Question about Fan Speed Controllers: Silverstone SST-FM182 2-pin vs Silverstone FT05 3-pin

[seany tsunami]

Here's the situation:

1. Upgraded to RTX 3080 Strix
2. Doesn't fit in my Silverstone FT05 (at least with the stock AP181 fans)
3. Swapped out AP181's with slimmer FM182's
4. The FM182's have a 2-pin fan speed controller, which doesn't not play nice with the AP181 and FT05 3-pin fan controller
5. I'm not a fan of the included controller with the FM182's as they need to go in an expansion slot.

The FM182's have a 2-pin connector with red and black wires running to them, so I'm thinking the included controllers are just rotary potentiometers (but I don't have a multimeter to test).

The 3-pin on the FT05 has a red, black, and yellow wire and is controlled by a dip-switch (H/M/L).

 

I've tried using jumper wires to connect the FM182 2-pin to the FT05 3-pin. Here are the results:

• Black-black + red-red allows the fan to work when the FT05 controller is on high only.
• Black-black yellow-red allows the fan to work when the FT05 controller is on medium only.
• Black-black and (yellow-red shorted)-red allows me to use both medium and high (but with no change in fan speed). 
  • This is the only combination of shorted wires that works
• No combination of wires allows me to use the fan while the FT05 switch is on the low setting.
• Yellow-black and red-red and vice-versa do not work at all.
• Using the AP181 with the FM182 fan controller works when the FM182 fan controller is set to high only; this works for any combination of wire attachments.

 

Would any of you have any ideas on how I could hook up the 2-pin the 3-pin controller on my FT05? Or do any of you know how the FT05 fan controller configuration works? Thanks in advance.

 

[thrasher_565]

5 hours ago, seany tsunami said:

Here's the situation:

1. Upgraded to RTX 3080 Strix
2. Doesn't fit in my Silverstone FT05 (at least with the stock AP181 fans)
3. Swapped out AP181's with slimmer FM182's
4. The FM182's have a 2-pin fan speed controller, which doesn't not play nice with the AP181 and FT05 3-pin fan controller
5. I'm not a fan of the included controller with the FM182's as they need to go in an expansion slot.

The FM182's have a 2-pin connector with red and black wires running to them, so I'm thinking the included controllers are just rotary potentiometers (but I don't have a multimeter to test).

The 3-pin on the FT05 has a red, black, and yellow wire and is controlled by a dip-switch (H/M/L).

 

I've tried using jumper wires to connect the FM182 2-pin to the FT05 3-pin. Here are the results:

• Black-black + red-red allows the fan to work when the FT05 controller is on high only.
• Black-black yellow-red allows the fan to work when the FT05 controller is on medium only.
• Black-black and (yellow-red shorted)-red allows me to use both medium and high (but with no change in fan speed). 
  • This is the only combination of shorted wires that works
• No combination of wires allows me to use the fan while the FT05 switch is on the low setting.
• Yellow-black and red-red and vice-versa do not work at all.
• Using the AP181 with the FM182 fan controller works when the FM182 fan controller is set to high only; this works for any combination of wire attachments.

 

Would any of you have any ideas on how I could hook up the 2-pin the 3-pin controller on my FT05? Or do any of you know how the FT05 fan controller configuration works? Thanks in advance.

 

the FM182 2-pin probably need more voltage then what the low setting can give that's why it wont spin.

 

i would wire them up to molex 12v 7v 5v and off if you want thow it might not work with the 5v like you probably tested.

 

aqua computer has a controller as well that can do it all but its about $90

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by thrasher_565

[tdkid]

the FM182s only have red and black? so then they are making a complete circut in which they would run at 100%. it sounds like you need that controller because that controller would limit the voltage going to the fans and therefor control the speed of them. if you are needing slimmer fans might i suggest you return the FM182s and get the FW181s same size fan but can be controlled by the motherboard where the FM182s cant, according to the product page.

[seany tsunami]

16 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

the FM182 2-pin probably need more voltage then what the low setting can give that's why it wont spin.

 

i would wire them up to molex 12v 7v 5v and off if you want thow it might not work with the 5v like you probably tested.

 

aqua computer has a controller as well that can do it all but its about $90

 

 

 

 

 

16 hours ago, tdkid said:

the FM182s only have red and black? so then they are making a complete circut in which they would run at 100%. it sounds like you need that controller because that controller would limit the voltage going to the fans and therefor control the speed of them. if you are needing slimmer fans might i suggest you return the FM182s and get the FW181s same size fan but can be controlled by the motherboard where the FM182s cant, according to the product page.

Thanks for the replies, though I should have clarified: The fan controller pins on the AP181 and FM182 (3-pin and 2-pin respectively) supplement a typical 3-pin connector on each fan. Both fan controllers are passive, and the fans receive all the power they need from the motherboard headers. 

 

The FM182's spin and work fine, including receiving chopped dc to the 3-pin fan header from my motherboard to control speed. It's just that I'd like to have that extra functionality of being able to use the dip switches at the front of my case. 

 

I think I'm going to contact Silverstone about this. This is a super obscure question, and I doubt there's any documentation floating around the internet about this.

[thrasher_565]

17 minutes ago, seany tsunami said:

 

Thanks for the replies, though I should have clarified: The fan controller pins on the AP181 and FM182 (3-pin and 2-pin respectively) supplement a typical 3-pin connector on each fan. Both fan controllers are passive, and the fans receive all the power they need from the motherboard headers. 

 

The FM182's spin and work fine, including receiving chopped dc to the 3-pin fan header from my motherboard to control speed. It's just that I'd like to have that extra functionality of being able to use the dip switches at the front of my case. 

 

I think I'm going to contact Silverstone about this. This is a super obscure question, and I doubt there's any documentation floating around the internet about this.

so if i got this right you want to use the fan heder on the mb for power and a switch on the front of the case? why? if you wanted that you would need a switch to switch off the fan header then it will go thur the front switch im guessing is powerd by molex.

 

must be a ocd thing.