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FEATURED Building PWM Controller for 4 wires PWM fan

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LennyRhys said:
@bing Nice to see you are still alive too - it is thanks to you that we got as far as we did! I hope you are well dude.

I think for me it's gonna be a case of fans till I die... I just love the physics of fans and tinkering with them is great fun.

Also, I made a 3D render this weekend to mash up two fans - the Noctua A12x25 and the Nidec G1238B. I hope you like it. :D

m1kQ2J.jpg
Click to expand...


first thing first, I'm really glad you're all safe and sound :)

you really got me with this 3D rendered image, I really thought those are the actual Noctuas :D
awesome job with the video as well :thup:
coupled with the controller these server fans are indeed magnificent.

I'm currently taking quite a long break with the computer stuff and learning to make some sawdust,
it's really fascinating too see the main electrical guts of all power tools are still resembling to a server fan.
I see some potentials in adapting some fans which are way too loud for a case fan to be a shop tool :D
and the good news is, those fans are brushless :attn:
 
Totally subbing to this thread.

I've always had an appreciation for serious fans. A couple of my best ones were Delta FFE1212VHE's that I turned down the rpms on for quiet running.

I miss thick fans. If I could find 38-50mm thick 140mm class fans that didn't spin at server speeds I'd be lined up.
 
InVain - nice to see you too! Yes, brushless DC motors FTW!!

Voodoo Rufus - yep, there's something about server fans that makes them very enticing. Silverstone make a 38mm deep 140mm fan (FHP141) but I haven't tested it so can't comment on its performance vs a standard 25mm deep fan. My favourite 140mm fan is still the TY-143 which is just a fantastic fan and very durable - I've had both of mine for close to ten years now and one of them is on my CPU cooler for daily use.

Here's a video of the G1238B which I forgot to share here. I made a blunder with the "F00" suffix which is actually for Delta fans... please forgive me!

 
Last edited:
bing said:
Wow Ed !!!! I didn't expect it looks that cool, that is one sick looking fan controller and its modular too !! :drool: :attn: Thanks a lot !!! :attn:

Now where is that postman, make it faster damn it !



Nice, minor feature yet its really useful, great job you've done Ed ! :clap:




Yeah, but this can be easily fixed with this a really-really simple soldering with only a single 555 ic like this below, no extra components like resistors or capacitors needed, just plain single 555 ic.

Its basically inverts the normal pwm signal from the mobo or the controller, and turned into inverted form that can be understood "properly" by these rare inverted pwm fan like yours.

Also the chance of encountering this kind of fan is quite rare among other industrial pwm fan.

Click to expand...
I want to replicate this inversion of a PWM signal using only a single 555 ic without any additional components, but the attachement is no longer available. Can someone please tell me how to wire the normal PWM fan up to the inverted-PWM controller on the motherboard?
 
Hi all,

Here we are again. 10 years after I first joined and built bing's PWM controller, I finally made an original design of my own to be the ultimate standalone PWM fan driver circuit.

This is flexible DC fan controller that can handle most fans up to 60 volts at relatively high power (for computer fans).

It is adjustable for PWM frequency, tachometer pulse counts, and rotary encoder direction. Just add a power supply of your choice. It can of course also handle normal 12 volt fans in most computer systems, and would be ideal for individual testing or manual control over high fan count arrays.

In the mean time, I have a video up explaining a bit about the project and showing off some of the cooler fans in my collection.

One of these is the newest EBM Papst DiaForce 120 model. It is a 120mm axial/centrifugal hybrid design. 500 watts, 17200 RPM, and over 12in H2O static pressure. It's definitely up there for crazy fans! Check it out:


Will release project files soon!
 

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neonkev said:
Hi all,

Here we are again. 10 years after I first joined and built bing's PWM controller, I finally made an original design of my own to be the ultimate standalone PWM fan driver circuit.

This is flexible DC fan controller that can handle most fans up to 60 volts at relatively high power (for computer fans).

