Custom Fan Wiring issues

Hey, recently i have aquired some Proliant server fans and they're 127mm and quite beefy in the area of CFM. there are 6 wires on this thing and i've contacted Nidec for the wire layout


Black = ground
Orange = open-collector tachometer
Red = +12 VDC
Yellow = open-collector, low-pass/high-fail, trip-point (speed) and locked rotor alarm
Blue = ground
Green = pulse-width modulated speed control

now, im kindof a fan noob here, but im wanting to take this thing and hook it up in... my regular PC.

What i want to do more than anything is make use of the PWM Speed control but i dont have any idea how to hook it up to a rheostat or something.

if anyone could help or lead me in the right direction i would appreciate it.

All you should need is the Black and Red to get it to work. If you want speed sensor, then also orange. If your board has a 4 pin fan header you could also use the PWM, Green wire.

well, what im actually looking to do is not use a 4pin motherboard connection, but to do something more like using a fan controller, without actually using something that takes up a 3.5in drive bay that i already don't have available.

there's a Silverstone 120mm case fan with speed control that's looks like a rheostat that i have in one of my fan spots and that's what I'm sort of looking to do with this big fan.

i guess what i should say is... i want to connect the fan's power to a 12v Molex connector and use some form of independant speed control on it so that i can drill out one of those PCI port covers and put a control knob on the back of my PC Case.

Please post the model number, and a link to a pdf if you have it.

One nice thing about a PWM fans is that you can wire up more than one of them to get their power from Molex and their control from the MB's PWm control. In this way you do not overtax your MB. Akasa makes such a harness (also here).

If the fan draws enough amps it will literally burn up that little slot controller. One guy put too large a load one one and it caught fire.

Do post the specs, or at least the model number so we can find specs.

fan specs go like this

Nidec Beta V TA500DC
Model A34538-90
12v DC 2.7a

ehume said:

Please post the model number, and a link to a pdf if you have it.

One nice thing about a PWM fans is that you can wire up more than one of them to get their power from Molex and their control from the MB's PWm control. In this way you do not overtax your MB. Akasa makes such a harness (also here).

If the fan draws enough amps it will literally burn up that little slot controller. One guy put too large a load one one and it caught fire.

Do post the specs, or at least the model number so we can find specs.

Click to expand...

Excellent post

Spectacular fan, judging by the others in its class. At 2.7 amps there is no way you should bring this anywhere near a MB header. Molex only.

At 127mmx38mm this would be a wonderful fan for the middle of a Cogage Arrow. Definitely use a Molex/PWM harness. Get some of these for your plugs, get some of these to go in the plug housings. Get plenty of extra pins. You crimp them with needle nose pliers.

Looks like fun. I'm pondering . . .

hi there, i have tried to wire one of my nidec ta500dc to molex from my psu (regular computer) , but i couldn't make it runs as wish. his wings shaked a little bit and then stop.
here is what i've done:
red wire from nidec to yellow (molex) on psu (12v)
black wire form nidec to black molex on psu (ground)

I guess that it is because of not enough amp since the nidec need 12v 2.7amp ?
have anybody done successfully the wiring that nidec in order to use on regular computer ? , if yes, how pls

There should be no problem with amperage from any ATX PSU really...even if it couldn't provide sufficient amperage, the fan would still spin. This happens to my 3a fans when I connect them to a 1a transformer.

Looking at the first post the blue wire is also ground - try connecting both black & blue to ground and the fan might function. If the fan doesn't work with both +12v and GND connected securely, then maybe it is faulty.

hi lenny, thanks for reply, I have tried the blue and black wire to ground on molex from psu, but nothing changed, the fan spin a little bit and then it stoped. and it happened with both of my 3 nidec.

in weekend, if i have time, i will post a video to show you more clearly.