LED fans that don't get dimmer?

Merlin5

Merlin5

Merlin5

Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Posts
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Location
Finchley, London
Well, after 10 months of glowing AC Ryan Blackfire4 fans, they've faded a lot, even after cleaning lots of dust off. They still work perfectly, just not the illumination. I think my orange Xigmatek xlf-f1253 is probably about as bright as it was, and my blue enermax everest is not quite as bright anymore as one LED is still very bright but the others less so. But the AC Ryans are the worst, the LED's are all but gone. So is there such a thing as an LED fan that either doesn't fade or takes a lot longer than just a few months to start dimming, or is 10 months par for the course? Maybe Xigmatek are the best for keeping their LED's going and I could just buy more of those?
 
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Towards the end of their life they start to get dimmer. This is the case with all LEDs but you can get fans that have long life LEDs that last around 50,000 hours. I know Cooler Master make such fans.
 
One of the reasons i brought yate loons, they are pretty cheap at £4 for a 120mm fan and £5 for a 140mm.By the time the led's go it'll be time to tear my loop down for cleaning and i may change my colour sceme at the same time :)
 
Installing a switch to a LED fan can be tricky if the design doesn't have a spot to solder in a switch wire to break the LED power circuit. If one really requires to switch off LEDs then it's custom wiring all the way, like the multiple LED guide, just perhaps not with so many LEDs.
 
philtorrens said:
Towards the end of their life they start to get dimmer. This is the case with all LEDs but you can get fans that have long life LEDs that last around 50,000 hours. I know Cooler Master make such fans.
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That's about 5 and a half years. That would be great. I read about the coolermaster R4 "R4 series fans offer a unity of maximum rotational speed and optimum airflow. Using a unique long-life sleeve bearing fan, the R4 series offers long life rating of 50,000 hours. R4 series fans perform at a maximum of 69CFM at 2000RPM. These R4 series are available in red, green, blue LED and dark smoke (no LED). " I wonder if it's the LED's that last that long, or just the fan itself.



Tealc said:
Indeed, very simple job. Check out my tutorials in case section:

Simple 4 LED replace
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18172549

Multiple LED replace
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18172810
Click to expand...


Great tutorial. I do have an old soldering iron. But I'm not sure I can do that job, seems quite fiddly :p
 
Tealc said:
Installing a switch to a LED fan can be tricky if the design doesn't have a spot to solder in a switch wire to break the LED power circuit. If one really requires to switch off LEDs then it's custom wiring all the way, like the multiple LED guide, just perhaps not with so many LEDs.
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most switches now have tags on them allowing for crimping wires as well as soldering. this way you can avoid wiring directly to the switch and can even have a little swap around. The connectors can be bought in multipacks (electronics stores) and only require you to put the wire in the end, squeeze it then push the connector on
 
Xigmatek's tend to have very good quality LEDs, I've always used them when it comes to making a more "bling" build. They aren't an overwhelming "omg" LED but never seen to dim even after extensive use.
 
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