Hi folks. I’ve got this bit of hardware and I can’t think of the name for anything. I think it may have come with my case, but I really hope I can get another one.
It’s got a break in the current somewhere, and it keeps turning my case fans off.
Anyone recognize it?
Looks like a standard molex going from the PSU to some kind of custom power adapter that feeds the fans via the 4 pin power ports.
I would say you’re right, that part is custom and came with the case. Have you tried switching out the molex coming in from the PSU? That might be the issue. If not, Does your motherboard have Chassis fan power ports? Or do your fans have a molex power port? Most store bought fans do which brings me to your last option: Replace the fans.
That just looks like a splitter to me. The big contact comes from your power supply and then the current is split to provide power to the smaller contacts for the fans, right? It might be difficult to find one that is exactly the same, or at least I have personally never seen that model before, but if you have an extra free cable from the power supply you could get two of these adapters (They don’t actually need to be connected to the motherboard or CPU, but I can’t seem to find any three-way splitters for case fans.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119248
Yep, that’s a regular old molex from the psu to some sort of power adapter. I think that the molex is ok. The socket that the molex plugs in to is loose, and it wiggles, and in some places the connection works and in some places it doesn’t work. Pretty sure that that’s the problem. I think that the mobo does have fan power ports. I’ll have to check that. I’d forgotten all about them.
There’s a big knob on the front of my case that controls fan speed, and I bet that’s connected to that little custom gadget. I need to break it down and look inside and see if I can connect the fans to the mobo and ignore the knob.
Why not replace your case fans with ones that accept a standard molex?
Well, sure, I could replace the fans, but the fans work fine. It’s the splitter/controller that is junky.
This one will probably get more attention in General Questions. (Which is the tech question section.)
Mod note:
Moved from Game Room to GQ.
Gukumatz,
Game Room Moderator
If the big molex socket is loose, it’s almost certainly broken the coonection where it’s soldered to the PC board that is that gizmo’s base. If you’re handy with soldering, you can probably repair it.
I can’t imagine why someone would have made a power splitter like this just for that reason - usually, they’re just plugs and wire, so they’re flexible and a lot less likely to break.
You’ll probably need something like this to convert the 4-pin plug down to 3-pin, then one or more of these to split the power to the fans. Or, as you note, you can probably connect the fans directly to the motherboard, with the possible loss of speed (and noise) control.
The 3-pin mini molex has been a standard fan connector for quite a few years.
This should be a drop-in replacement.
Or just google for “Molex to 3-pin fan adapter” and you’ll find many others.
If it were just a power splitter it’s usually done to make the wiring neater. In this instance it’s connected to a rheostat in the front panel that provides manual control of the case fans speed / noise.
