Antec 900 Case Fans - Speed Control Mod Info Needed

[Hop]

I thought about this project when I bought this case, the Antec 900, because I KNEW I wouldn't be happy with manually flipping a switch dangling off a cable to change a single fan's speed. Not only that, some of the wiring isn't long enough to extend out the back of the case via the water cooling ports.

So I took apart one of the switches to see how the fan speed control was done, and didn't see any resistors, etc. It must be done inside the fan.

I'm all good with that, but not knowing the voltages that go through all those wires into the switch, I'm not sure if the NPN transistors I want to use to do that switching are adequate.

And I looked all over google for info on the Antec TriCool 3 speed 120mm fan, and found nothing about that info, so I'm asking for that here.

For one thing, I have different modes of operation on my new machine that I'd like to set the fans to. Noise is the driving reason for this. It stays on 24/7, because I access it a lot from my laptop, and at night, when I'm not gaming, it can be quiet. That would mean profiling the speeds of all the fans based on the cooling needs, and manually switching all the fans (forget the fact I have to open the case to change fan speeds on those fans that can't have their switch extend outside the case) manually, daily. That is not acceptable.

So I want to control those fan speeds, low, med, or high, via a micro controller, but I need info on those switches to replace them with a solid-state solution. If I could do that, the rest is easy for me.

If anyone has done this or has info I can use, I'd be so appreciative of your input!

Thanks for your time!

Hop.

 

[Zepper]

Just set all your fans to high and hook them to a standard fan controller like the Sunbeam Rheobus. Pretty inespensive at jab-tech.com. The Rheo doesn't come with fan extensions, so order some along with. The Rheo has standard 3-pin male fan headers and can handle up to 18W per channel.

.bh.

 

[Hop]

I'm leaning towards that, but I'd have to mod my blue LED fans to work with that idea, since the lights and fan pull power from the same connector. I've read through a few threads on this, and I'm not prepared to alter my fans in this fashion, so I would rather have the switch method.

And if I use a micro controller, I can set it up to where I can press a button and have all the fans change based on a profile. I'm sure there are controllers out there that do that, but if I build around a micro controller, I can add the indicators I want, alter the program if needed, etc.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Why don't you just splice/solder some extentions onto your existing switches and bring them all to the front or top of the case? it means manual adjusting but, it alteast puts them in reach. If you want a controller you can set up have you looked at the Sunbeam Theta? If you want to do some custom programming you shouldn't have a problem modifying the existing program or creating one with the info you could get from the existing program. It's competely internal except for a USB data cable and can control up to 8 fans either by manual speed settings or thermally. I have one and it works really well.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Hop


I'm all good with that, but not knowing the voltages that go through all those wires into the switch, I'm not sure if the NPN transistors I want to use to do that switching are adequate.

Hop.

I've already done this, but a bit more elaborate than that.
I have a pic micro controlling fans, monitoring temps, voltages.

For variable control almost any transistor will work.
I went with to-220 type because they can handle the current best.
http://www.allelectronics.com/...O-220_TRANSISTOR_.html

Those are the ones I used. They can switch any fan out there and then some.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I've already done this, but a bit more elaborate than that.
I have a pic micro controlling fans, monitoring temps, voltages.

For variable control almost any transistor will work.
I went with to-220 type because they can handle the current best.
http://www.allelectronics.com/...O-220_TRANSISTOR_.html

Those are the ones I used. They can switch any fan out there and then some.

Thank you. I'll grab a few of those, and use a few NPN's I have on my bench that are the smaller type, after I check the voltages going through that switch. I'm just going to take it apart and reverse engineer it a little, and make a schematic. What PIC do you use? I'm using the 18F4550 for it's ability to use a USB boot loader to communicate via USB.

And thanks DerwenArtos12 for the controller recommendation. I'll research that as a backup. I've noticed that there are a lot of LCD modules out there now that won't break my bank, so I'm going after building my own.

Getting it all together in a nice 5 1/4" panel is the thing that worries me a little, but I have a ways to go to even worry about that.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. =)

Hop

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
Why don't you just splice/solder some extentions onto your existing switches and bring them all to the front or top of the case? it means manual adjusting but, it alteast puts them in reach. If you want a controller you can set up have you looked at the Sunbeam Theta? If you want to do some custom programming you shouldn't have a problem modifying the existing program or creating one with the info you could get from the existing program. It's competely internal except for a USB data cable and can control up to 8 fans either by manual speed settings or thermally. I have one and it works really well.

That is one serious fan/light controller. I didn't know what was so special about what you recommended until I researched it. Nice idea, an addon card that does what I want, software controlled.

Couldn't find it on NewEgg though, and it has to be expensive. Nice to know that hardware is available, but I'm still gonna stick with trying to build my own simpler solution. A lot cheaper for me, and if I can't find a way to build a nice panel for it, I can still use my homemade software to control it via the USB.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Hop
What PIC do you use? I'm using the 18F4550 for it's ability to use a USB boot loader to communicate via USB.

I used a 30F3011.
Its a bit overkill for this, but I had one on hand and in the end I actually needed the dsp functions to do some current/voltage readings.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Sunbeam Theta at Jab-Tech for $25 plus shipping. It's the rev1.1 that can support up to 10W per channel too.

 

[Modelworks]

Looking at the theta I had to laugh.
They have the numbers on the micro scratched off.
I bet thats a pic, probably the 18f series.

where does the theta get its power ?
I can't tell from the front pic.
Is there a connector on the back ?

