# Confused about Fan Controllers



## upscaleDM (Aug 22, 2013)

Hello, I'm a little (actually a lot) confused about what fan controller I can use.   

I'm setting up a new water cooled system with a radiator and 3-6 Noctua PWM fans to cool it. I definitely want to be able to adjust the fan speeds as well as a PWM water pump running my coolant.

Do I need a PWM fan controller to adjust PWM fan and pump speeds or will a non PWM fan controller do?

I can only find one PWM fan controller. The Zalman ZM-MFC3 Multi-Fan Speed Controller / Temp Monitor, but it only has one four pin PWM channel.
::: Zalman, leading the world of Quiet Computing Solutions :::

I'd prefer to get the Lamptron 30W - 6 Channel Aluminum Rheobus controller, but I don't know if it can properly control the four pin Noctua fans, or the pump speed for that matter.
FC5 v3 | LamptronLamptron

Thanks for any response/suggestions.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

If you are going to use manual control is does not make a lot of difference if you use a PWM or Non-PWM controller, personally I prefer automatic controls and using the bios settings to create presets, a manual fan control will hooked directly to the power supply will not have to be PWM as you are controlling the voltage.
As for the pump what set up are you looking at using generally they run a constant speed.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

You may control a PWM motor with a non-PWM controller. However, as a non-PWM controller controls the speed of the motor by varying the voltage supplied to it, a PWM motor may sometimes fail to start.

FYI: In PWM (*Pulse* *W*idth *M*odulation) control, full voltage is supplied to the motor, but it is supplied as a series of high frequency 'pulses'. Speed is varied by increasing/decreasing the width of the ON pulse.


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## upscaleDM (Aug 22, 2013)

Wrench97 said:


> As for the pump what set up are you looking at using generally they run a constant speed.


I'm intending on using one of these. 
Bitspower D5 / MCP655 Pump Mod Kit + Mod Top V2 w/ Swiftech PWM Pump Installed - FrozenCPU.com

I've read in several places that PWM controlled devices are quieter and the fans I'm going to be running in push/pull on the radiator, I'll be playing around with lower speeds.

And yup, this pump costs a whole lot of money, but I'm not married and I don't own a car, so I have to spend my money on something. :rofl:


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## upscaleDM (Aug 22, 2013)

gcavan said:


> You may control a PWM motor with a non-PWM controller. However, as a non-PWM controller controls the speed of the motor by varying the voltage supplied to it, a PWM motor may sometimes fail to start.


Yeah, I'm in the middle of trying to educate myself on PWM and what it can do. As far as motors sometimes not starting go, that's a non-starter with me.

I'm intending to go with all reasonably high end components with this system. Obviously, I'll have some kinks to work out. I'm trying to get most of them organized before I experience them during actual use.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The MCP655 pump itself is a two wire pump that attaches to 4 pin molex connector from the power supply, so I do not see how it is PWM controlled. 
The fans on the other hand most likely are 4 wire PWM controlled.


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## upscaleDM (Aug 22, 2013)

Wrench97 said:


> The MCP655 pump itself is a two wire pump that attaches to 4 pin molex connector from the power supply, so I do not see how it is PWM controlled.


Apparently it's a MCP655 PWM variant with a BitsPower mod kit attached. However, there's no mention of a PWM pump on Swiftech's website so I've queried them and awaiting a response.

Alphacool HF D5 Top - Black Acetal w/ Swiftech MCP655-PWM Pump Installed - FrozenCPU.com


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It's a shame they don't just show us the plugs on the end of the wire harness in the images....................


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## upscaleDM (Aug 22, 2013)

Wrench97 said:


> It's a shame they don't just show us the plugs on the end of the wire harness in the images...............


Here you go. Several of the images shows four wires.

Swiftech MCP655-PWM-DRIVE 12v Water Pump Module - PWM Enabled (Single Version) - FrozenCPU.com


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

There you go a 4 pin molex for power and a 4 pin pwm connector for control.


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## upscaleDM (Aug 22, 2013)

Wrench97 said:


> There you go a 4 pin molex for power and a 4 pin pwm connector for control.


I received the following message back from Swiftec.

"This is a pump that is sold exclusively by Frozen CPU. I hope this answers your question and thank you for your interest in our products."

So, there you go. There really is a PWM pump for water cooling.


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