It is adjustable for PWM frequency, tachometer pulse counts, and rotary encoder direction. Just add a power supply of your choice. It can of course also handle normal 12 volt fans in most computer systems, and would be ideal for individual testing or manual control over high fan count arrays.

In the mean time, I have a video up explaining a bit about the project and showing off some of the cooler fans in my collection.

One of these is the newest EBM Papst DiaForce 120 model. It is a 120mm axial/centrifugal hybrid design. 500 watts, 17200 RPM, and over 12in H2O static pressure. It's definitely up there for crazy fans! Check it out:


Will release project files soon!
Click to expand...
Man some of those fans sounded like a jet engine :) just put a ducted shrould on it and your flying :)
 
WhitehawkEQ said:
Man some of those fans sounded like a jet engine :) just put a ducted shrould on it and your flying :)
Click to expand...
Haha I was holding them down for a reason!
Post magically merged:

Voodoo Rufus said:
Insanity! I love it.
Click to expand...
Thank you! Always fun to play with interesting fans you don't see everyday. The DiaForce is a pretty interesting unit considering the unique mechanical design.
Post magically merged:

Project files are live: https://neonkev.com/2023/11/06/universal-high-power-4-wire-pwm-fan-controller/

Enjoy (and watch your fingers!)
 
Voodoo Rufus said:
Is the Diaforce a centrifugal first stage to an axial second, or vice versa?
Click to expand...
I believe the inlet side is centrifugal. The inlet opening is smaller than the outer. Air is accelerated radially from the inlet to achieve high pressure increase; then it exits axially on the exhaust side which is larger and has axial guide vanes as well.

This brochure contains a lot of detail and cross-sectional views which visualize the flow patterns: https://www.mouser.com/catalog/additional/ebm_papst_DiaForce_Brochure_Rev_6_2_23.pdf
 
Greetings everyone.

Thanks to the OP for the great project he build, i'm just wonder one thing, what if we could do a static fan speed controlled like 0% (means stop), 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% duty cicle, circuit, i had some ideas for the trigger with the 4017 cmos chip but how to select the duty cicle with the 555 is a big "HOW ...".

there is anyone who think this will be a good idea?

any suggestions?

1703908921236.jpeg

something like that with the 4017, you click and you got the stage of the output to the PWM controller, but how to control the speed with the 555 is the thing for me.

hope anyone could help me out.

best regards
 
Much like Kev (who has a far more sophisticated control circuit than me!) I'm still going strong with this wonderful project and I've made a more comprehensive fan control unit for my upcoming round of fan tests. The new unit is based around the Riden RD6018 and is powered by a Cisco 56V PSU, allowing for continuous output of up to 52V at 12A. The PWM box to the right contains the 0-100% circuit and can be detached from the unit. It has a push-button switch for on/off power, four selectable frequencies (approx. 5KHz, 16KHz, 25Khz, and 30Khz) so I can control a variety of fans, and there's a slider switch to invert the PWM signal.

7tvIf4.jpg

Here's a video of the 11,500rpm Nidec G1238V48BHZP-95 being powered by the control unit with speed control from the 0-100% circuit:
 
I thought I'd topped things off with the 11,500rpm fan from a previous video, but I've since got an even more powerful fan, this time 140mm and 7.4A @ 48V. Amazingly, the speed is controlled by the very same circuit designed by bing that I built all these years ago with a simple pairing of 556 and 311 ICs, running at about 4.6KHz for this Nidec fan.

This fan has quite unusual PWM behaviour. At 0-15% it spins fast, about 5,000rpm. Then there is a relatively normal speed curve from approx 20-95%, and from 95-100% it goes back down to about 5,000rpm again. I wish I still had my oscilloscope!

Here's the video:
 
Yeah, it's gotta be the most incredible fan I own. The precision and quality are just unbelievable, and the speed...!

But it gets even more crazy (still)... this fan is from a Cisco router chassis, and each chassis has two of these fan trays which are placed one beside the other (it's the same fan, just the 54V version which I believe is newer). Simple math = 24 fans pulling up to 400W each, almost 10KW just for the fans. Lol.

sxOPTu.jpg
 
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