Ok, so there are tons of fan controllers and ways to make them, but I can't figure out how to do it this way. Keep in mind that I'm no elictrical engineer, but I can kind of read a circuit scematic, and I have the Multisim program, so if any of you smart fellas out there also have this and have a solution using Multisim (version 9) I can test it with that.
Ok, now on to the controller. I want to make this as simple as possible, and I want to avoid programming any kind of eprom, because I don't know how, I guess I could learn, but I don't want to spend a lot on the controller, since the rest of the case will cost more than my first car when I'm done with it.
I purchased some basic fan controller knobs, the kind that come with some fans and attach to the baybus slots on the back of a standard case using a full height bracked. I think these are just simple potentiometers. They have 3 pins, the left pin sits at 102 Ohms when the volume is down (left) and it's at 2 Ohms when the volume is up (right). The center pin is the signal pin, and it's connected to +12V, and the right pin is the same as the left, only opposite (2 Ohms when turned down, 102 when turned up). Ebay item link...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260170928685
I have LEDs, 7 colors, and all of them operate at optimal brightness at ~3V, rated for 3.1V - 3.2V forward. They came with 470 Ohm resistors, and I have a ton of other resisters. Here's a link to the ebay item, if you need more information...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300235689797
The fans are Nidec 92mm 12V fans, I robbed them from an old Compaq server. Nidec makes the best fans on earth! But they're loud at full speed. They also don't start on their own at 5V, more on that later.
Ok, so this is what I want. I want to use the pots to control the voltage to the fans (obviously). I also want to hook up at least 6 LEDs to the nob, so they light up in a sequence as the voltage goes up. I also need a way to kick start the fans if the nobs are all the way down when the system starts. Once they are started, I can turn the nobs down and they'll continue to run until the power is removed. I assume you can do this with a simple capacitor, or something, but again, I'm not an engineer in this field, more of a tinkerer.
It is OK if the first LED is on with the system power and the rest fade on in sequence as the voltage climbs. They could also each come on at a particular voltage. I'd like all of them to be on when on full power, sort of like a voltage meter of sorts. I found a schematic in a book that shows something like this using zener diodes, but it doesn't say anything about part numbers of the diodes. I also don't know if the lower LEDs having only a smaller resister/diode would stay alive when the nob was all the way up.
Ok, so that's the goal. Can anyone help?
Ok, now on to the controller. I want to make this as simple as possible, and I want to avoid programming any kind of eprom, because I don't know how, I guess I could learn, but I don't want to spend a lot on the controller, since the rest of the case will cost more than my first car when I'm done with it.
I purchased some basic fan controller knobs, the kind that come with some fans and attach to the baybus slots on the back of a standard case using a full height bracked. I think these are just simple potentiometers. They have 3 pins, the left pin sits at 102 Ohms when the volume is down (left) and it's at 2 Ohms when the volume is up (right). The center pin is the signal pin, and it's connected to +12V, and the right pin is the same as the left, only opposite (2 Ohms when turned down, 102 when turned up). Ebay item link...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260170928685
I have LEDs, 7 colors, and all of them operate at optimal brightness at ~3V, rated for 3.1V - 3.2V forward. They came with 470 Ohm resistors, and I have a ton of other resisters. Here's a link to the ebay item, if you need more information...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300235689797
The fans are Nidec 92mm 12V fans, I robbed them from an old Compaq server. Nidec makes the best fans on earth! But they're loud at full speed. They also don't start on their own at 5V, more on that later.
Ok, so this is what I want. I want to use the pots to control the voltage to the fans (obviously). I also want to hook up at least 6 LEDs to the nob, so they light up in a sequence as the voltage goes up. I also need a way to kick start the fans if the nobs are all the way down when the system starts. Once they are started, I can turn the nobs down and they'll continue to run until the power is removed. I assume you can do this with a simple capacitor, or something, but again, I'm not an engineer in this field, more of a tinkerer.
It is OK if the first LED is on with the system power and the rest fade on in sequence as the voltage climbs. They could also each come on at a particular voltage. I'd like all of them to be on when on full power, sort of like a voltage meter of sorts. I found a schematic in a book that shows something like this using zener diodes, but it doesn't say anything about part numbers of the diodes. I also don't know if the lower LEDs having only a smaller resister/diode would stay alive when the nob was all the way up.
Ok, so that's the goal. Can anyone help?
