Can a Delta PWM fan be controlled via the motherboard using this adapter?

[obliv10n]

So, I have managed to obtain a Delta AFC1212DE-PWM fan. I also have the adapter shown below that was boxed with a Scythe GentleTyphoon AP-15.

This delta fan says 1.6A on the label, so I dare not just plug it into a motherboard header (though I am not sure about this entirely, so please correct me if it would be ok). I also don't want a 51 dBA fan running full speed 24/7, for the sake of my ears.

I'm a tiny bit confused between RPM lines and PWM control, etc. Would it be possible/safe to connect the fan cable on the Delta fan to the adapter shown (which would leave the blue wire unconnected, which I think I understand is just an RPM monitoring wire), and then run the yellow single cable to a motherboard header, and connecting the molex to the PSU??

 

[Seebs]

This is how you get this to work without risking your header and also retaining your sanity.

The fan has 4 wires:

Black -> GND
Red -> +12V
Connect those two wires to a molex connector straight from the PSU. That will feed the fan 12V straight from the PSU and you won't risk melting your motherboard's header.

Yellow -> RPM sense wire.
Blue -> PWM control wire.
Connect these two to their corresponding pins on the CPU fan header on your motherboard. This will allow the motherboard to report the fan's speed (RPM) and it will also enable your board to control the speed if the fan via PWM signal (If your motherboard has that option).

 

[obliv10n]

This is how you get this to work without risking your header and also retaining your sanity.

The fan has 4 wires:

Black -> GND
Red -> +12V
Connect those two wires to a molex connector straight from the PSU. That will feed the fan 12V straight from the PSU and you won't risk melting your motherboard's header.

Yellow -> RPM sense wire.
Blue -> PWM control wire.
Connect these two to their corresponding pins on the CPU fan header on your motherboard. This will allow the motherboard to report the fan's speed (RPM) and it will also enable your board to control the speed if the fan via PWM signal (If your motherboard has that option).

Ok, so here is where I get to play the noob card. I think what you are telling me to do is essentially to split up the 4 wires coming out of the fan so that 2 go to the Mobo, and 2 go to the PSU. I understand that in theory, but...How exactly do I do that, and what tools would I need?

and just to clarify, you are indeed telling my that the diagram I drew so well in paint (lol) illustrates an idea that would not work, right? So, if I connected them how it shows in the drawing, it would not work?

 

[Seebs]

Ok, so here is where I get to play the noob card. I think what you are telling me to do is essentially to split up the 4 wires coming out of the fan so that 2 go to the Mobo, and 2 go to the PSU. I understand that in theory, but...How exactly do I do that, and what tools would I need?

and just to clarify, you are indeed telling my that the diagram I drew so well in paint (lol) illustrates an idea that would not work, right? So, if I connected them how it shows in the drawing, it would not work?

Sorry it took a while to respond. I got lost in BF3 for a couple hours...

Playing the noob card is quite OK around here; wanting to learn will never be mocked.

So to answer your questions:
Correct... You need to split the four cables coming from the fan.
I would do it like this...
- Take the two non-power wires (Yellow & Blue) out of the small fan connector at the end. They are held in place by a small tab on the metal part that goes into the plastic connector. You can use a very small screwdriver, or a pin, or a staple to push down on that tab and pull the metallic pin out. Do that for the two wires.

- The red and black wires remain where they are and you can now use the adaptor you show on your picture (The one you got with the Scythe GT). Plug the connector at the end of the fan wires to it and then plug the molex side to a free molex connector from your PSU. Your fan is now getting power straight from the PSU.

- For the yellow and blue wires; you will need a connector like the one at the end of the fan. Find a spare one from a dead fan you may have... If you don't have any, let me know... I'll mail you a couple... I have tons of them. So you simply plug the two wires to the corresponding slots on the new connector and now you have a way of sending RPM info and PWM signal from your motherboard.

WARNING:
Make sure you put the two wires in the correct slots on the connector. You don't want to get them mixed up and send the RPM wire to the PWM pin on the motherboard, or viceversa... You can damage your fan and maybe even your motherboard if you do that. So make sure your wires are going where they need to go. Check and double check before plugging/powering anything.




The idea that you drew in MSPaint WILL work... Just not how you expect it to work. The wiring on that fan goes like this:

So by sending the yellow wire to the motherboard's header; you're simply sending the RPM data to the motherboard and you won't have control over the speed of the fan. You need to plug the blue wire (PWM Control) to the motherboard if you want to be able to control its speed.


Hope this helps.
Sebas

 

[inVain]

basically, yes you can...

but it's really sucks to know the fact that when you dealing with this kind of industrial fans,
that there's no guarantee, whether the fan will apply the intel's standard form factor for the PWM signal.

I had connected my Delta PFC1212DE on to my mobo PWM header, just like what you had in mind...

