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Case Fan Tester

A

antecuser

n00b
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
34
So I was trying to get my computer case as quiet as possible the other day. I did not have a means of operating a single case fan or CPU fan without turning on the whole system.

Does anyone know if there is a case/cpu fan tester module that plugs into a standard wall outlet that lets me run a single fan. I want this module to be capable of running all fans: molex, 2-pin, 3-pin, 4-pin.

If this does not exist, is there a need for such a fan tester module? I am a computer engineer and can easily make an embedded device capable of doing this. Here are the different test modes that I am thinking for this module.

Molex: both 12v and 5v fans
2-pin: both 5v and 12v fans
3-pin: supply 12v - 3v via changable resistor. use small lcd to display rpm information
4-pin: supply 12v and use embedded device to supply pwm signal. use same logic above to display rpm information on lcd.

Does anyone see a need for this? This could really help small boutiques and silent computer enthusiasts alike to pin pointing and removing/modifing loud fans in their systems. If this has alot of support, I could make this a marketable/commercial product.
 
I know that, but if a system is already wired, that means you have to unplug everything just to test that single fan. I just want to test that single fan without unwiring everything.

Also, I cannot adjust between all those voltages and settings as well by keeping everything plugged into the MB. This way, I can test to see if changing a 12V to 5V will lower noise while keeping airflow up.

I think this is starting to sound more and more like a good idea. Im planning to work on it this week.
 
Cheap adjustable voltage power supply and two pieces of wire would do.
 
I use an elcheapo 250W PSU that I got for like 10 bucks from newegg, works great. Good thing to look for when doing fan testing is a fanless PSU. The great thing about a spare PSU is that you can test anything, not just fans.
 
I test fans all the time w/ my little 2A adjustable DC power supply...outside of case though.

Which sucks, because fan running in the open on your desk != fan cavitating and generating turbulence with a grill in front of it and drives behind it. Now I just leave the fans mounted where they will be in case, and power 'em up one by one off the power supply (it has banana jacks - I attached a female and male Molex to it for testing).

Only flaw with my PSU is that it isn't truly adjustable - its either 3, 4, 6, 7.5, 9 or 12 volts. Still a good way to estimate fan noise at certain volts, and when you factor in resistor tolerances, not too bad.

*EDIT* I re-read OP - yes it would be nice to have something like that, with say a 10W pot on it (for the stupid high CFM fans that are like 0.7A @ 12V, 8.4W easy), and a little PIC to calculate voltage dividers for me. Only thing is though...seems like it's a solution to a one-time problem - I only had to calculate and experiment once with my SFF21Fs, and after I got the right combo for one fan (resistance + voltage), I could just duplicate for all others.

Essentially even, once you got in all the power consumption data for common available fans, a perl script would chunk out gobs of tables in a few milliseconds.

*EDIT 2* In its simplest form, a 12V wall-wart capable of say 2A fed to a little PCB containing headers in question. Then possibly add a large potentiometer (in sense of wattage), and a micro + LCD to display RPM (when applicable) and the current resistance/voltage from the micro's A2D inputs. Which is what you just designed I think :)
 
This module was never designed to create voltage dividers or calculate anything. This module is designed to operate fans singally to detect where the most noise is coming from in the system.

The secondary function is to also adjust those loud fans down to a lower level to see where noise is no loner noticeable.

However, most people only have either 12V or 5V options when controller fans, where 12V could be too high and 5V could be too low as far as CFM. So in essense, my module's 2nd purpose is to find out the correct voltage required to run at that exact speed. Then from there, the user can figure out any resistors needed to get the same voltage settings.

I think my design will now allow adjustable voltage settings on all fan outputs (12V to 0V) and show relevant RPM information for both 3-pin and 4-pin configurations. It would be wise to keep the 4-pin connector at 12V, and adjust that type of fan only by PWM output from pic.

Here is what I am thinking for as a simple design.

fantesterwn6.jpg
 
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