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The fan sometimes doesnt start by itself ( I need to give it a push )

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Vladimir1

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Nov 8, 2015
Hi,

About 2 months ago I bought a cheap fan that I could use to cool down the IOH a bit and it worked just fine for some time.
Now after some time passed, the fan sometimes when I start my PC it just wont start, I need to give it a push with my hands to get it started and sometimes it starts by itself but even then the BIOS / CPUID HW Monitor doesnt detect the fan.

So I wonder, how can I fix this ? Can I fix this by buying molex 4 pins converter ? Will that help me ?

Thanks.
 
I forgot to mention that this is already happened with another fan too, so the one I am currently using is the 2nd one that has this problem.
So, basically the fan's cable connector is 4 pins and the fan header is 3 pins, this is why I am thinking of buying molex power connector 3 pins converter.

Can anyone tell me if that will surely fix my problem ?
 
No, that won't fix the problem.

What fans, exactly, are you buying?
 
Or you could just buy a 3pin fan header to a 3 pin MB fan header.

Let us know what fans you have this issue with and what your budget is. Give us more specs of you can.
 
you can try to change your fan profile in the bios.
for example, if you set your system temps @60; try drop it to 40

chances are:
your temps getting better so the corresponding fan header outputting lower voltage than the minimum needed by the fan to start spinning.
or your fan's getting worse so it need higher voltage to start spinning.

else;
the fan's dying :p
 
I have a " Spire 80mm " fan which has 4 pins yet the CPU header is 3 pins. ( link down bellow )
http://setec.mk/Computers-IT/PC-and...n-80x80x25mm-12V-Fan-3-4pin-Ball-bearing23182

Anyway, as for the budget, this is really a new fan and I am not planning to buy any other soon unless it's really needed.

@inVain
As I already mentioned, this is a pretty much new fan and as far as I know fans have pretty much long lifetime ( ? ) so I doubt that my fan could be dying, other than that I had the same problem with another fan - Arctic Cooler F8.
I'll try lowering the system temps and see if that helps.

Thank you for your replies everyone
 
When you say this is the second fan with the problem, do you mean you have two spire fans currently in use and both have the same issue or are you saying you replaced a failed fan that was connected to this header and now the spire connected to the same header is also failing?

Does this fan work properly when you hook it up to a different 3 pin header?

4 pin fan on a 3 pin header is not your problem. If everything is working right on the mobo this fan would just spin at full speed all the time.
 
No, now I have only 1 fan which is the spire fan, and before that I used Arctic Fan which had the same issue.
I also tried connecting it to the other fan pin header but I didnt see any difference by doing so.

@inVain
I cant find any option in the BIOS about changing the max system temperature .. I guess that's being handled by the motherboard itself and cannot be changed, but if there's any way to change it please let me know, my motherboard is MSI X58 Pro-E
 
well if the same fan is having the same issue in multiple ports then it seems like a fan problem. I think it is very odd though that your previous fan had the same exact problem.

Not familiar with your exact mobo, does it have fan profiles like inVain was talking about?
 
Seems like there are no fan profiles in the BIOS.

Would there be any change if I buy Molex 3 pins power adapter cable and then connect the fan directly to the PSU ?
Btw, any idea why would the BIOS not detect the fan anymore ? Could it be that it's dead ?
 
Last edited:
Vladimir1 said:
I have a " Spire 80mm " fan which has 4 pins yet the CPU header is 3 pins. ( link down bellow )
http://setec.mk/Computers-IT/PC-and...n-80x80x25mm-12V-Fan-3-4pin-Ball-bearing23182

Anyway, as for the budget, this is really a new fan and I am not planning to buy any other soon unless it's really needed.

@inVain
As I already mentioned, this is a pretty much new fan and as far as I know fans have pretty much long lifetime ( ? ) so I doubt that my fan could be dying, other than that I had the same problem with another fan - Arctic Cooler F8.
I'll try lowering the system temps and see if that helps.

