Changing fan connectors to RCA

[ghidu]

I have a few case fans and the mess is annoying. I tought to replace the molex from the fans to a RCA, make longer cables and connect them to something like a fanbus somewhere inside a 3.5" tray to hide all those cables.
Do you have a better way than RCA. I also considered using mono jacks, but I like how RCA looks.

 

[Heckler 5th]

RCA cables, as in the old composite connectors? (red and white for sound, yellow for video) never heard of fans using these wires nor of a fanbus with RCA connections. interesting. but something tells me you're not talking about cables...

 

[ghidu]

Originally posted by: Heckler 5th
RCA cables, as in the old composite connectors? (red and white for sound, yellow for video) never heard of fans using these wires nor of a fanbus with RCA connections. interesting. but something tells me you're not talking about cables...

I'm talking about the RCA jack (+ and -, 12V and ground)

 

[imported_rod]

I wouldn't use RCA. 3.5mm mono plugs/sockets are already on plenty of electrical power supplies, so they'de probably be a better choice. They're also smaller than RCA.

But technically, RCA should work fine.

Also, remember to have the outer wire as -ve/ground, and the inner wire as +ve/+12V, if you use shielded wire.

RoD

 

[Zepper]

RCA connectors aren't really designed for high current applications. So why not use standard 3-pin fan connectors (I use 3-pin connectors whether the fan is two or three wire as fan controllers, etc. all seem to use the three pin connectors for fans). Plenty of places like jab-tech.com have the 3-pin female shells and contacts. And it would be easy to whip up a small PCB to hook the fans to using just a row of header pins for the male connections.

.bh.

 

[ghidu]

Originally posted by: rod
I wouldn't use RCA. 3.5mm mono plugs/sockets are already on plenty of electrical power supplies, so they'de probably be a better choice. They're also smaller than RCA.

But technically, RCA should work fine.

Also, remember to have the outer wire as -ve/ground, and the inner wire as +ve/+12V, if you use shielded wire.

RoD

I guess I'll look for some mono/stereo (for 3 wires) jacks.

Originally posted by: Zepper
RCA connectors aren't really designed for high current applications. So why not use standard 3-pin fan connectors (I use 3-pin connectors whether the fan is two or three wire as fan controllers, etc. all seem to use the three pin connectors for fans). Plenty of places like jab-tech.com have the 3-pin female shells and contacts. And it would be easy to whip up a small PCB to hook the fans to using just a row of header pins for the male connections.

.bh.

I want to make something different and the guy at the electronics shop told me that there is no problem running some case fans through RCA.

 

[imported_rod]

RCA would be able to handle the current fine. High current is multiple amps. Fans usually only draw around 200mA, and very rarely draw more than 1A.

RoD