Electricians!: Need help on re-wiring some fans.

[Fleck]

Alright, so as I have mentioned before, I am still using a plain vanilla case from before they even came in black. I have been running it without panels or fans and I finally decided to put it back together. Here it is in all its enemy-to-heat glory:



Alright, so I am now planning on modding old faithful here. Right now she's got one 80MM exhaust fan and it hasn't done anything for temps. There IS a place for an intake fan at the bottom of the front, believe it or not, and that's where me needing wiring help comes in. (Don't worry, I've already thought of modding the cover plate with a grille for [better] flow)

Check out the plug on this old case fan, probably as old or older than the case itself (next to the A64 system that the currently installed fan came from):



WTF is that? Did they even have those plugs in ATX boards? It could also be an old power supply fan, from a busted power supply, like this 120MM fan that came off my old fried PSU:



It's a sexy beast (albeit filthy as All Hell), but once again, THIS one only uses only TWO wires, which is the part that freaks me out, because I'm wondering if I can even make that work with a 3-plug connector.

In case you're wondering, here is the donor of the modern style plug:



Yeah, the one fan that is from back in the K7 days actually has the newer connector. I did briefly think about using it as my GPU HSF, but I'll be moving this 8600 in my non-intensive Linux box soon enough anyway.

Now, I think I get the basics here, but correct me if I'm wrong. On the 80MM fan with the 3 plugs, the colors basically correspond, black, red, (neg, pos), and white would match the yellow. I'm pretty sure I could plug that in and it would work. (I actually had a tech once convert all my fans to molex when a power surge killed my on-board plugs, so I know it has to work, if I have the technique down).

Now my question about the white, or yellow in new fans/molex connectors, is this a ground? I am wondering if I can get away with connecting the 120MM fan to a molex male that I have, but I would have to connect the red to the red, the black to the blacks, and just cap off the yellow?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

[Fleck]

Fixed, sorry.

[AsRock]

Here's the 3 pin stuff if your replacing \ changing the plugs
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/femopi.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/3pinheaderkit.html

I take it you have a soldering iron \ soldier and flux.

While your at that get some cable sleeving too
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/cucutle18exs.html

O yeah if ordered of this site pick the cheaper postage if it's not to heavy.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/fancuca.html

[Fleck]

Originally Posted by AsRock

Here's the 3 pin stuff if your replacing \ changing the plugs
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/femopi.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/3pinheaderkit.html

I take it you have a soldering iron \ soldier and flux.

While your at that get some cable sleeving too
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/cucutle18exs.html

O yeah if ordered of this site pick the cheaper postage if it's not to heavy.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/fancuca.html

Ooh, thanks. I actually won't be needing to buy anything as I'll just be re-wiring existing connectors together. But I do appreciate that this info is there: "Black(ground), Red(+12v), Blue/White/Yellow(RPM)" and this "allows users to convert a 2/4-wire fan to 3-wire by simply soldering the appropriate wires into the female pins". That is ace!

I guess for the 120MM fan I just won't have an RPM reading. No biggie I guess.

[Fleck]

My only question now is do I wire both blacks on the Molex to the single black on the 120MM fan or do I wire only one black and just cap off the other? I'm concerned about the effects of this.

[Thermopylae_480]

Run them straight off a molex and into a potentiometer or two and you can manually control the fan's RPMs if you want. That's what I did to make my own fan controller; I have two fans on pots and two on a switch to turn off if I chose.

[Thermopylae_480]

Originally Posted by Fleck

My only question now is do I wire both blacks on the Molex to the single black on the 120MM fan or do I wire only one black and just cap off the other? I'm concerned about the effects of this.

Just cap off one of the blacks.

[Fleck]

Originally Posted by Thermopylae_480

Just cap off one of the blacks.

Awesome, that's the way I would have gone based off the connectors made at the site that AsRock linked to. Thanks so much!

[The_Real_DeaL31]

hehe, i had the same case, worked like a charm, but i didn't like the fact the back side would only allow 80mm fans, for the side cover its all closed, if i were u cut it out install some plexiglass, then paint whole chassis, i would of but my ex ripped me off, for a am2+ system i built for her jsut to borrow for her son

[Fleck]

Originally Posted by The_Real_DeaL31

hehe, i had the same case, worked like a charm, but i didn't like the fact the back side would only allow 80mm fans, for the side cover its all closed, if i were u cut it out install some plexiglass, then paint whole chassis, i would of but my ex ripped me off, for a am2+ system i built for her jsut to borrow for her son

oh yeah, well on the side of the case, i'm gonna put the 120mm blowing straight in... gonna have to cut things up a little bit

[The_Real_DeaL31]

if u need some pointers for the case let me know, good luck