Cooling Mod/Fan Replacement for Rosewill Moble Rack (RXC525-2B)

[OS_dirk]

I picked up a few of these off of eBay (Link, for reference: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284660961104 ) to incorporate into a newly built machine. I'm running a B550 board with built in RAID controller, mirroring with one drive mounted to the case, and the other inside of the rack.

 

Unfortunately, after having installed the unit and run it for a couple of weeks, the single 40mm x 10mm fan built into the chassis sounds like it wants to die. - (Brand: AGE; Part Number: AFS110) with a Noctua fan instead. (Link, for reference: https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Cooling-Blades-Bearing-NF-A4x10/dp/B009NQLT0M/ref=sr_1_3?crid=SFRMOI85Z3WB&keywords=noctua+30mm+fan&qid=1646945028&sprefix=noctua+30mm+fan%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-3)

 

The garbage fan has something that looks like a 2 pin JST connector, but with slight variations and the Noctua has the standard 3-pin fan connector. - Ideally, I want to make an adaptor cable to adapt from the JST look-alike connector to the 3 pin Molex connector on the Noctua fan. (I could cut and splice if needed, but would prefer to make proper cables if possible. - I have multiples of this model of rack, and would rather not have janky connections waiting to fail in all of them)

 

Anyone happen to know what the connectors are called, so I could source the parts?

 

I can take photos of the connector on the garbage fan/PCB of the rack if that would help with identification.

 

Alternatively, would anyone have a suggestion on an alternative fan to replace it with instead?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Bombastinator]

If it’s mini molex you don’t need to.  Just use the 3 pin and let the unused pin hang over the edge.  If it’s proprietary though whoever made the thing is evil. Of the fan is dying anyway though you could just cut off the wire, and splice it.  You can do that with low voltage. Might do to make sure that it doesn’t also run at some weird voltage though if it’s proprietary. 

[OS_dirk]

Thanks @Bombastinator for the response.

 

I'm comfortable with the cut and splice route in most cases, but figured I would attempt to do something a bit cleaner. I'm looking at a Noctua fan, that when installed, will double the cost of the drive bay itself.

 

I would also like to leave the fan cable uncut, in case I want to re-install the original fan and return the unit back to stock- in the off chance that's necessary. (If I have to cut the cable to make the adaptor, I will, but want to avoid doing so if possible.)

 

Otherwise, adding photo's to (hopefully) make it easier to figure out what kind of connector is used between the PCB and the stock fan. It looks like a JST connector (Link, for reference https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9914), but has two notches on the bottom of the connector, and instead of the single notch on the JST.

 

Also, unsure as to where to source the mini molex for the opposite side of the jumper cable. I'm finding a lot of surface mount for the fan connector, but nothing shrouded for putting on the end of a jumper.

 

Thanks again. 

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, OS_dirk said:

Thanks @Bombastinator for the response.

 

I'm comfortable with the cut and splice route in most cases, but figured I would attempt to do something a bit cleaner. I'm looking at a Noctua fan, that when installed, will double the cost of the drive bay itself.

 

I would also like to leave the fan cable uncut, in case I want to re-install the original fan and return the unit back to stock- in the off chance that's necessary. (If I have to cut the cable to make the adaptor, I will, but want to avoid doing so if possible.)

 

Otherwise, adding photo's to (hopefully) make it easier to figure out what kind of connector is used between the PCB and the stock fan. It looks like a JST connector (Link, for reference https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9914), but has two notches on the bottom of the connector, and instead of the single notch on the JST.

 

Also, unsure as to where to source the mini molex for the opposite side of the jumper cable. I'm finding a lot of surface mount for the fan connector, but nothing shrouded for putting on the end of a jumper.

 

Thanks again. 

So you need a female mini molex.  A fan extension cable would work.  They’re cheap, any you wouldn’t have to buy a thousand like you would if you bought them from molex.  If it’s a standard size fan jack though you won’t need an adaptor at all.  Two wire fans are red and black.  Positive and negative.  The others are just sensor and control wires.  You can leave them hang. A 2 wire fan manipulates speed by changing the voltage. (I’ve actually got a really old cable designed to do just that.  12v goes in but 10v comes out.  Good for slowing down fans. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Bombastinator

[OS_dirk]

Perfect. - Thanks again @Bombastinator

 

I was thinking that both were two different families of connector, and not simply the difference between the 2 pin and the 3 pin version of the same connector.

 

Leave it to me to expect it to be complicated, and then make it so.

 

Will be ordering a handful of the extensions, which will make things much easier.

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, OS_dirk said:

Perfect. - Thanks again @Bombastinator

 

I was thinking that both were two different families of connector, and not simply the difference between the 2 pin and the 3 pin version of the same connector.

 

Leave it to me to expect it to be complicated, and then make it so.

 

Will be ordering a handful of the extensions, which will make things much easier.

It may or may not be.  That is the problem.  There are connectors that look like mini molex but aren’t.  There is one that looks like it but is far smaller for example.  What it sounds like to me is the thing uses a two wire fan, and has sensors and controls onboard, so it doesn’t need the other two wires.  Mini molex Computer fan connectors are all compatible with one another.  If you’ve got a two wire plug and a 4 wire connector you just plug in the connector to one side and the thing runs at ful speed all the time.  Ditto the other way around. If it’s not outputting the right voltage though you can either blow it out or have it not work because there isn’t enough power.  The less voltage there is the slower the fan spins, but there is a limit, and if you pass it the fan won’t spin at all.  Anywhere between 9-13v should allow it to spin though.  If you’ve got a multimeter a voltage test may be the better part of valor here.

[OS_dirk]

Good point.

 

I know that the original fan was rated for 12v, but don't know what the PCB actually puts out to drive it.

 

I'll make a point running it while I have it disassembled, first, to double check.

 

As an added bonus, it'll force me to clean up my workspace since I never remembered to put my multimeter away the last time I used it, so I'm not sure what thing it's hiding under.