SPCR

Greetings,

As I am about to buy an Antec P182 case a question has been troubling me, concerning the TriCool fans and the exterior fan controller situated in the back of the case.

What I wanted to know is if that external switch works exclusively with TriCool fans (using a proprietary interface) or is it an ordinary fan controller with 3-pin connectors? So, if I wanted to replace the TriCools with some Nexus or Papst ventilators would I lose the functionality of the external controller?

Thank you in advance for your kind replies...

The fan control is integrated with the TriCool fans and cannot be removed without destroying the fan. Actually the rear fan control switch is just a small plate to which the controls for the 2 fans in the upper chamber are screwed, the thid fan also has a control but this one is just left hanging in the lower chamber.

/M

Yeah, that's what I suspected...
Practically, if I decide to replace the vents I will be left with a hole in the backplate? How bad are those TriCools when used in "low" speed mode?

Thank you for your reply.

Verbal Kint wrote:Yeah, that's what I suspected...
Practically, if I decide to replace the vents I will be left with a hole in the backplate?

You got it. You could always leave the switch block mounted in the back, but just cut the wires off from the fans.

The size of the switch block/hole in the back is (WxH) 1.5"x0.5". I measured. The switch block is mounted to the case with two screws. You could always cover it up with some thin noise dampening material, from the inside or outside.

How bad are those TriCools when used in "low" speed mode?

By "bad" you mean what? Noisy?

I'm an advocate of Nexus 120mm fans, and I'll tell you that the TriCools on low speed are about as audible as a Nexus -- e.g. practically nil. On medium, you definitely hear them, but the noise resembles that of whooshing air and not fan blades spinning/whining. On high, they sound more like your usual fans that make a lot of noise.

If you want some audio samples, I'll see what I can do, but you'll have to wait until I get a new PSU with cables that can reach from the bottom of the case to the very top-right corner of a mounted motherboard. My case is open with all sorts of cables dangling out of it, so the noise floor would be quite high...

koitsu wrote:You got it. You could always leave the switch block mounted in the back, but just cut the wires off from the fans.

Yeah, if and when I do exchange them with different fans I will probably do exactly that. Thanks for the dimensions of the hole.

By "bad" you mean what? Noisy?

I'm an advocate of Nexus 120mm fans, and I'll tell you that the TriCools on low speed are about as audible as a Nexus -- e.g. practically nil. On medium, you definitely hear them, but the noise resembles that of whooshing air and not fan blades spinning/whining. On high, they sound more like your usual fans that make a lot of noise.

Yeah, bad == noisy for me. )
From what I have read in the last few days I guess I won't be needing that much airflow on those two fans so I can expect quiet operation from the TriCools set at low speed, it seems.

If you want some audio samples, I'll see what I can do, but you'll have to wait until I get a new PSU with cables that can reach from the bottom of the case to the very top-right corner of a mounted motherboard. My case is open with all sorts of cables dangling out of it, so the noise floor would be quite high...

Thank you very much for your kind offer but it won't be necessary. I trust your judgment and I liked your comparison with the Nexus and the descriptions of their perceived sound levels.

Cheers!

Just to clarify, at least on the P182 I got, the switch plate is screwed onto the back case plate. If you want to remove it, you can just unscrew it. The switches are hardwired to the tricool fans, but they un-clip from the switch plate - no cutting or permanent damage need result, unless...

My question is does anyone know if the switch and wire from the tri-cool fans can be grafted on to a different fan (such as a 120mm Nexus Real Silent Case Fan)?

I don't know the first thing about electrical wiring, but if it's pretty simple step by step instructions, I have wire cutters, a soldering iron and electrical tape.

If not possible, I'll just use fanmates.

I guess you will have to use fanmates... or better, mobo fan control with speedfan

You can unscrew the switch holder and then pull out the seperate switches, no need to destroy anything. I have my Tricools sitting somewhere in full working order, would be a shame to cut them out and 'ruin' the fan when it's totally unnessecary.

God I hope koitsu didn't cause some Tricools to be destroyed with that misleading post.

This is what I did: I unscrewed the switch holder, removed the switches, covered the outside of the switch holder with black electrical tape then screwed it back into the case. It looks great, if you didn't know better you'd think the case had simply been designed with a piece of black plastic on that spot.