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LED Fans - How do they work?

S

sn3ak3rp1mp

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 25, 2006
Messages
115
My buddy is modding his Chieftech case right now and he's buying a fan controller. But he's concerned about the fans being too dim if he dials the speed down.

When I was modding my own case, I took my Antec Blue LED fans out into the garage to clean them off with the air compressor. To my surprise, when I directed compressed air at the fan and it started to rotate, the LEDs lit up! Really bright, because I'm sure I was rotating the fan at a really high RPM (that's what 70+ PSI will do to a fan blade).

So do the LEDs just rely on the rotation of the fan hub and use some kind of resistence to power themselves? Is there any way he can seperate the fan and the LEDs to give the LEDs constant voltage whilst reducing the voltage to the fan to slow it down with the controller?

He's using the Tri-Cool LED fans, in case it makes any difference. Linky
 
Well, as you probably know power generators and motors are basically exactly the same thing. Since the LED's are powered off of the same 12v line as the fan, running the fan would, in a sense, generate electricity. I don't think you can seperate the LED's from the motor of the fan, unless you use two different 12v lines...

That's cool though, I never knew that :). That's useful information! You know, if I'm ever lost in a forest with a white LED fan and an air compressor :p
 
the led fan that came with my thermaltake tsunami gets dimmer as i adjust the voltage down
 
I like it when my LEDs dim after lowering the voltage, it gives me a better idea of how fast they are running.
 
I suppose it depends on how bright he wants his led's.

In my experience, the led does dim, but it's not as perceptible as say, the drop in the noise that the fan makes. You could do some soldering and power the LED's with a seperate 12v source, but imo it's just not worth it. They won't shut all the way off or get so dim that you can't see them well unless his controller goes all the way to 0v which most do not.
 
Thanks for the replies.

We unboxed the controller he bought and it was DOA. He overpaid anyway and I told him to take it back, IMO it was a good thing it was dead. So he ended up skipping the controller, and adding a 9" LED bar we found at Meijer in the riceboy automotive isle. I have one (blue) in my case.

So he's got a nice XMetals red finish with gloss white interior, and red lighting. It came out sweet. He did an interesting +12VDC power bus also. I'm trying to get pics out of him.
 
Yes, they may dim a little at lowest settings, but caring is a little "too fast, too furious" for me. Add a dozen cold cathodes, put it in your bedrooom window and people will think you're running a strip club if that's what he wants. It's easier to come up with a name to make it sound cool. "temperature sensitive lighting" FTW. It really does not dim that much at 70% power and so on.
 
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