Delta TFC1212DE pwm controller

Is there anything special to consider when connecting this delta-fan to a pwm-controller?
My controller works perfectly fine with other pwm-fans, but not with this delta-fan. When i connect only the power supply to the fan, it speeds up to max, and nothing changes when i apply a pwm-signal to the blue wire. I've even tried grounding it to stop the fan, nothing happens.

Is the blue wire on pin 3 or pin 4?

What PWM controller are you using?

I've been sending pwm to pin 4. I've tried pin 3 as well.

What PWM controller are you using?

I am using an arduino. According to the spec sheet the fan will accept 300hz-30khz pwm. I have tried 4k and 31k.

Can you link the Delta datasheet here? I'm not finding it.

The closest thing i can find is this: http://www.delta-fan.com/pwm

This is a very similar fan: http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data Sheets/Delta PDFs/PFC1212DE-F00.pdf

Did you try sending a signal which slowly ramps through the frequency range?
What voltage are you sending the signal at?
You have 12V across the red and black wires, correct?

Voltage is 5V, directly from arduino IO-pin. Red and black are connected directly to 12v.

I havent tried ramping, just 0%, 20%, 40%. None of which made any difference.

Have you tried controlling the fan via a motherboard's PWM control?
***NOTE: Most motherboard fan headers can't give more than 1A @ 12V so use external power***

I can try that tomorrow. I'll just connect ground and pwm from the motherboard.

Its just weird that i get other pwm-fans to work with the exact same setup.

Thank you for helping!

Should just need PWM and RPM connected to the motherboard, not ground.

Connected it to a motherboard, but there is still no reaction. I have now tried +5v and ground to pin 4, that should be the extremes of any pwm signal. I am starting to think there might be something wrong with the fan.

Maybe try a lower PWM frequency? I have a Delta intended for a Daikin indoor unit that wouldn't work properly if given the standard 22kHz but seems to work fine with 1kHz. It also has an inverted PWM input in that a lower duty cycle speeds it up. If it's a surplus fan, it could well have something other than the standard programming.

Skogs, lets tear this circuit apart bit by bit. There is a lot of holes in your data and to me it almost sounds like you've tried to tie multiple different sources to the fan to get it to work.

Basic circuits: Make sure that the Fan and your Ardrino are using the same ground plane. Any attempt at trying to send a PWM into the Fan will not work unless the pulse has a source back to the Ardrino. Furthermore, what is your 12V rated for in terms of current? Is this source coming from the same as the Ardrino or from your PC?

Typically Ardrinos do not have enough power to source a strong PWM into something like a Delta fan. These guys require a lot of power to get anything to move. Most likely the drive strength (current pushed by the PWM pin on the Ardrino) is not high enough for the Fan. Your best bet is to use a FET as the source of the load for your PWM.

Please look at Page 7 of your delta datasheet. This gives a full specification of what is required for your PWM controller. You are required to start at 25KHz in order to initiate the fan itself before turning down or up the speed. You can also see an example circuit in which you connect the PWM wire to the Source of the FET and your PWM source where the "Yellow Wire" is shown.

Hi Dolk! I use a 12v 6A supply to power both the fan and the arduino. It should be sufficient, the fan is rated to max 4.8A. All components share commond ground.

According to the spec sheet it should accept 30Hz to 300KHz. 25Khz is prefered but not required.
"At 25Khz 30% duty cycle the fan will start from dead stop" - This just indicates the minimum duty cycle the fan requires to be able to start, lower and it won't have enough power to start.

I can try to go via a FET for the pwm, in case it requires more current then the arduino can deliver. Maybe i'll even try 12V instead of 5V. Thank you for this suggestion!

Make sure you use the correct wire for PWM.