3 fans, 1 controller

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:33 pm

i was thinking about getting three SilverStone FM121B fans. they come with controllers of somekind. here's their homepage:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-fm121.htm

i'm getting those because they're the most powerful 120mm fans i could find where i live...

i want to control them all with 1 controller. can i just stuff all the wires into 1 controller or will it overload it?

any better way to do this?

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:45 pm

If you can find out what the maximum power/amperage rating is on that controller, you can multiply the same rating of the fans (0.45A or 5.4W) by three and see if it can handle it. I am going to guess that it may not though, since at full tilt all three fans would be sucking back 1.2 to 1.3 amps in total, which is quite a bit.

You may get away with using one controller if you buy something less powerful than these monster fans (2400 rpm 110cfm?). Assuming you don't always need that much airflow all the time (hence the controller) are you sure you need all that extra capacity?

Of course..... if you buy a different fan you don't get the controller, and even if you just bought one to get the controller you probably shouldn't mix different fans....

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:00 pm

Popular fan controllers, like the Zalmans, handle 6-7W per channel. You would need a T-Balancer to do that.

(three fans, 2400 rpm and double ball..? that's going to be UBERnoisy)

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:05 pm

the fans are rated 39,5DB at max

but i'll build an insane case to help with that. measurements as of now are about H70,W50,D70 cms... this is an experimental case.. basically to see how much i can muffle the sound.

anyway, what on earth is a T-balancer? how does it work? how much does it cost? where can i get 1?

i'm sure i could find some controller that could handle it, but since those fans come with controllers i'd like to know if it's possible. i'm also planning to use the other 2 controllers for 2 other fans! (yes, that's 5 fans in total. nice and quiet.)

also, do those fans suck? i mean are there any clearly quieter ones at the same CFM level? i could order them from somewhere abroad if this is the case.

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:23 pm

T-Balancer is a device that connects via internal USB (IRC) and allows you to control fans plugged into it through software.

I use a Sunbeam Rheobus. 4 channels and 20W each channel.

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:27 pm

A T-Balancer is an advanced fan controller: it's not cheap, might be difficult to get, and has a boatload of options to control your fans (and more). This is the official site and here's madshrimp's review of the current flagship model. The T-Balancer miniNG can handle two different channels up to 100W combined power (PWM, or 25W combined in analog mode); the bigNG handles less power but has four channels and other interesting features.

If the T-Balancer is overkill for your project, a mundane 4-channel controller could do the job, but you'll have to control the fans individually.

Puffi · Post by **Puffi** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:05 am

67â‚¬ is a bit too steep i'm afraid. and i like knobs anyway, they're cyyl...

is there a very simple/cheap controller that u can stick 3 fans into... and control it with 1 knob? everything i can find always control 1 fan with 1 knob...

SST Guy · Post by **SST Guy** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 7:00 pm

Hi Puffi, have you thought about getting our FP33 fan controller? It will allow you to easily control three FM121 fans manually:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-fp33.htm

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:16 am

@Puffi: those 2,400 rpm fans are going to be overkill, and extremely (unbearably) noisy. My advice is to use 1,600 rpm fans, which you could turn down to 650-700 rpm at low load and go upto 1,600 rpm (still very noisy) if and when you really need the extra airflow.

roadie · Post by **roadie** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:13 am

SST Guy wrote:Hi Puffi, have you thought about getting our FP33 fan controller? It will allow you to easily control three FM121 fans manually:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-fp33.htm

The FP33 is a great product! It's good quality and good looking. I chose it over the ugly Akasa fan controller to control the 2 fans at the front of my SOLO and could not be happier.