• 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.

Need fan controller solution for 2x4 fan set up

O

OldM3ta

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 6, 2004
Messages
1,150
Hey [H]er's...

I was hoping someone who stumbled along this email could help me out if they had a good suggestion.

I have a combination of 8 fans in my watercooled/aircooled system.

They are based off of these two fans:

Thermaltake 120mm Case Fan

tt120mm.jpg



# Max. Air Flow: 78CFM
# Fan Speed: 2000±10% RPM
# Fan Dimension: 125x125x25 mm
# Noise: 34dBa
# Rated Current: 0.22A(max)
# Power Input: 5.4W

and

Panaflo 80x25 Ultra High Speed - FBA08A12U
pf80mm.gif



80x80x25mm, 46.9 CFM @ 3450 RPM, 38.2 dBA, 3.24 watts, 270 mA


So I have four of the 120mms on the front of my case pushing and pulling through the radiator shroud....

and then I have three of the panaflos and one of the 120mms, moving air through the rest of my case.....

This has all added up to some serious noise.

I wanted to know what non-bay controller solution you might recommend for me to attach three of the 80mm panaflos and the one 120mm thermal take to, that could all be controller from one dial on the front of my PC?

Or if not, what is the best non-bay controller solution for four of the 120mm fans on just one dial, that I can mod into the front of my pc?

The reason I can't put another bay in, is because I am all out.

Thanks ahead for any responses.
 
The amps/watts don't seem to add up on the TT120's more like .45A each. If you don't mind losing 2V on your top end you can make a very simple control circuit that can handle up to 3A using a LM350 voltage regulator, a 2k Pot, a 240 - 1000 ohm 1/4 watt resistor and a couple of capacitors the biggest issue is with that kind of load you'll need to mount the regulator to a Heatsink.
 
I guess I never have made a circuit like that before. I have soldering tools and some experience with soldering, but putting together a circuit network like that may be tough. Any good links for beginners? Or places I can go to pay for a custom solution? Or how about a current device that may be able to handle the load, where I can disassemble it, and custom fit it to the front of my case or something...?
 
MeTaSpARKs said:
I guess I never have made a circuit like that before. I have soldering tools and some experience with soldering, but putting together a circuit network like that may be tough. Any good links for beginners? Or places I can go to pay for a custom solution? Or how about a current device that may be able to handle the load, where I can disassemble it, and custom fit it to the front of my case or something...?
Click to expand...

I can point you to a schematic of the circuit here . The "typical" application (figure 13) is what you would be doing. I used a resistor with value of 240ohms for R1 and put an additional 360 ohm resistor between R2 and ADJ (between junction with R1 and R2); that should raise the minimum voltage from 1.2V to a bit over 3V. The 0.1 uf capacitor (CI) is ceramic and has no orientation. The 1.0 uf capacitor (C0) needs to be oriented with the bare metal end towards ground. A 2000 ohm pot (R2) should give you enough variance to go from 3 V to ~10V ( the remaining 2V are lost to power the circuit). Be careful when you mount the LM350 to a heatsink as it's case is also Vout ( insulate the HS from ground). If you want the the full 12v you can rig up an on-off-on DPDT switch and have one "on" bypass the circuit and the other "on" power the circuit. Add a bicolor LED to the mix and you'll know which on is on ;)

I suspect the powers that be would prefer this be placed in "electronics". Anyone who knows this stuff for real feel willing to correct any errors I may have made. Or point out a more efficient circuit.
 
what are the chances of you building me something like that and letting me buy it through ebay or something?
 
MeTaSpARKs said:
what are the chances of you building me something like that and letting me buy it through ebay or something?
Click to expand...

I really think you would be better off building it yourself it is a very simple circuit doesn't have to be mounted on a pcb and costs may $5 or $10 in parts. You have a custom application and trying to build something to fit a unknown space with second hand information could lead to disappointment :(
 
Well thanks for the response. I am going to look into it some more. Where do you recommend I buy the parts? Thanks for all your help.
 
I buy mine locally at a place called HSC (local to N. Calif. I think). I'm unfamiliar with online suppliers but a quick google for the various parts should quickly come up with suppliers Jamesons maybe? Your biggest issue will be finding a location in your case. you can mount the potentiometer, on-off-on switch and LED someplace exterior and accessible (2 or 3 square inches 3/4 to 1 inch deep should be plenty) and run 3 wires back to the heatsink/voltage regulator that can be mounted pretty much anywhere that can be isolated from ground. A old 486 HS will do fine.

I have a pretty complete parts list made up if you want to see it.
 
Unfortunately I don't think that will do for him. He needs 2 circuits that can handle 1.5 to 2 amps but NOT fit in a bay. That's the difficulty
 
how about a big honkin rheostat? it'll prolly need a heatsink on it, but that is the simple solution and it could handle the load too.
 
Ctrl_Alt_Delete said:
how about a big honkin rheostat? it'll prolly need a heatsink on it, but that is the simple solution and it could handle the load too.
Click to expand...

yeah that will work but they are touchy to calibrate and expensive at the low ohm high watts he needs.
maybe try and find a 6 ohm 25 watt, even a 10 ohm 25 watt though those seems to bottom out at a fairy high rpm even near its max wattage.
 
why not just make a switch that does a 12v/7v toggle, or 7v/5v if you want...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top