Modding old Antec fans

[kenkku]

Hi!

 

I have a couple of these old Antec molex fans that have an external switch to control speed (pic from eBay attached). Looking at the cables in the fan housing it seems like the speed cable is just a regular yellow sensor cable. My question is, could I crimp a 3-pin connector onto it instead of the molex connector and the external switch to use them with a modern motherboard? I can't try before I know unfortunately, because my fans are new old stock and I don't wanna hack them up if its not gonna work.

 

[kenkku]

1 minute ago, Schnoz said:

Yes, you can. I've done that before, and vice versa (adapting fans to proprietary PSU fan cables). Those Antec things are quite nice; hope it goes well!

Awesome, thank you!

[kenkku]

1 minute ago, Schnoz said:

Always happy to help; keep us posted on how it goes!

The fans are in a Lanboy Air that I want to use for my new build, but I don't have most of the other components yet so it might be a while before I can get everything running. I'll definitely make a post in the finished builds section once its complete.

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 hours ago, kenkku said:

. Looking at the cables in the fan housing it seems like the speed cable is just a regular yellow sensor cable.

I'm pretty sure its not that simple. The sensor pin is a output only on most fans, and I'm pretty sure there is 3 cables for that switch to work.

 

 

You can still crimp on a 3 pin adapater, and then use the motherboards speed control. I don't think there is a easy way to get RPM from those fans. I'd just leave the switch to high, or solder the pins so its always high.

[WhitetailAni]

3 hours ago, kenkku said:

Hi!

the speed cable is just a regular yellow sensor cable. My question is, could I crimp a 3-pin connector onto it instead of the molex connector and the external

That's the tachometer cable, to report speed - not control it. If you set the fan adjustment dial thing to the lowest possible setting you can use the motherboard DC fan control.

[kenkku]

11 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I'm pretty sure its not that simple. The sensor pin is a output only on most fans, and I'm pretty sure there is 3 cables for that switch to work.

 

 

You can still crimp on a 3 pin adapater, and then use the motherboards speed control. I don't think there is a easy way to get RPM from those fans. I'd just leave the switch to high, or solder the pins so its always high.

 

2 minutes ago, WhitetailAni said:

That's the tachometer cable, to report speed - not control it. If you set the fan adjustment dial thing to the lowest possible setting you can use the motherboard DC fan control.

 

Thank you, it appears I misunderstood, haha. I think I'll just swap the power cables and leave the switches be, since I usually run on high anyway.

[TPCEA]

I'm not sure which 3 speed Antec that is, but it looks like the Tricool.

 

Maybe this will help, though.  Or this.

 

 

[kenkku]

5 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

I'm not sure which 3 speed Antec that is, but it looks like the Tricool.

 

Maybe this will help, though.  Or this.

 

 

These look promising! Thanks, I'll give them a read.