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Shallow 3.5" fanbus

beatle

beatle

Diamond Member
I have a 6 port fanbus from FrozenCPU for my main rig and it's great. I now have a Coolermaster Cavalier for my HTPC that I'd like to add a fanbus to. Unfortunately, ths switches for this fanbus are about 1/8" too long to fit behind the door. I remember PC Mods selling a fanbus (3.5" I believe) with some low profile switches like these but with 3 positions for 12v, 7v and 0v. Since FrozenCPU bought PC Mods, they have discontinued this fanbus and only offer the industrial type switches now.

Knowning my luck, an attempt to mod it myself would turn into a disaster. Does anyone have a source for a low profile fanbus? I don't like rheostats as they can sometimes cause fans to click, or click themselves. 3 switches would be plenty, and if it fit in a 3.5" bay, that'd be a bonus.
 
Can you measure how far the knobs protrude from the panel? The fact that you can turn them off is also a requirement. 🙂
 
With the included knobs, which i dont really like, it sticks out about 1.6cm...Without the knobs, it sticks out about 1.1 cm.

I know you can find better dials at parts express, i just havent really looked for them.

One of the fall backs of this unit is it does not take the fan connectors (the plastic pins). You have to strip the wires and then there is a spot to place them where you can screw them tight. Its not that big of a concern, but it gets annoying if you like to mess them alot.

One thing you might want to look into is an item called a t-balancer. It is a fan controlling system that has software that you can control them with or it does everything automatically, such as it only turns on the fans when the temps go up. Here is a google link to several pages about it. .mCubed t balancer

If i were building a htpc, this is what i would use. People on the sage tv forums say it made their machine dead quiet.
 
I actually have less than 1.6cm (5/8") to play with. The door when closed provides 5/8" of clearance, but to open it, you need to press in a slight bit. If I'm right on the threshold, it could make opening the door problematic.

The T-balancer looks really slick, but $80 is a boatload. I'd sooner put the money into a beefier heatsink. Stripping the wires is actually nicer, as all of my fans are Panaflos. 🙂
 
If you dont use the metal dials (knobs) that come with the controller, it should fit fine. If not, you could shave off the plastic with a dremel till it fit. Btw, which case are you using?
 
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