up, simple as.

 

[subbytna]

Just found out from Corsair that the built in fan controller in the 600T is 12W per channel (is that 12 W per connector?) there are 4 fan controller connectors

Am I right in thinking that if I've 5 120mm fans @ 0.19A x 12V = 11.4W

Will that be pushing it?

Sounds stupid but would a splitter do anything to the 11.4W total?

I don't really want to get a new fan controller for the case as the built in one is fine.

 

[subbytna]

With something like this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-cable-y-splitter-2-fan-pwm-10cm-wc-551-ek.html

You can get 'em in 2, 3, even 5 fan splitters!
.

^^^I think that is a PWN splitter.^^^





https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-ak-fy320-3-pin-fan-cable-splitter-ak-fy320-cb-013-ak.html

Would this splitter work? It's a god awful colour though. I've a brand new cablemod set of red and black cables to match the black and red theme if my mod. Would this type of splitter work if I sourced it in a different colour?

 

[subbytna]

With something like this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-cable-y-splitter-2-fan-pwm-10cm-wc-551-ek.html

You can get 'em in 2, 3, even 5 fan splitters!

Just seen that they are also compatible with 3pin...haha now don't laugh, but is it as simple as just using 3 of the 4 pins in the adapter?

 

[ttaskmaster]

is that 12 W per connector?

Yup.

Am I right in thinking that if I've 5 120mm fans @ 0.19A x 12V = 11.4W

watt=current x volt
So yes, your maths is correct... and likely more reliable than mine.

Will that be pushing it?

Technically no, but I personally like to keep it evenly spread.

I also like to have sets of fans split into individual controls... so the front intakes are on one channel, the side intakes on another, the top exhausts on a third and the rear exhaust on the last... for example.

Sounds stupid but would a splitter do anything to the 11.4W total?

It'd draw the full wattage through the one channel. That's about it AFAIK.

Just seen that they are also compatible with 3pin...haha now don't laugh, but is it as simple as just using 3 of the 4 pins in the adapter?

AH-HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... oh, sorry, you said don't laugh!!

In a word - Yup.

There are 4 pins in a 4-pin fan connector.
1 is Ground
2 is 12v Positive
3 is your Tach, which gives you the RPM reading.
4 is your PWM.

3-pin fans just don't make use of the 4th pin, is all and the connector will still fit.

As I understand it, 3-pin can still do PWM if you swap pins 3 and 4 on the connector end, but you then won't get the Tach reading which means your header will flag it up as an error and your system will panic.

 

[subbytna]

Cheers squire

 

[Tealc]

As I understand it, 3-pin can still do PWM if you swap pins 3 and 4 on the connector end, but you then won't get the Tach reading which means your header will flag it up as an error and your system will panic.

Don't try this. The tach line is not a control line. Feeding a PWM signal into the tach line will not have any effect on the fan speed.

It is possible to PWM a 3 pin fan but would involve an external transistor based circuit that switches the fan on and off at a rapid rate.

 

[Jamesyboyjim]

As mentioned above, just get https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-cable-y-splitter-2-fan-pwm-10cm-wc-551-ek.html

I use a few of these as I have 2 fans connected to the cpu_fan and the cpu opt_fan headers each. Works perfectly, they ramp up and down as required.

 

[ttaskmaster]

Don't try this. The tach line is not a control line. Feeding a PWM signal into the tach line will not have any effect on the fan speed.

I thought it would change the fan speed, but not to any readable degree of accuracy as far as the PC is concerned, because the pulses cause a controller malfunction?
I seem to recall someone on here jury-rigging this to the point where they could adjust the fan from zero to full tilt, but couldn't read the fan speed...?

 

[Tealc]

I thought it would change the fan speed, but not to any readable degree of accuracy as far as the PC is concerned, because the pulses cause a controller malfunction?
I seem to recall someone on here jury-rigging this to the point where they could adjust the fan from zero to full tilt, but couldn't read the fan speed...?

Maybe what you saw was a situation where someone had injected a 12v PWM to pin 2 of the fan connector, either by generating a separate signal or by level shifting and amplifying the original. As the fan is now on and off at 25,000 times per second the tach feedback to motherboard is now erratic as the signal is interrupted so many times.

The circuit in my sig does a similar job to this but does it better, the 12v PWM is amplified and smoothed and clamped so the tach signal still works.

 

[subbytna]

Ordered the splitter...for £3 or so it's not the end of the world if it isn't what I can use. Cheers folks.