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Mod the Thermaltake Smart Fan I to blow FULL SPEED

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dalilman52

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2003
Location
Houston
Do u HATE how the thermaltake "smart" fan 1 blows at such ridiculously low speeds that it barely blows any air?

the reason for this is because the temperature sensor is placed on the fan, not exactly a very "smart" fan, since the air on/around the fan doesnt ge veryt hot, the fan wont speed up, so if u want it to blow faster, then just find the thermal sensor, its a little green thing placed where the wires come out of the fan

now first step -

1) snip the wire as close as possible to the thermosistor (the green thing, basically it lets more flow of electricity thru when its hotter, psu's also use em) so that the wire is as long as possible, now strip the wires so that u have two bare wires (one red, one yellow)

2) twist the two wires (or if u like a more professional approach, u can solder them together, but it was too much of a hassle to me so i went ahead and twisted) together and then isolate the connection either by putting tape over it or with heat-shrink

now ur "smart" fan 1 blows at full speed!

another more clean but a bit risky because some wires may be disconected if u arent careful, the way to do this is pull the sticker up a little over where the fan is connected to the wires

u will see a bunch of wires coming out of the fan on a mini-circuit board

remember those two wires that u cut? there is a red and yellow wire, the yellow wire is closer to view and easier to access then the red one, the red one is underneath the plastic casing of the fan

so 1st, pull the yellow wire out so that there is just the solder point left, then solder the red wire to where the yellow one used to be (i just did this a few minutes ago and felt i could write a tutorial because the twist wire method was just too sloppy IMO)

EDIT : This method also works for almost any thermal-controlled fan
 
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Very nice article Dalilman.It is wise to solder all connections made to insure a tight connection and minimal resistance. We learn this early on, working with automotive curciuts. THE FANMAN:cool:
 
i kinda figured out how to do this mod with a little trial and error, at first i jsut tried cutting the thermal sensor, but that made the fan blow at like 500 rpm, so i knew something was wrong and i connected the two points and voila!
 
I've done this to my 120mm sensor controlled fan, but before I finalized the wire tie-off I decided to experiment a bit.
I cut the wire about 1" back from the sensor and spliced wires in to extend the length.
Then I taped the sensor to my HS, then the Southbridge and finally my vid card.

It did speed up when put on a known heat source, but never to the extent that you achieve when the wires are directly connected.
My conclusion.... sensor controlled ( "Smart", my ***) fans are worthless- far better to control the fan with a rheostat, or just hard wire it and be done.
 
I have to agree with you guys. If an Overclocker doesn't have manual control over his fans speeds, thier looking for trouble.
THE FANMAN:cool:
 
yeah, i dont like stuff to be auto, like my windows updates or virus definitions, i like stuff to be controlled by me

those fan companies really screwed up with this smart fan crap...
 
archilochus said:
***HAPPY NEW YEARS DALILMAN***
<^>ARCHILOCHUS<^>

lol ditto, whered u go? i spent the countdown playing super smash brothers melee :D i was at some friends house having a pot-luck..didnt even realize the new year came in

2004!
 
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