 

[DerwenArtos12]

There's a molex on the back side next to all the thermal probe 2 pin connections. Also of note is that every fan rail has a small pot so you can adjust the voltages to compensate for different fans. The only, ONLY thing I wish they'd have done differently with it was to not have teh piece to go into a PCI slot, the data connection is through an external USB connection and it is rather limiting in newer systems with just 1 or 2 pci slots.

 

[Modelworks]

Yeah the controller I built goes in a seperate box outside the pc.
I didn't really want anything else inside the pc case.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
There's a molex on the back side next to all the thermal probe 2 pin connections. Also of note is that every fan rail has a small pot so you can adjust the voltages to compensate for different fans. The only, ONLY thing I wish they'd have done differently with it was to not have teh piece to go into a PCI slot, the data connection is through an external USB connection and it is rather limiting in newer systems with just 1 or 2 pci slots.

Interesting. I figured since it went into a PCI slot that it would use that bus to communicate.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Hop

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
There's a molex on the back side next to all the thermal probe 2 pin connections. Also of note is that every fan rail has a small pot so you can adjust the voltages to compensate for different fans. The only, ONLY thing I wish they'd have done differently with it was to not have teh piece to go into a PCI slot, the data connection is through an external USB connection and it is rather limiting in newer systems with just 1 or 2 pci slots.

Interesting. I figured since it went into a PCI slot that it would use that bus to communicate.

Apparently according to the software techs over at Sunbeam USB is easier to program for. *shrug* I don't touch software, it gets too messy in there. I'll stick to burning steel, oil and rubber for fun.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Hop
What PIC do you use? I'm using the 18F4550 for it's ability to use a USB boot loader to communicate via USB.

I used a 30F3011.
Its a bit overkill for this, but I had one on hand and in the end I actually needed the dsp functions to do some current/voltage readings.

I'm interested in that MCU, but looking at the specs, I don't see USB support. How do you communicate with it? And I'm also interested in what you use to program it. I have a PICkit 2 with a developer board. Nice, I just noticed that the 30F3011 is on the list of supported devices. Having dsp support is a nice plus, and the 16 bit architecture. Thanks for sharing that device info! :thumbsup:

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Yeah the controller I built goes in a seperate box outside the pc.
I didn't really want anything else inside the pc case.

If I do a panel, I certainly have a slot available. But if not, I can mount it behind a blank panel in the 5 1/4" bays since I have a lot of room there. Also, thinking about the USB aspect... I guess I could use the 18f4550 to do the USB and interface it with the 30F3011 via SPI. Also very overkill, but the devices are cheap, and adds a lot of expandability should I want to use my machine to make coffee, levitate, or other ridiculous things I can think up.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: DerwenArtos12
Apparently according to the software techs over at Sunbeam USB is easier to program for. *shrug* I don't touch software, it gets too messy in there. I'll stick to burning steel, oil and rubber for fun.

Yeah, in Windows it certainly can get messy, which is why I'm finding it more and more appealing to do this stuff under Linux.

 

[Modelworks]

I use a serial interface for the programming (bootloader installed) and controlling it.
I went with serial because I didn't want to have to write a device driver for the usb to use it in windows. Instead it takes standard serial port text commands.

I can even interface with it in hyperterminal.
I set it up so when it receives "zxcvbnm" on the serial port it replies with:

Device ready:
-----------------------
1. setup
2. status
3. exit
?

If no reply in 120 seconds it goes back to whatever it was doing.

 

[Hop]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I use a serial interface for the programming (bootloader installed) and controlling it.
I went with serial because I didn't want to have to write a device driver for the usb to use it in windows. Instead it takes standard serial port text commands.

I can even interface with it in hyperterminal.
I set it up so when it receives "zxcvbnm" on the serial port it replies with:

Device ready:
-----------------------
1. setup
2. status
3. exit
?

If no reply in 120 seconds it goes back to whatever it was doing.

That's awesome! I didn't think about that at all, and I'm guessing you get enough bandwidth for whatever communications you need to do. I wanted USB because I want my device recognized from the BIOS, but seriously, who needs 12mbps, or even 40 (or is it 48 with usb 2.0?) mbps communications for this project?

EDIT: If I were to go the serial route, shouldn't be too hard to interface that way and still keep the connection internal in my case. I'm not certain, but I believe I have a serial port on my Abit IP35 Pro that a card spacer with connectors connects with. Also available is the Abit breakout connector. I have specs on that port, albeit proprietary.

 

[Modelworks]

With the standard serial port you can transfer at a rate of 10KByte /sec, that may not seem like much in the world of 10MByte connections, but open a 10KB text file and you can see thats a lot of data.

I only need voltages, fan rpms, temperatures, etc .
I bet I'm not using 2KB/sec

So I can send it a command like RRPM for read rpm
It comes back with
Frpm1 = 2750
Frpm2 = 2250


Or send it a command like Rvolt
3.3volt = 3.28
12volt = 12.23
5volt = 5.35

Of course you can set whatever commands you like, thats what makes it so powerful.
If you don't have a serial port you can pick up a cheap usb > serial port cable for 12-15.00.

Or you can still use usb. I just like the simplicity of the serial port, you got just a rx, tx, gnd , line going to the pic and no drivers to worry about.