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Running fans directly off a PSU

McGuy

Hi folks, sorry if I missed a thread covering this already, I searched but couldn't find anything.

 

Basically I'm not sure how to go about hooking some fans up directly to my PSU. I'm working on a little pet project that isn't part of a PC but needs some cooling to keep the ambient temperature low and the plan was to use a PSU to run some fans without having to do any soldering but I'm not sure what I need to use to run the fans directly off the PSU. I tried hooking them up directly but apparently that doesn't work from what I read online but I'm not sure exactly what I need to get it to work. I'm aware they'll be running at full throttle the whole time but that's not a major issue although if there was an option that I could use to control the fan speeds that would be helpful. I've got some 3 pin connector generic brand fans lying around or I could pick up some with 4 pin connectors if need be and the power supply I'm trying to use is a cheap 420watt cooler master since it cost me barely anything and I don't exactly need wattage to run 4-6 fans. Thanks in advance for any help.

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21 minutes ago, McGuy said:

I'm not sure what I need to use to run the fans directly off the PSU. I tried hooking them up directly but apparently that doesn't work from what I read online but I'm not sure exactly what I need to get it to work

Youll need something like a PWM splitter, something that looks like this.

 

A more elegant way would be through a fan hub thats powered to SATA, something like this.

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1 hour ago, SorryClaire said:

Youll need something like a PWM splitter, something that looks like this.

 

A more elegant way would be through a fan hub thats powered to SATA, something like this.

Ahh so is the problem with running it directly off the PSU that it needs to be going through a SATA connector? Or was I just mistaken all along? Thanks for the help. 

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So are you trying to run just the fans off a PSU and nothing else ?

 

Bit like driving a nail in with a wrecking ball ?

 

If so can just use a 12VDC plugpack, a generic 1A from the parts should do (unless they are very power hungry industrial fans).

 

I thought it was advisable to have a more significant minimum load on an ATX PSU depending on topology. However don't take that as gospel.

 

Did you do the paperclip test method to start it ?

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8 hours ago, artuc said:

So are you trying to run just the fans off a PSU and nothing else ?

 

Bit like driving a nail in with a wrecking ball ?

 

If so can just use a 12VDC plugpack, a generic 1A from the parts should do (unless they are very power hungry industrial fans).

 

I thought it was advisable to have a more significant minimum load on an ATX PSU depending on topology. However don't take that as gospel.

 

Did you do the paperclip test method to start it ?

Yeah pretty much, I was just able to get the PSU super cheap and thought it'd be the easiest way since I'm more into the whole building things than fooling around with electronics. Nope it's just 4-6 120mm case fans, is there an adapter I can get for a plug pack to just hook the fans right up? I didn't even realize something like that would be an option, I just figured using a PSU I'd have built in connections as I didn't want to be soldering anything mostly to avoid screwing things up and having it fail over time. I know it's all fairly simple but I was more comfortable just using built in connectors to avoid any problem. I have no idea what the paperclip test method is to be honest. 

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