I just realized that only one chassis fan header works on my mobo. It is too late to RMA or do anything about it too. So I want to connect 5 of my fans to one fan header using splitters. I've tried it and all the fans work and turn on, but is it safe? Each fan is approximately .4 amps.
five fans on one header, huh that's interesting, do you have a splitter that supports five or are they just split off on one wire that splits over and over?
I've blown fan controllers by using too many splitters before. I wouldn't suggest doing that. I would say to get a controller hub of some sort. There are controllers which take in the signal and are powered and can do what you want basically, but I am not too knowledgeable about it. I just grabbed a sentry mix 2 when I was in your shoes. The Grid+ that I ordered got sent back after it stopped working. Didn't want to bother with that crappy software again after that, so I just went manual. Anyway, I am sure that there are other options available that won't draw too much power from your one fan header.
.4 amps is a bit on the high side, especially if they are 120mm fans. You may be comfortable with splitting two, and three would be the maximum I would do.
There is a pretty wide range of amperage with fans. The Noctua NF-F12 only takes 0.05 (!) amps to operate at full tilt, while a lot of other fans take between 0.20 and 0.40. A lot of factors go into this, and it isn't just a question of quality, because I believe Cougar Vortex fans, and Be Quiet! Silent Wings 2 fans both take around 0.20 amps, and the latter is of especially stupid-good design.
Arctic Cooling F12 PWM fans come with a "daisy-chain" adapter - built in PWM-splitting; just an interesting note. Anyway, The NZXT Sentry Mix 2 is a pretty good, and affordable, fan controller unit. Take a look.
5 off one will work but it is a bit of a gamble - if you do run them at 5v or 7v. I tend to only go at most 3 fans per header. Just grab a few molex to 3pin adapters (any local pc store would give you a few for nothing if you ask nicely).
Yes. I'm using four splitters I had laying around to connect then to the one header. I will be getting molex connectors for the fans, but I want to know if it's safe to run the computer for a week and not short the mother board or break the headers in that time.
Okay. Thanks. Ill be getting molex connectors to prevent that. But can I still use the PC with the fans on for a week while I wait for them to come in?
I'm running 3x SP120s (low rpm quiet edition) off of my single CPU fan header.
It hasn't died and it's been over a year. I'm lucky
Mine was fine for a few weeks and then burned out randomly. It might be fine, it might not. I just have no idea, but I wouldn't want to chance it.
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