Tutorial: Adding multiple LEDs to a basic case fan.

KiiYzOo said:
I meant to say rgb :p
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Ah now it makes sense.

No mate I didn't get around to it in the end. Controlling RGB LEDs in a good way is quite cumbersome with basic electronics and takes a fair bit of room with all the 555s and transistors.

I did think of cheating and use a RGB controller that I got with a LED strip that could have done the job nicely but it still would have meant at least 4 wires per LED and I just couldn't find 3mm RGB LEDs.

Still I do think that this project is something I may look at in more depth when it gets a bit warmer. Maybe something based around automatic RGB LEDs which change colour at predetermined rates. Might look nice. Or a triple 555 circuit perhaps or similar through a CD4010 hex schmitt trigger I was looking at that would cycle through PWM duty cycles automatically for me. All LEDs would change at the same time. Even more awesome would be if each LED changed colour at different times in a circle, like my madness project. That would be totally awesome but hard to achieve without a good few components.

I did put RGB LEDs in my keyboard though to replace the Orange LEDs I'd put in there (was originally blue LED).

Thanks for reminding me though. I've been looking for some sort of electronics project to go along with an improved audio amplifier I'm going to build in the Spring.
 
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I have some rgb led fans other than the big 230mm fan in my skelly, they're 120mm xclio fans, they're pretty cool, but the fact that they have to be used with a pci cover fan controller thing annoys me

edit - actually, if I can find them I'll post some pics :)
 
Hi mr Teal'c,

followed your guide carefully and this is what i came up with:
akasayello.jpg


some of the leds are out of shape but its not bad for a first attempt. this will be in a push/pull configuration with a shinobi xl case thats why the leds are facing upward. Anyhow is it normal for circuit to be slightly warm? oh and leds lookj sort of orange (they are yellow to match fan) in daylight is that cause of the resistors? (100 ohm's i think)
 
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bmorgan98 said:
some of the leds are out of shape but its not bad for a first attempt.
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If I may be a little critical here you've not lined up one of the LEDs correctly. The top left one seems to be out of position is relation to the rest. I like how you've lined them up with the fan frame but that top left one seems like it should be a bit more to the clockwise.

this will be in a push/pull configuration with a shinobi xl case thats why the leds are facing upward.
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It's harder on the other side of the fan because the blades are slightly offset. Never tried one on that side to be honest.

Have you got them pointing at the fan blades at all? It almost looks like you've got them pointing right out of the fan into the airstream.

Just had a look back at my original images and even without special orientation the LED effect falling on the blades is pretty nice on the other side of the fan, especially at night.
night4.jpg



Anyhow is it normal for circuit to be slightly warm?
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The resistors do get a little warm as they have to dump 0.1W of energy as heat, this is of course assuming you have 4 LEDs per resistor like my original schematic.

The LEDs themselves only get slightly warm. If they are hot then you might be running too much current through them.

oh and leds lookj sort of orange (they are yellow to match fan) in daylight is that cause of the resistors? (100 ohm's i think)
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Some Yellow LEDs do appear slightly orange. Quite often they are described as yellow-amber because the wavelengths are quite similar. I bought a LED strip that was supposed to be orange and it turned out yellow/amber.

Good job though. It's not for the faint of heart these LED fan mods. Bet it'll look great in the dark. :)
 
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Tealc said:
Have you got them pointing at the fan blades at all? It almost looks like you've got them pointing right out of the fan into the airstream.
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The goal was to have them facing upwards to shine out through the top mesh of the case and while it is a nice effect i think you are right in that i should have pointed them at the blades, but i got worried the tip of the bulbs would hit the blades they actually did hit the blades on a cheap 12cm fan that i experimented on.
 
It can get a bit tricky to keep the led lens away from the fan. What I did to help this was angle the LED legs slightly so the LED sat naturally away from the fan blades and just used the hot glue to tweak the position and make sure It remains clear.
 
It's been a while since Bitfenix were kind enough to send me some Spectre white fans for review and I had been meaning to mod them with some LEDs since getitng them.


spectre1.jpg


Well I finally got around to it, or at least the first one, yesterday.

So basically the same thing but I used 2 x 330 ohm resistors instead of 100 ohm as I was allowing too much current through the LEDs before.

So much neater than some of the other ones.

wiring.jpg


Added a bit of orange ribbon to the edge rather than black tape.

16LEDBitfenix2.jpg


16LEDBitfenix.jpg


I like the way the orange absorbs more light at the edges.
P1040364.jpg


And a comparison against a Xilence fan.

Comparison-1.jpg


I decided this time to go with straight mounted LEDs rather than angling them a bit as before. I'm undecided which I prefer. Light penetration to the centre is reduced on the Bitfenix due to the quantity and shape of the fan blades. The colour of the LEDs is now more Orange as they are now nearer the 20mA suggested current.

And a short video.

 
I've just started modding mine today.

I'm using a OcUK Tech Lab branded Zaward Golf G3 with blue LEDs. I'll update this when I've finished.

So far I've done one side and it's taken me 2 hrs, well not quite as some of that time was getting my tools etc together. :)
 
I remember my first was a slow job too. It didn't help that I kept putting the occasional led in backwards. I learnt that before glueing up I should give the LEDs a quick 12v test to make sure.

I can do one roughly now in around an hour and a bit, and that's with my unsteady hands. Tidy takes a bit longer though.

It gets easier mate ;)

Still need to do my spectres. Should get round to it but I keep messing with the PWM converter trying to improve it yet further.
 
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