I'm not a fan of the fanmate!

davids · Post by **davids** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:48 am

Connecting either of my two Panaflo fans to the Zalman Fanmate 2, results in the same outcome- the fans come on for a couple of seconds and then go off.

Have tried connecting both fans direct to the m/boards 12v fan header and they work. This is the same fan header as the Zalman was connected to before. Not sure what the problem is. Perhaps the Zalman is faulty?

ultraboy · Post by **ultraboy** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:11 pm

What kind of setting you had on Fanmate when the fan stoped. If it was at minimum, you might want to try at maximum first to see whether it works. If fan works, then it means your fans do not start at low voltage (it's about 5v for Fanmate at lowest setting). If fans still do not work at Fanmate highest setting - then you've got a faulty Fanmate.

Another thing to check is whether you have any software fan control working on that fan header - it might be a combination of software fan control (or bios for that matter) and low setting on Fanmate that together give to low voltage for fan to start.

Good luck.

davids · Post by **davids** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 1:25 am

thanks
I did try the fanmate at both settings (5 and 12) but I'll double check and try again.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:53 pm

If one turns a Fan Mate to the max. setting, it effectively lowers the source voltage by ~1,5 volts (e.g. 12V -> 10,5V).

As ultraboy mentioned, the motherboard header might not output 12V all the time - try using one of the other fan headers in the motherboard.

Cheers,

Jan

davids · Post by **davids** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:13 am

Thanks.

As far as I'm aware, there is only one other fan header, which is being used by the AMD CPU fan. Is it safe to change them over?

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:48 am

Most likely the CPU fan header also has similar fan control.

There might also be some sort of fail-safe RPM monitoring feature on the CPU fan header. Most likely your Panaflos don't have a (functional) RPM lead, so you could get anything from a warning message/beep to a total shutdown if you plug the Panaflo to the CPU header. Normally this feature can be turned off in BIOS and/or bypassed in the post screen (something like "press F1 to continue").

You have a few options:
1. Get a 4-pin to 3-pin adapter, and use the Fan Mate with it.
2. Check the BIOS whether the fan control can be disabled for the second header and use the Fan Mate.
3. Skip the Fan Mate altogether and connect the Panaflo straight to the motherboard's header.

3rd option assumes that there is a fan control in the MB header and thus the voltage should be in the right ballpark to begin with. There might be some controls in the BIOS to fine tune the controller, or you could even experiment with SpeedFan.

Cheers,

Jan

davids · Post by **davids** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:10 am

Nice one! Will investigate those options.

davids · Post by **davids** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:09 am

In the BIOS, under PC Health Check, there is the option to enable or disable the CPU fan control. It is currently enabled and with the fan High Temp set to 65 c, the med to 60 and the low to 55.

There does not appear to be any way of changing the voltage in the BIOS for either of the two mobo's fan headers (one of which the CPU fan uses).

And there is no physical way of altering the voltages on the m/board itself (i.e no controls next to either of the fan headers).

I have already tried directly connecting the Panaflo to the one free fan header and it appears to run at a solid 12 volts (as its noisy).

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:43 am

See my experiences with the BIOS fancontrol of the MSI RS480M2-IL. I believe your RX480M2-IL uses (almost) the same BIOS.

In the versions I tested there was a bug that set the speed of the SYS fan to the same setting as that of the CPU fan on startup. They may have fixed it in a newer version, or they may not have.

SpeedFan does work with this board if you want more control or just want to see what speed the headers are set at.

davids · Post by **davids** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:29 am

Hello

My bios (version 6.00PG July 2005) does not have the facility to change the CPU and SYS voltages. It only has the basic trip points. Funny, I seem to remember having them before!- perhaps I was using a different bios version.

I've no idea whether or not I've a rev.E A64 chip or a winchester. 'System Information' says that it is X86 Family 15 Model 31 Stepping 0.

Not sure where to go from here.

cpemma · Post by **cpemma** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:10 pm

The Fanmate is such a cut-down design weird things can happen, especially with a supply from a thermally-controlled motherboard fan header. LM7805 datasheet recommends small capacitors at input & output to reduce risk of oscillation, etc.

Should work OK from a spare Molex.

davids · Post by **davids** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:57 pm

cpemma wrote:The Fanmate is such a cut-down design weird things can happen, especially with a supply from a thermally-controlled motherboard fan header. LM7805 datasheet recommends small capacitors at input & output to reduce risk of oscillation, etc.

Should work OK from a spare Molex.

Not sure I'm quite with you on the significance of the LM7805 datasheet or the spare molex. Non capisco!

cpemma · Post by **cpemma** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:09 pm

davids wrote:
cpemma wrote:The Fanmate is such a cut-down design weird things can happen, especially with a supply from a thermally-controlled motherboard fan header. LM7805 datasheet recommends small capacitors at input & output to reduce risk of oscillation, etc.

Should work OK from a spare Molex.
Not sure I'm quite with you on the significance of the LM7805 datasheet or the spare molex. Non capisco!

A Fanmate 2 contains an LM7805 5V regulator, a fixed resistor and a variable resistor, wired up as shown below (R2 is made a variable) but without the capacitors C1, C2 and 1N4001 safety diode. Gives 5V-10.5V adjustable output.

.

A 'spare' molex is one currently unemployed. 'Going spare' as in idle, rather than put out.

davids · Post by **davids** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:22 pm

Thanks.

So going on what's been said already in this thread, do you think it's a case of a dodgy fanmate or some sort of fail-safe RPM monitoring feature on the CPU fan header?

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:45 pm

Thanks for the info, that's interesting. I always wondered what was inside a Fanmate.

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:07 pm

davids wrote:So going on what's been said already in this thread, do you think it's a case of a dodgy fanmate or some sort of fail-safe RPM monitoring feature on the CPU fan header?

If you install SpeedFan, as suggested earlier in the thread, then you can see if the fanheader operates normally (=100%).

davids · Post by **davids** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:49 pm

Thanks Tibors

Yes, I did note your suggestion about Speedfan. I tried the programme a few months ago and was unable to understand how to use it!:? But there's no harm in giving it another try. I need to see if the header is sending out 12 volts or not.