Case fan splitters/adapters

TryHardSpree · February 9, 2020

Hello there, I have a question regarding case fans certain compatibility with various adapters.

You see, I have four 3-pin case fans connected to the motherboards 4-pin ones. They all work without any problems and I hope it stays like that.

But unlucky me one fan turned out to be particularly louder than others. Looking at the BIOS, it turns out it is working full speed.

I realized I had put it on the place where the Water pump was supposed to go. Looking later at the motherboard, I realized I couldn't put it anywhere else.

After researching solution for my problem I found various adapters for case fans, but mostly 4-pin ones who would connect two fans into one.

So my question is this: Can you use 4-pin adapters / splitters to connect (two) 3-pin fans into one?

Also I saw variations which use MOLEX cable, but I'll use it as a last resort...

Constantin · February 9, 2020

5 minutes ago, TryHardSpree said:

So my question is this: Can you use 4-pin adapters / splitters to connect (two) 3-pin fans into one?

Yes you can, not more than 3 i think though

TryHardSpree · February 9, 2020

Hope you're right, the noise this fan makes is starting to become annoying

Kc7vwc · February 10, 2020

Water pump headers are usually set to operate at 100%. Since the flow rate doesn't need to be variable, it's just go at full voltage & use fan control for temps.
I use one of these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IF6R4C8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for any system that doesn't have enough headers for each fan. It gets power from a SATA connection, so you can max out the adapter without worrying about over-drawing the header.
And as long as there's a fan on header #1 on it, you'll get the RPM readings from it.