Antec True550w psu - Fan Only vs. "Normal" plugs???

[OatMan]

I searched and didn't see this anywhere so..

I have accidentally discovered that my case fans spin much slower in the "Fan Only" Power plugs, than on the "Normal" device power plugs. Is this supposed to be the case? I had the idea that "fan only" would be different in terms of draw, not the actual power supplied to the device or does that not make sense.

Anyway I accidentally plugged my CPU fan in to an extra normal power plug rather than the "Fan Only" I had been using and I noticed that it was much noisier, I checked and sure enough the output is higher and my temps have dropped. All of my case fans have similarly responded, and the difference is substantial.

Have others noticed/experienced this?
I would like to skip the "Fan Only" connectors all together, but don't have enough "normal Plugs" My Case fans all have a male and female connector so I can daisy chain. Is it safe to daisy chain multiple case fans off of a Power connector? How many would be safe on one power plug?
I have a low RPM 92mm CPU fan putting out about 50cfm and 3 Panaflo H1A 80mm 39cfm fans.

my rig:
antec True550w Thermaltake SLK-900A w SVC 92mm 50cfm fan
3x Panaflo H1A 39cfm 80mm case fans (1 antec 80mm case fan currently not connected - its whatever comes with the performancePlus cases)
AXP1700+DLT3C(1.5v default) @ 200x11 and 1.65v
2x512MB Mushkin PC3500 dual pack level one running at default voltage
DFI Lanparty NF2 Ultra version A
Seagate 120GB 8MB cache
Maxtor 80GB 8MBcache
Lite-On CDRW (I'll be adding a DVD burner soon, so I'll have even more draw)
Hercules 3D Prophet 128MB radeon 8500

Thanks! and I wasn't sure which forum, so let me know if this should be in general hardware...

 

[Corporate Thug]

the fan only connectors feed less power to the fans which make them operate at a lower RPM, it is supposed to be that way

 

[Dman877]

Fan only connectors supply power from 5v to 12v depending on the load on the psu. The fan only connectors run at 5v up to a 100 watt load and then start increasing the voltage. My fans on the fan only connector never increase audibly and I like it that way. You shouldn't connect the cpu fan to the fan only connector according to Antec anyway.

 

[psiu]

According to the manual only 3 fans should run off the fan-only jobbies. Plug the CPU fan into a regular plug if you have to, although the mobo itself migh be preferred...

 

[OatMan]

Thanks! I'm not going to use any of the Fan only connectors. I have two fans on one plug and the CPU fan on another by itself.

Thanks! I guess I shouldn't throw out my manuals so fast.

 

[orion7144]

I am not a fan of the "Fan only" connector. I was downstairs and heard this weird beeping noise coming from my computer room (Luckily I had Abit's hardware monitor running at the time). As soon as I walked in I could smell something burning. I noticed that the fans in the case and the ones in the PSU were not spinning. I started freaking out since I did not need to be buying another 550 TC pwr supply. I started unplugging the case fans and sure enough as soon as I did the pwr supply fans started up again. The CPU was so hot I could not touch it so I shut it down for a few minutes. Turns out one of my case fans had gone bad and I guess it was shorting out the "Fan only" header.

If I would have not had the HW monitor running and been home at the time (Just installed water cooling) I would have lost a PSU and who knows what else.