• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

HELP! Light & Cold-Cathode Problems

G

guzmanistan

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
92
I bought one of those Zalman multi fan speed controllers for my computer. I have 4 fans(with leds) and 4 lights through 2 inverters connected to it. I had been testing just that setup on a simple PSU and everything worked just fine. It all worked beautifully together when everything was on full and the lights were on. THEN...I plug all that stuff into my case and put the computer power supply (OCZ 450W), and it stops working!!! The fans only run on lowest power and when I turn then up, the LEDS die out and then they stop working. The lights don't go on now. I'm running an AMD64 3400, ATI 9800XT, 2 cd drives, and 1 SATA HD. What the hell's the problem? PSU?

I'd greatly appreciate any respose. THANKS.
 
Check the 2 HI-OFF-LO switches and make sure you have the black wires in the "-" spots, and the red wires in the "+" spots.
 
yup they're in there right. though....even with the lights off....the fans still act wierd. The LEDs on the panel flicker even at the lowest speed. Then, turning the dial up, the LEDs on the fan die out, then the fan stops turning.
 
Sounds like your over taxing your PSU. You sure you're under the rated output level?
 
i haven't a clue if im under the level. I thought I would've just been fine with the 450. Anyone have any idea if its enough? Should I get one with like...520 or something?
 
guzmanistan said:
i haven't a clue if im under the level. I thought I would've just been fine with the 450. Anyone have any idea if its enough? Should I get one with like...520 or something?
Click to expand...
add it up ;)

AGP video card - 20-30W
PCI video card - 20W
AMD Athlon 900MHz-1.1GHz - 50W
AMD Athlon 1.2MHz-1.4GHz - 55-65W
Intel Pentium III 800MHz-1.26GHz - 30W
Intel Pentium 4 1.4GHz-1.7GHz - 65W
Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz-2.0GHz - 75W
Intel Celeron 700MHz-900MHz - 25W
Intel Celeron 1.0GHz-1.1GHz - 35W
ATX Motherboard - 30W-40W
128MB RAM - 10W
256MB RAM - 20W
12X or higher IDE CD-RW Drive - 25W
32X or higher IDE CD-ROM Drive - 20W
10x or higher IDE DVD-ROM Drive - 20W
SCSI CD-RW Drive - 17W
SCSI CD-ROM Drive - 12W
5400RPM IDE Hard Drive - 10W
7200RPM IDE Hard Drive - 13W
7200RPM SCSI Hard Drive - 24W
10000RPM SCSI Hard Drive - 30W
Floppy Drive - 5W
Network Card - 4W
Modem - 5W
Sound Card - 5W
SCSI Controller Card - 20W
Firewire/USB Controller Card - 10W
Case Fan - 3W
CPU Fan - 3W
 
Thanks a lot Mattweb for putting that all there. I put it all together...exaggerated a bit, and I've still got 100W to play around with. Is that enough for 4 CCFLs?
 
guzmanistan said:
Thanks a lot Mattweb for putting that all there. I put it all together...exaggerated a bit, and I've still got 100W to play around with. Is that enough for 4 CCFLs?
Click to expand...
<----n00b

:D

not sure. wait for someone with more experiance to answer that. i would assume so but then again.........n00b. :(
 
haha same here

its so damn frustrating. I spend yesterday sleeving and stuff and i put it all in and it doesn't work.
 
guzmanistan said:
haha same here

its so damn frustrating. I spend yesterday sleeving and stuff and i put it all in and it doesn't work.
Click to expand...
Upon re-reading your post

Cathode tube lights draw a lot of power, that could be the culprit. How much exactly?

no idea.
 
I have a system here with 4 fans and 2 dual-tube cathodes, and hooked up to the Zalman controller.

disconnect EVERYTHING from the controller, connect your CPU fan directly to the motherboard (so you can power up safely), then connect each fan, one at a time, to the controller and see how it acts. If it works fan with each fan, try connecting 2 fans at a time, and see what happens. If it works fine with all 4 fans, then connect 1 CCFL at a time.

Process of elimination.
 
WOW...you know what...I should've thought of that. I was so pissed I was just about to put another PSU in my case to run all that stuff. Good idea and I will do that thanks.

Now after I do that...
IF I figure out the fans run fine, but the lights don't, what do you suggest the problem is? My PSU? Or could it be something else?
 
Once you narrow it down, we'll decide what to do.

For now, you need to find out if it is a fan or a CCFL causing the problem.
 
alright...back at home

I've plugged just the power from PSU in and one fan...and the fan still shows the same problems.
:. Is it a PSU problem? Need a more powerful one?

Basically...I've got 2 Vantec 80mm fans with UV leds in them. Another one is a Vantec Stealth. Now I've plugged the controller into a separate PSU, and they seem to work fine, but the led on the controller for the Stealth at its lowest speed is pulsating. Is that a problem with the controller then?
 
Plug all the fans in without the controller. If they spin up full speed, then it is definitely not your power supply since the controller takes very little (if any) power to run.
 
sounds like a short somewhere... check all your wiring, and remove one component at a time until you find the one which is causing the problem.
 
Not to put everyone off...but thanks for all your help. I'll take another good look at the cablage over the weekend. Hopefully its something easy and I just pulled a stupid.
 
Try this, remove the 2 CCFL and boot up ur puter with 4 led fans connected. If it did boot up fine then remove 4 led fans and conncet both CCFL and boot up again. If it did work again then possible not enuf sufficent power to ur system while using 4 fans and 2 CCFL.

Note: Zalman fanmate limit the power from w/e it come out of the psu. Try to remove this while using all 4 fans and 2 CCFL altogether. Hope this will help a lot.

In my opinion, 450 watts is nearly enough for ur system.

Edit: I think u need to separate the wiring like this:
First Moltex connector ---> Hard Drive, Video card
Second Moltex connector ---> Cpu fan, CD/DVD-ROM drive, 4 led fans
Third Moltex connector ---> 2 CCFL
PSU and 12 V rail connector ---> Mobo (obviously)
 
thanks everyone for all their help, i disconnected everything and wired it all back together today. I turn it on, and it works beuaitfully. 3 fans and 4 ccfl's. I guess I must've done something and picked up on it this time. Sorry if I wasted all your time
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top