Fan Splitter

[RadiatingLight]

Hello all

I bought a fan splitter today since my motherboard only has 3 fan headers, but I just realized that the fan splitter I bought keeps all fans at 100% speed at all times, which is really loud, degrades fan lifespan, etc.

is there a fan splitter that keeps the exact same speed that the original header had?

 

note that I don't need a Y splitter, because I want all my case fans to run off my CPU header so I can have a 0db system. so basically a Y splitter with 5 outputs is what I need. obviously, this splitter will need to be powered because one fan header doesn't have that much amps

[Electronics Wizardy]

pwm or normal fan?

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

pwm or normal fan?

3-pin fan. obviously my motherboard has 4-pin headers 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

3-pin fan. obviously my motherboard has 4-pin headers 

So the 3 pin fans normally will spin slower if plugged in directly, but not with a splitter? That seems very unlikey if its a basica splitter.

 

 

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

So the 3 pin fans normally will spin slower if plugged in directly, but not with a splitter? That seems very unlikey if its a basica splitter.

 

 

so 3-pin fans are controlled only by the amount of electricity going into them (if i understand correctly)

the fan splitter i got pushes the fans to the max for some reason.

 

it's not a basic splitter, it's a powered splitter (that connects to SATA) because I want 5 outputs from one fan header

[john826472]

4 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

3-pin fan. obviously my motherboard has 4-pin headers 

I dont think you cant control the speed a three pin fan with 4 pin PWM headers. So either your fans are on full or their off or you buy a fan controller. Some fan controllers allow power to be drawn from sata or molex connectors

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Aladd2040 said:

I dont think you cant control the speed a three pin fan with 4 pin PWM headers. So either your fans are on full or their off or you buy a fan controller.

well that's not how it used to work when they were connected to my MOBO

aren't three pin fans controlled simply by amount of electricity going into them?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

controlled only by the amount of electricity going into them

Controller by the voltage, but normally they use pwm to contorl the volage.

 

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

t's not a basic splitter, it's a powered splitter (that connects to SATA) because I want 5 outputs from one fan header

Thats your problem, you need a basic splitter with no other power in or use pwm fans.

 

aA

You can run 5 fans off one header, fans pull .1 amps normally, and the headers have a max of 1A normally.

[john826472]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

well that's not how it used to work when they were connected to my MOBO

aren't three pin fans controlled simply by amount of electricity going into them?

Yes but your mobo has 4 pin PWM controllers meaning that your mobo send pulses of energy to the fan motr to determine the speed at which it spins. PWM stands for pulse width modulation

[RadiatingLight]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Controller by the voltage, but normally they use pwm to contorl the volage.

 

Thats your problem, you need a basic splitter with no other power in or use pwm fans.

 

aA

You can run 5 fans off one header, fans pull .1 amps normally, and the headers have a max of 1A normally.

My fans are 12V 0.3A

[RadiatingLight]

Just now, Aladd2040 said:

Yes but your mobo has 4 pin PWM controllers meaning that your mobo send pulses of energy to the fan motr to determine the speed at which it spins. 

What?

My fans are not PWM fans, but they still ran at preset speeds, and I could control them through software utilities

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

My fans are 12V 0.3A

I almost guarantee they use less than than. Most all fans use less power than their rating. I have tested them with a multimeter(and a nice one for that)

[john826472]

Just now, Aladd2040 said:

Yes but your mobo has 4 pin PWM controllers meaning that your mobo send pulses of energy to the fan motr to determine the speed at which it spins. 

 

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

My fans are 12V 0.3A

so you can run three fans of a header

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I almost guarantee they use less than than. Most all fans use less power than their rating. I have tested them with a multimeter(and a nice one for that)

Seems sketchy. I don't want to overload my motherboard fan headers (BTW what happens if I do?)

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Aladd2040 said:

 

so you can run three fans of a header

yes, but I want to run 5 fans off a header.

is there a solution or no?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, RadiatingLight said:

yes, but I want to run 5 fans off a header.

is there a solution or no?

Get a few small fan splitters. It will be fine.

[RadiatingLight]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Get a few small fan splitters. It will be fine.

alright. before I do that though, what happens if the fans really DO use more than 1A from my motherboard fan header? will they just stop working for a sec or will it fry something?

[RadiatingLight]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Get a few small fan splitters. It will be fine.

another question. when you measured with your multimeter, how much lower than rated was the power consumption?

[john826472]

you will most likely not overload your fan headers unless you do something ridiculous. 1 amp or 20 watts is the amount of power you can draw safely.

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Aladd2040 said:

you will most likely not overload your fan headers unless you do something ridiculous. 1 amp or 20 watts is the amount of power you can draw safely.

20 watts? but don't fans draw 12V

12V at 1A = 12W

[john826472]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

alright. before I do that though, what happens if the fans really DO use more than 1A from my motherboard fan header? will they just stop working for a sec or will it fry something?

No your 5 fans will likely not use more than 1 amp like electronics wizardy said. However if you want to be on the safe side connect three fans to the fan header and the other two to another fan header. Or even get a fan controller.

[john826472]

wait, what is your fan splitter drawing power from?

[RadiatingLight]

1 minute ago, Aladd2040 said:

wait, what is your fan splitter drawing power from?

SATA power cable

[john826472]

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

SATA power cable

a sata power cable can provide allot of power Read a bit about it here. The 12 volt rails you can draw around 54 watts of power from. Check your fan splitter and see if the fan power rails positive and negaitve Here a diagram are connected to the sata power connector. if so you have 54 watts of power max you can use.

[RadiatingLight]

4 minutes ago, Aladd2040 said:

a sata power cable can provide allot of power Read a bit about it here. The 12 volt rails you can draw around 54 watts of power from. Check your fan splitter and see if the fan power rails positive and negaitve Here a diagram are connected to the sata power connector. if so you have 54 watts of power max you can use.

yeah I know. the fan splitter I have runs all fans at max. no problem. I want a fan splitter that DOESNT do that. I want one with enough power to run them at 100% if needed, but that stays quiet and spins them lower if my PC is at idle.