Multiplying 4-pin Molex connectors -- how much is safe?

[WhipperSnapper]

My Fortron 550W EPI-SLI power supply is great but it only came with 5 or 6 four pin molex connectors.

How much can I multiply them with molex splitters? I mean, I assume it's safe to split them into two (for 10 or 12), but what if I want or need more than that?

With my CPU upgrade I'm thinking about putting a fan (blowing out) on the back of my HSF and I'd probably need to split one of the molex plugs--possibly one that's already split, or use a pass-through connection. Any problems if the split or pass-through connection is on the molex plug that powers an IDE hard drive? Can I feel free to split molex plugs at will?

 

[Jhhnn]

The issues are mostly in making sure that the crimps and socket to pin connections are tight, and not to overload any of the wiring. Some psu's have 18 gauge wire, generally rated for 8 amps, some have 20 gauge, rated for less. So there's not much of an issue when you're talking about low current devices like fans.

It's probably not smart to daisy chain splitters one after the other simply because any connection introduces some resistance, even if it's very small. I'd limit myself to splitting each of the original molexes only once... maybe twice, if there are only very wimpy fans on the end of the chain...

Merely one guy's opinion.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

yea i'd only split each 4pin molex once (for something like a dvd drive or fan controller, maybe twice if it was for fans only.

 

[Jaxidian]

Another thing to keep in mind is to not offbalance the load to a single set of wires (you know how one set of wires my have 3 4-pin molexes on it?). So let's say you take away from this conversation that it's probably okay to split it once and still go to a hard drive (I'd say it could be but not always - yeah, I know, that's not very helpful ) - even with that assumption, you shouldn't split your 3 molexes into 6 and plug 6 hard drives on that singe strand of wire - you wll almost definitely have problems. Try to balance your splitting over every set of wires that comes out (quite a few different reasons for this and in some rare cases it may not make a difference but I'd say with 90% of modern PSUs it will).



-Jax