# Fan wiring question



## wilson44512 (Jul 28, 2006)

so i dont get this screwed up can some one help me wire this up right. i plan on adding this fan to the top of my case to help blow out more hot air. and im going to use this controler. but it dont come with very good direction.

in this pic here i have the plugin numbered. #1 is no brainer Do i need to plug in #2? And the directions say Plug #3 into the mother board? But where. and does it matter this only has a 3 pin
plug?

directions?

::EVERCOOL Thermal Co., Ltd. ::











i wonder if i could plug it in where it says CPU fun. since the CPU is water cooled. and pluged it at the right? does it matter if it is a 4 pin and the fan and cooler control is a 3 pin?


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## Panther063 (Jul 13, 2009)

Assuming the liquid cooling pump connecter also powers the fan attached to the radiator then you don't need to connect number 2, you connect number 3 plug to the motherboard where it shows three pin connecter at number 30 in the diagram or the four pin connecter, it will only fit one way on that one.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Plugs #1 and #2: These are either/or. Allows you to power the fan from a 3/4 pin motherboard header or from a four pin Molex connector. Tie off #2 and tuck it away.

#3: Plug this into any convenient 3 or 4 pin motherboard header. You will probably want to disable BIOS control of that particular header.

FYI: The 4 pin headers are keyed such that they will accept a 3 pin plug in the correct orientation. The fourth (unused) pin supplies a PWM signal, used to control the speed of a 4 wire fan.


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

Curious?!? What is the 2nd image of? A back plate or something? I assume that is a factory built computer - what is the brand and model number? I ask because I don't recall ever seeing a second CPU fan header like that and wonder what that connection is for. I note the motherboard has a CPU fan header (Item #3).


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## wilson44512 (Jul 28, 2006)

i notice that on my board the #30 is in a different spot










The second image show the inside of the top of the case


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

#30 is for the chipset/system (often called "northbridge) fan. Not the CPU fan. And not all motherboard use a chipset fan - some just use "passive" cooling (big heatsink only) and not "active" cooling (heatsink and fan).


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## wilson44512 (Jul 28, 2006)

i found out what that 3 pin cpu fan on the motherboard and that rail is for. its for the fan thats on the back of the pc with the radiator.. and it dont have a steady 12V power. so today im going to go out and see if i can get this adapter to see if that works?


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

So Panther was spot on when he mentioned the radiator pump. 

But I still don't see why you need that adapter. You should be able to plug the small connector to the fan header labeled #30 - unless your chipset uses a fan and it already connected there.


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## Panther063 (Jul 13, 2009)

wilson44512 said:


> i found out what that 3 pin cpu fan on the motherboard and that rail is for. its for the fan thats on the back of the pc with the radiator.. and it dont have a steady 12V power. so today im going to go out and see if i can get this adapter to see if that works?


The CPU fan connector you have circled in the picture will not have a steady 12v as it is PWM controlled, Bill_Bright would be the man with the experience to explain how that works.


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

Do the instructions for the radiator tell you anything? If not control, the fan will run full speed all the time. That is generally not desirable because of the fan noise.


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