944,008 Members | Top Members by Rank

Hardware and Software > PC Hardware > Cases, Fans and Power Supplies > 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan
Ad: Free Complete UPS Power Management Solution from Spiceworks
Permalink
Mar 31st, 2007
0

3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

Expand Post »
I just bought a new Dell Dimension E521 and want to replace its case fan with a quiet fan. It is a 120mm fan that blows from the front of the case, over the CPU heat sink, and ehausts to the rear.

The fan uses a 5-pin connector to plug in to the mother board. But it only has 4 wires to the fan. The new fan I have in mind only has 3 wires.

Can someone please answer my questions below:

1. What does the 4th wire do? Will I get an alarm if I only use 3 wires to the new fan?
2. Where can I find a 5-pin to 3/4-pin conversion kit?

Thanks.

David
Similar Threads
Reputation Points: 10
Solved Threads: 0
Newbie Poster
vett93 is offline Offline
3 posts
since Mar 2007
Permalink
Apr 1st, 2007
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

The third wire on the fan you want to add is for sense, you don't need this for a case fan. Just connect the fan to a molex connector and let it run at speed.
dcc
Reputation Points: 138
Solved Threads: 36
Posting Virtuoso
dcc is offline Offline
1,525 posts
since Mar 2005
Permalink
Apr 1st, 2007
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

Thanks for the response. However, this case fan blows over the CPU heat sink and graphic card heat sink. The only other fan in the computer is the one in the PSU.

Additionally, if I don't plug the fan to the motherboard, there will be an alarm. The Dell BIOS does not allow you to disable it either.

Any other ideas? Thanks.

David
Reputation Points: 10
Solved Threads: 0
Newbie Poster
vett93 is offline Offline
3 posts
since Mar 2007
Permalink
Apr 2nd, 2007
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

This is another example of Dell being proprietorial. I'm sure that there is some way to shunt those pins on the motherboard, but I have no ideas how. The only thing that I can suggest is to google around to see if there is an adapter.
dcc
Reputation Points: 138
Solved Threads: 36
Posting Virtuoso
dcc is offline Offline
1,525 posts
since Mar 2005
Permalink
Apr 8th, 2007
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

Hi

I have the same problem too. I want to replace the fan but the 5 pin connector is not common. I plan to install the Nexus 120mm fan (model D12SL-12).

Did you find a solution to your problem ?

Thanks for help !

Click to Expand / Collapse  Quote originally posted by vett93 ...
I just bought a new Dell Dimension E521 and want to replace its case fan with a quiet fan. It is a 120mm fan that blows from the front of the case, over the CPU heat sink, and ehausts to the rear.

The fan uses a 5-pin connector to plug in to the mother board. But it only has 4 wires to the fan. The new fan I have in mind only has 3 wires.

Can someone please answer my questions below:

1. What does the 4th wire do? Will I get an alarm if I only use 3 wires to the new fan?
2. Where can I find a 5-pin to 3/4-pin conversion kit?

Thanks.

David
Reputation Points: 10
Solved Threads: 0
Newbie Poster
waltereo is offline Offline
1 posts
since Apr 2007
Permalink
Apr 9th, 2007
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

No, I have not found a solution. I spent hours with Dell tech support and they said that they would get back to me. But I have not heard from them yet.
Reputation Points: 10
Solved Threads: 0
Newbie Poster
vett93 is offline Offline
3 posts
since Mar 2007
Permalink
Aug 3rd, 2008
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

I'm faced with the same issue currently. The fan I bought has its own thermal sensor and only a 3 wire connector. currently I'm running it straight from the power supply and pressing F1 on boot up to ignore the fan error. Since I haven't been able to find a converter cable for this application I'm thinking about making one from the connector of the stock fan. If I make the custom connector I will post and let you know how well it works.
Last edited by Straconis; Aug 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 pm.
Reputation Points: 10
Solved Threads: 0
Newbie Poster
Straconis is offline Offline
5 posts
since Dec 2007
Permalink
Aug 5th, 2008
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

you could leave the original fan plugged in and just move it to a different location then just run a new fan directly from the PSU with the 4pin Molex.

Ideally you need 2 fans anyway. 1 pulling air in the front and one exhausting air out the back.
Reputation Points: 49
Solved Threads: 16
Posting Whiz
jermaghs07 is offline Offline
307 posts
since Jan 2008
Permalink
Aug 5th, 2008
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

about the different pins.

1- the 3wire conector is just the standard one speed fan one hot wire one neutral and a ground

2- the 4wire connector can either be a multi-speed fan or it can have a thermometer on it.

3- The 5pin is juat another stupid way that dell can stop people from using non-Dell parts. therefore if a fan goes out you have to spend $20 to get a fan from dell instead of spending $4 to get a cheaper fan.

hope that helps
Last edited by jermaghs07; Aug 5th, 2008 at 10:55 am.
Reputation Points: 49
Solved Threads: 16
Posting Whiz
jermaghs07 is offline Offline
307 posts
since Jan 2008
Permalink
Aug 8th, 2008
0

Re: 3-/4-/5-pin connector for case fan

Click to Expand / Collapse  Quote originally posted by jermaghs07 ...
about the different pins.

1- the 3wire conector is just the standard one speed fan one hot wire one neutral and a ground

2- the 4wire connector can either be a multi-speed fan or it can have a thermometer on it.

3- The 5pin is juat another stupid way that dell can stop people from using non-Dell parts. therefore if a fan goes out you have to spend $20 to get a fan from dell instead of spending $4 to get a cheaper fan.

hope that helps
The three wire fan has power, ground, and sense.

The four wire fan has power, ground, sense, and PWM control.
(The 4-wire fan has the addition of a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) input signal for switching the power to the fan via an internal mosfet for controlling the speed of the fan.)
Reputation Points: 10
Solved Threads: 6
Junior Poster
4th&3wood is offline Offline
111 posts
since Jan 2008

This thread is more than three months old

No one has posted to this discussion for at least three months. Please let old threads die and do not reply to them unless you feel you have something new and valuable to contribute that absolutely must be added to make the discussion complete. Otherwise, please start a new thread in this forum instead.
Message:
Previous Thread in Cases, Fans and Power Supplies Forum Timeline: TI’s Low Power Chips Save Battery Life, Not the Planet
Next Thread in Cases, Fans and Power Supplies Forum Timeline: problem with cooling fan acer laptop 1640





About Us | Contact Us | Advertise | Acceptable Use Policy
Forum Index | Build Custom RSS Feed


Follow us on Twitter


© 2011 DaniWeb® LLC