Fan and light controller?

golemB · Post by **golemB** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 12:07 pm

Are there fan controllers that also support dimming / switching a cold cathode tube that is hooked to a 4 pin Molex connector? I'd love to be able to turn off the CC tube at night without opening the case and unplugging the connector.

Is it better to have automatic temperature-controlled fan speed controller or a manual dial?

Also, how much of a noise difference does it make to cut out the steel fan holes in my PC case and replace with just wire grilles?

(Hope these aren't duplicate questions - I'm new and although I searched, there's so many posts that it's hard to read them all.)

Bat · Post by **Bat** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 4:25 pm

A fan controller with a switch could switch the light on and off. On the other hand, you could just buy a switch. As for dimming, I suppose it would work so long as the light doesn't draw a higher current than the controller can handle, and so long as the light responds well to reduced voltage without turning off too suddently. I'd guess it'd be fine though.

My feeling is that if you have a good temperature-controlled fan speed controller, this is far far better than a manual dial. You would just set a temperature, and the fans would spin just fast enough to keep the temperature at (or below) that value. There seem to be no commercial controllers that do this. FanControl (a member here) has made something. Others of us have been thinking about it.

A lot of folk here feel that it's worth cutting out those holes. Tin snips are good for this.

golemB · Post by **golemB** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 7:12 pm

I did buy just a switch from Radio Shack, and I have an extension cable to mutilate and solder, but the problem is where to mount the switch in an accessible location.

I prefer not to mutilate my case too much (but then with the tin snips I guess it's a long, slippery slope to becoming a crazy modder), so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone by using a fan controller. I don't know how much power the CCFL uses though, so a switch would probably be safer than a voltage pot.

Bat wrote:You would just set a temperature, and the fans would spin just fast enough to keep the temperature at (or below) that value. There seem to be no commercial controllers that do this. FanControl (a member here) has made something. Others of us have been thinking about it.

Actually I found at least two or three such devices advertised (at http://xoxide.com). I don't know if they actually work well or not, maybe SPCR can review them?

Thermaltake has the HardCano 9 and 10 which supposedly have a screwdriver-adjustable target temperature, which is then used to regulate 4 or 2 fans, respectively. (The HardCano 10 has USB and FireWire ports.) And there are also 4 or 2 fan speed pots on the front, so I am really not sure how it interacts with the supposed auto-control.

They also boast the "Cobalt3 Pyramid II Thermal Fan Controller" which sits inside your case and, based on its temperature probe at its tip, controls 3-6 of your fans, presumably to maintain some preset target temperature. There are no adjustments on this device and the probe is only at the tip of the little pyramid.

So I don't know how useful those devices are. Anyone played with these or similar ones? In both cases, it's not totally clear if the auto control is a simple on-off, has a small number of finite voltage steps, or is truly based on a pot.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:21 pm

golemB wrote:I don't know how much power the CCFL uses though, so a switch would probably be safer than a voltage pot.

Out of curiosity I tested the 12" CCFL kit from SVC once. I tried it with one and two white tubes (the inverter has dual outputs), and measured the current draw with a digital multimeter. With one tube it draws approximately 200mA at about 11.5V (I was using an external supply), and two tubes roughly twice that. Tubes of other colors may be different, but shouldn't differ by too much.

One phenomenon I noticed was that as the tube warmed up, it starts to draw more and more current. The 200mA figure is after about 10 min.

Incidentally, the SVC kit comes with a switch. But you'd still need to drill a hole somewhere to install it.

Disclaimer: I'm not associated in any way with SVC other than as a customer.

ruprag · Post by **ruprag** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 2:34 am

Many cases have "extra" holes at the back where you can fit a small switch.

Just use a small switch and screw it stuck somewhere in back

I did that with my 5/12v switch before I got a Zalman MFC1.

golemB · Post by **golemB** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 2:00 am

ruprag, I wound up snipping out a larger hole in the back of the case to stick in the switch - it ain't perfect but it works.

Anybody yet seen reviews on the HardCano?

golemB · Post by **golemB** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 10:24 am

golemB wrote:Anybody yet seen reviews on the HardCano?

http://www.furioustech.com/hardcano9/Index.php

Sigh... I guess this thing doesn't have auto control, I guess I misread the initial description. The "target temperature" is only a threshhold for the alarm function.

The pyramid (if this is the same model) is reviewed here: http://www.3dxtreme.org/Jab-Tech_Pyrami ... r_p2.shtml

That one seems to have only two settings: 40% and 100%, with a low threshold of 18 degrees C.

So FanControl, looks like you have a market waiting for you, if you go commercial!