RECON fan controller woes

SemCee

SemCee

SemCee

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28 Nov 2013
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22
So Im banging my head off the desk....

I had a perfectly set up and working pc, (just built). Then I decided to sort out the cables and tidy the back section of the Air540.

Some of the cables were a bit like a rats nest, so I unconnected, repositioned and reconnected. This included the recon usb connector, (but I put the centre connector back just like it was).

Also the power which was awkward to reconnect and I ended up pushing a couple of pins a little out of the back. They seem to be lined up and back in place now, but I am having problems.

The display on the recon controller is lit, but the fans aren't working anymore. :eek: The controller says its on manual and set to 0000rpm, (i can't seem to adjust it there.). The recon software says manual 100% 12v 200rpm. so....

I uninstalled and reinstalled the software....now there is no info in the software atall. No ip address, no fans shown. sigh. I have turned off the pc and made sure the usb cable was seated okay, (which it seems to be), but still it doesn't see the recon anymore.

BANG...BANG...BANG....

Reinstalled the software as admin and got it back to the 100% 12v 200rpm, no fans working.
 
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The Recon will operate irrespective of whether the USB is working or not.

If the fans aren't working then I suspect the one or both of the 12v rail power pins is not making a contact at either the Molex end or the PCB interface end. Seeing as you mentioned you had some issues with the power connector it is possible you've messed this up somehow, maybe put it on backwards. Hopefully you haven't done this as giving 12v to a 5v IC or regulator won't end well.
 
Hmmm, i didn't want to mess with the power connector again.

The pins seemed loose and pushed 2 or 3mm out of the socket, so all I have done is gently push them back into place, (nothing has been taken out or swapped).

I did find it quite difficult to get the power connected, which seemed a little more difficult still once the pins had started become loose. Looks like Im going to have to try a new molex cable and hope the connectors are easier......

Should I be returning this unit for a replacement? It does seem like the power connector was very flimsy and with little effort became an issue. :/

Is this 100% the only issue it could be? (if the fans were receiving power they would be spinning regardless of any other issues?)

thanks
 
I only spent a few minutes fiddling with my Recon on my electronics bench before fitting it to my case, but I do remember that without 5v the fans all ran at full speed, without 12v I had no fan movement. This behaviour is as expected if you analyse the circuit that Bitfenix have created to drive the fans.

Which end of the power lead did you get the issue though? The Molex peripheral connector or the PCB connector?
 
The molex end, (power sticker on), that plug into the PSU cable is the issue.

I tried another connector on the PSU cable before i came to work, i had to be very careful not to push two of the pins out and it still did no good. Fans aren't working anymore. :(


update: got home and tried another PSU/molex cable connected to the power connector fairly easily, but I still have no sign of life with the fans.

Looks like my only option is to strip the Recon back out and see if there is any obvious problem, though I doubt I'll find anything. Also means undoing all the cable management I did last night, sigh.

It'll teach me for messing about when it was all working, next time I'll just leave the mess, (can't see it in the Air540 anyway, dunno what the F I was thinking).
 
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Okay so...shhhhhh. Im not going to say this too loudly.

I seem to have fixed the issue...wait....wait....yep still okay. :rolleyes:

Looks like the flaky power connector was a red herring and it was indeed at the PCB end. (only reason I double checked that end instead of just pulling it altogether was that I was having trouble getting the front panel off the Air540!)

So basically moving the cables had pulled the connector a little. Had to push it twice. first time I had power and no control, but the second time I made sure and now I seem to be back up and running....wait....wait....still.

Thanks for your help, if you hadn't mentioned checking the PCB end I would never have looked, (as I thought they were hard wired for some reason).

As for cable management....F it all...graphics card should be here tomorrow, get that up and running put the back on and forget the mess. :D
 
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