Could the Antec Trupower 550 "Fan Only" connector power a Rheobus?

[BadOmen]

Howdy

I have an Antec Trupower Trio 550W, three case fans and probably by next week, my Sunbeam Rheobus will be arriving by mail.

My odd question: would I be able to plug a Fan Only connector from the PSU on the Rheobus to supply its power? This way, I would have the fans speed controlled by the PSU all the time, except when I decided to turn them all off.

Would that work, or the power supplied to the Rheobus wouldn't be enough?

It's a pretty crazy question, I know, but forums need theories every now and then.

Thanks

 

[AmberClad]

I think someone at HardOCP tried this with an Antec and had some issues due to the PSU not supplying enough power to start up the fan from a dead stop. From reading the thread, it depends on the type of fan.

We have an Antec rep here at the AT forums (AntecCSR, I think?), btw.

 

[BadOmen]

It seems that they were dealing with self-controlled fans. Yes, those don't work well when controlled by themselves AND the Antec psu. Mine are just simple fans, though.

But I got some interesting piece of information there. The guy says that, if the fan controller has the potentiometers open to full, a scenario like the one I intend to run should have no problem.

Although it's funny: could one Fan Only connector pump enough current to 3 fans plugged in a Rheobus? I remember from physics class, 300 years ago, that voltage is the same in all points, but what about current? That may be kinda short, don't you think?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I have the TP Trio 550 Version A2. DO NOT use the built-in fan control circuit. I don't have a schematic diagram of this PSU, but based on my visual inspection, this circuit is not very robust. Saw a lot of posts on NewEgg about dead fan or PSU going up in smoke. My guess is someone overloaded this circuit.

This is a very solid unit as long as you don't mess around with the fan control gizmo. Voltage regulation is top notch. There was no fluctuation in the +12VDC rail (meter shows 12.10) with 180 watts load! 80% efficiency starts around 115 watts. The unit holds the 80% efficiency level up to 440 watts output. Personally, I would rate this PSU as a 500 watter since the efficiency dipped below 78% above 500 watts.

 

[BadOmen]

So, you mean don't use the Fan Control at all? Not even plugged on simple fans?

Well, you know what? Makes sense, because I was using those connectors on my fans and had to RMA my first TP Trio after they died. One given day, the fans just stopped, and so did the one inside the PSU. But before that I had already noticed that the fans would never, ever go into Fast mode. It was like the case was drowned in eternal thermal niceness, although my northbridge heatsink was about to melt, and popping the side plate to do some work in the case would feel like opening the mouth of a dragon to treat cavities.

So it seems that I`ll really need to be responsible for the speed of my fans, right? No way to leave it to the psu. Is that correct?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: BadOmen
So, you mean don't use the Fan Control at all? Not even plugged on simple fans?

Well, you know what? Makes sense, because I was using those connectors on my fans and had to RMA my first TP Trio after they died. One given day, the fans just stopped, and so did the one inside the PSU. But before that I had already noticed that the fans would never, ever go into Fast mode. It was like the case was drowned in eternal thermal niceness, although my northbridge heatsink was about to melt, and popping the side plate to do some work in the case would feel like opening the mouth of a dragon to treat cavities.

So it seems that I`ll really need to be responsible for the speed of my fans, right? No way to leave it to the psu. Is that correct?

Yup...let the PSU manage the onboard 12VDC 120 x 25mm ADDA ball bearing fan (0.37A) by not connecting any other fan to this circuit. I wouldn't even connect the rpm sensor to the MB. This fan will increase rpm once the load on the PSU exceed 200 watts. The fan speed will top out at 2000rpm with more than 400watts load.

If you connect additional fan(s) to this circuit, then you may cause an overload on the output device. Also, the main 120mm PSU fan may not ramp up causing the PSU to overheat.

Finally, make sure that you have the A2 revision of this PSU. These units should come with 100% sleeved cables. I also see minor upgrade in heat sink. Dunno about electronics since I don't have access to the schematic diagram.

I paid $10 for the TP Trio 430 and $20 for the TP Trio 550. These are basically Seasonic PSUs with OST secondary caps and the external fan control circuit. Antec uses a faster ramp-up speed chart to keep the internal electronics cooler above 200 watts output. Below 200 watts, this PSU is as quiet as the best units from Corsair and Seasonic. Personally, I would prefer to see a higher fan speed at 150 watts. The noise from the GPU, CPU, and case fans will drown out any increase in sound pressure level from the PSU.