How do you "double up" fans on a fan controller?

[coolpurplefan]

http://www.virtual-hideout.net...controller/index.shtml

There's an example of a fan controller I'm considering getting. But, there are 3 knobs and I have five fans I want to control with it. Actually, that would be four 80mm Coolermaster case fans and one fan on the Zalman 7000 ALCu LED. Do you need some kind of adapter to put 2 fans on one connector?

By the way, does anyone know what would happen if your computer controls the speed of the CPU fan? Does the fan controller override it?

 

[Rike]

Just use a "y adapter" like this one or just splice the red and black leads of the two fans together. The only thing you need to be careful of is not to exceed the total amps per channel on the fan controller. If you're running two fans on one channel, with those five fans, I'd say you will have no problems.

Thermaltake says the control will do up to 1.5 amps total, so you'd have no problem even if each of those fans was pulling .3 amps each. They are more likely to be in the .15 -.2 amp range.

Your computer will only control your CPU fan if you have that fan plugged into the motherboard. When you plug the CPU fan into the fan controller, that becomes your point of control. BTW, to save yourself a unpleasant but harmless surprise, before you install the fan controller, go into your BIOS and turn off any motherboard alarms for low or no rotation on the CPU fan. You also might want to uninstall or adjust any software you might have been using to control the CPU fan.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I had thought that the choice of fans run in parallel from a controller pinout is an important consideration. Ideally, I'd think you'd want both fans to be rated at the same amperage and wattage, or that they should be the same size and model.

While I use that as a rule of thumb, it may not really make a difference. I'd think the most significant factor is the wattage limit on the controller pinouts, and the wattage total consumed by the fans.

 

[coolpurplefan]

If I want to put a fan controller inside a Silverstone LC20 which has a little door in the front that drops down, is it possible to install the fan controller "pushed in" so that the door can still close? I mean, there are four big knobs there and I think I'd need to push in the fan controller.

EDIT: I've narrowed down my research between the Zalman model and the VANTEC NXP 301. But, I'm leaning towards the Vantec because they can go to real low on the fan speed. I would not go with the Thermaltake linked above because there are many bad comments on it on newegg.

ANOTHER EDIT: I just ordered the Vantec NXP 301 along with two 3 pin Y adapters. I'll be able to control 4 fans with two buttons and the CPU with the third button. The cold cathod lighting thingy will go in my other computer that has a window. The Vantec seems to fit the bill since I read it goes inside a case that has a door. When I get the RAM for that second computer I'll post a mini review and maybe some photos.

 

[Zepper]

Bonzai,
. Yes, the ideal situation when paralleling fans on one connection is to parallel two fans of the same make and model so the rpms and CFM of both will be the same. But it really doesn't matter as long as the total load doesn't exceed the per channel rating - perhaps you want two fans' CFM to be at some fixed ratio to each other, you can calculate what the fan ratings would have to be to achieve the ratio you want and then parallel those two fans. Zalman HSFs come with a FanMate, so you really wouln't need to hook that to the external controller - though I could understand why you might want to.

CPF,
. As rike said, if your CPU fan is plugged into the fan controller, how could the mobo control it? However, you may want to know the speed of your fans. In that case, you will need to find a way to connect the speed sensor wire (often yellow but can be most any color) from the fan to a mobo connector. The easiest way to do that is to remove the contact for the wire from the 3-pin fan connector shell and put the contact into a separate connector shell (can also be gotten from jab-tech.com and others in many colors.) OTOH, you could get an Aerogate 3 (discontinued but can be fournd for under $25.00) which has no knobs (low profile) and reads the fan speeds too - digital LCD display. Only one of the paralleled fans' speed sensor wires should be connected - if both fans are the same make and model, the speed of both should be nearly the same. And yes, you can recess the controller if needed - depending on how drives are mounted in the LC-20 (screw slots rather than fixed-spacing holes would be better for flexible positioning.

.bh.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Yeah, I read that one of the Zalman models allows you to connect both to the motherboard and the fan controller. However, when I thought about that I decided the only thing I really need to see are the temperatures. And since this is for a backup system, I'll probably let the temps go up to 40'C or higher because I'd rather have the silence. I'll see how it goes.

Like I said, you might see me do a little report on the results.

 

[GeezerMan]

Good post. I have a similar question. I want to control two 92MM front fans on my antec solo case. I have several fan headers on the board to use, but only one that is free and controllable in the bios. Question: if I use the other fan headers that are not controllable in the bios, would a fan program like speedfan control it? and, I don't see a mention of the total amps allowed per each fan header in the manual, you guys think that two 92mm fans would be OK on one header? Thanks

 

[Zepper]

Generally if the fans are less than 0.5A (6Watts) total they should be OK on a mobo header.

.bh.