I gotta to tell you that it's work.....

the only problem is, that my PFC had an inverted PWM signal to feed it's PWM controlling line.
so when I prime and my CPU temps rise, my PFC spin slower


I really hope that your fan got the non-inverted PWM type, so you can hooked it up straight to your mobo.

but, if you had the same problem as I did...
it's really nice to visit the "bing's DIY PWM controller" thread, and build yourself an Inverted Schmitt Trigger (it's really easy, and will be really handy in time. especially when you dealing with these kind of fans)

cheers


edit:
on the 2nd thought, I think your adapter was made to monitor the RPM of your fan.
the PWM adapter should have 4 pin instead of 3 (as shown on your pic).
but you can follow what's wrote by Sebastian to feed the RPM and PWM signal to your fan

 

[obliv10n]

Got it working in the manner than Sebas recommended. All I did was use the adapter pictured in the original post for the red/black wires to a molex, then took out the blue and yellow wires, and put them on another connector that plugged into the motherboard.

It's working just fine. Spins up when I start running prime, and is very tolerable when idle.

The only thing is that it spins up really slowly. That of course presents no practical issue. I was just wondering if it was normal for it to spin up gradually, taking about 30-40 seconds to fully kick in from a low rpm after starting prime. Are all pwm fans like that?

 

[LennyRhys]

It's not actually the fan that speeds itself up; it's the motherboard. The motherboard scales the duty cycle for temperature control, and you can change how the fan behaves if you go into BIOS > Hadware Monitor (depending on your motherboard, ofc). If you wanted, you could have the fan jump to full speed much sooner, but tbh that fan is overkill at full speed - I also have an AFC1212DE on my CPU cooler and I run prime with the fan at its slowest which is 800RPM

 

[Seebs]

Got it working in the manner than Sebas recommended. All I did was use the adapter pictured in the original post for the red/black wires to a molex, then took out the blue and yellow wires, and put them on another connector that plugged into the motherboard.

It's working just fine. Spins up when I start running prime, and is very tolerable when idle.

The only thing is that it spins up really slowly. That of course presents no practical issue. I was just wondering if it was normal for it to spin up gradually, taking about 30-40 seconds to fully kick in from a low rpm after starting prime. Are all pwm fans like that?

Glad you got it to work my man... It wasn't so hard. Was it?

As for the fan taking a while to speed up to maximum RPM... It all depends on how the profile is set on the motherboard. I have a 6K RPM - 260 CFM San Ace fan hooked up to my motherboard on my daily driver PC and I can tell you that even when the CPU is at full load the fan won't even go past 3000 RPM. It is like this because I have it setup with a profile that limits the top end of the RPM to a "bearable" speed/noise level.

Without knowing what motherboard you have it is kind of hard to guide you on this one. Some motherboards will have BIOS options to set the "profile" for the PWM control, some will come with SW that allows you to set up fan profiles from within the OS itself, and then there are 3rd party programs that will allow you to do that as well. We just need a bit more info from you and we'll be able to point you in the right direction.


Sebas

 

[obliv10n]

Glad you got it to work my man... It wasn't so hard. Was it?

As for the fan taking a while to speed up to maximum RPM... It all depends on how the profile is set on the motherboard. I have a 6K RPM - 260 CFM San Ace fan hooked up to my motherboard on my daily driver PC and I can tell you that even when the CPU is at full load the fan won't even go past 3000 RPM. It is like this because I have it setup with a profile that limits the top end of the RPM to a "bearable" speed/noise level.

Without knowing what motherboard you have it is kind of hard to guide you on this one. Some motherboards will have BIOS options to set the "profile" for the PWM control, some will come with SW that allows you to set up fan profiles from within the OS itself, and then there are 3rd party programs that will allow you to do that as well. We just need a bit more info from you and we'll be able to point you in the right direction.


Sebas

I have an Asrock P67 Fatal1ty Professional Mobo. The only options I saw to control fans just had a target cpu temp and target fan speed. For example, you set the target cpu temp to say 50 degrees, and the target fan speed to level one (slowest), then it will try to keep the fan on the lowest setting, and only revving up when the CPU temp goes above 50 degrees. I know there are software programs that could prolly do a better job. I would love to hear your recommendations for which one to use.

 

[Seebs]

I have an Asrock P67 Fatal1ty Professional Mobo. The only options I saw to control fans just had a target cpu temp and target fan speed. For example, you set the target cpu temp to say 50 degrees, and the target fan speed to level one (slowest), then it will try to keep the fan on the lowest setting, and only revving up when the CPU temp goes above 50 degrees. I know there are software programs that could prolly do a better job. I would love to hear your recommendations for which one to use.

I know SpeedFan is one that is popular and widely used. I run Gigabyte boards and they come with proprietary SW so I don't have to rely on 3rd party programs... I've never used SpeedFan, but that is the one program that most people use so there must be a reason for that.