Thank you for your replies everyone
Click to expand...


sorry, I got carried away when I said the fan was dying.
too many "what should I shop next?" topics on the forums lately :chair:

if you can't find any fan related profiles in the bios, you can try to disable the fan control option.

the molex to 3p will make the fan runs at its full speed, quite similar if you set the fan control to disable in the bios.
so yes, there might be a change if you decide to buy one and imho this is better than connecting the fan to the mobo if the noise doesn't bother you.
since your fan is a 4 wired one, you might want to see something like the akasa pwm splitter as an alternative to the molex to 3p converter:
http://www.akasa.com.tw/search.php?seed=AK-CB002


not every single header is equipped with the rpm sensor.
even if it is, a no-running fan is as good as none.
and in the past, I found that some mobo have issues with fans running too slow (the rpm report won't go lower than 199rpm... or was it 399rpm, can't really remember :rain:)
 
What do you mean by fan control option ? Do you mean the percentage of voltage for the van ? If so, it's set to 100%.
I dont have any other fan control option.

Anyway, I tested this problem with my previous fan which was Arctic F9, thing is with the Arctic can if I lay it down on the ground like it is on the picture ( http://www.eltonmaizemaze.co.uk/Jessica/March10/18.jpg ) it will start spinning everytime I start up the PC and the BIOS can see it and the speed, but once I rotate it to about 90 degrees ( like on this picture, http://www.eltonmaizemaze.co.uk/Jessica/GTX260/24large.jpg ) just to put it in proper position it just wont start spinning even if I push it with my hands.

So to sum it up:
- The Arctic fan can start spinning by itself if it's put in improper position, if put in proper position it wont start
- The Arctic fan is detected by the BIOS, yet the other fan I have - Spire, is never detected, regardless if it starts by itself or not ( in the beginning the BIOS could detect it ).

Does that tell anything for sure ?
 
Have you attempted to turn it off, and then turn it back on. My many years in It has taught me the simplest solution is usually the best. :fight:
 
Yes, of course, as I said in the topic's title, sometimes it'd just start by itself and sometimes it just wont until I give it a push with my hands.
Anyway .. if there's nothing left other than buying a new one, please note that I dont have much to spend here and I am really wondering if the one from bellow will work fine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/80mm-3-Pin-...619496?hash=item4d0eabc368:g:Ym8AAOSwLVZV1J~k

According to the specs if you ask me that's good but would you recommend me to buy it and replace my current one with it ?
 
Vladimir1 said:
What do you mean by fan control option ? Do you mean the percentage of voltage for the van ? If so, it's set to 100%.
I dont have any other fan control option.

Anyway, I tested this problem with my previous fan which was Arctic F9, thing is with the Arctic can if I lay it down on the ground like it is on the picture ( http://www.eltonmaizemaze.co.uk/Jessica/March10/18.jpg ) it will start spinning everytime I start up the PC and the BIOS can see it and the speed, but once I rotate it to about 90 degrees ( like on this picture, http://www.eltonmaizemaze.co.uk/Jessica/GTX260/24large.jpg ) just to put it in proper position it just wont start spinning even if I push it with my hands.

So to sum it up:
- The Arctic fan can start spinning by itself if it's put in improper position, if put in proper position it wont start
- The Arctic fan is detected by the BIOS, yet the other fan I have - Spire, is never detected, regardless if it starts by itself or not ( in the beginning the BIOS could detect it ).

Does that tell anything for sure ?
Click to expand...


yes, I mean the percentage of the voltage for the fan
I'm stunned by the fact that you already set it to 100% but still, it won't spinning :-/

that's strange...
on the long run the horizontal position is the most stressful for the fan's bearing, especially if it's a sleeve bearing.
but how did you manage to test your fan outside the case?

is this your current setup?
http://www.eltonmaizemaze.co.uk/Jessica/GTX260/24large.jpg
there's a chance you might overload the fan header by having so many fan attached to the motherboard.
try to have everything disconnected from the mobo, and leave only the cpu fan to see if this the culprit.


I was wondering, doesn't a fan usually being sold with a molex to 3p adapter?
at least, that's what I get when I purchased an enermax and a cougar vortex... long times ago

I won't expect too much of that fan on the ebay link; except for it to be spinning.
but first, imho; you need to narrow down the actual problem.
was it the power source to the fan, or the fan itself?
 
I wouldn't waste the time or the money on the materials to lubricate a fan as cheap as what he has.
 
Ok so to be clear on this you have a 4pin(AKA PWM fan) attached to a 3 pin fan header and its not working consistently?

If thats the case my suggestion would be to buy a standard fan. The problem is likely that since the fan isnt receiving PWM signal its occasionally just going stupid. Simply bridging the pin 4 to pin 2 might solve this issue because AFAIK PWM to ground is full speed signal, but realistically your running the wrong type of fan, and issues are to be expected.
 
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