guide to changing fan connectors?

[Hicks12]

Well basically i have had 3 yate loon fans for awhile and can finally use them on a new rx360 rad, problem is that they all have 4pin molex connectors (i dont want full power!) So to run them on my fan controller i would need to change them to a 3pin connection. Better yet i would like to run them all in one cable with one connector.

Anyone got a guide or something to show me how to do this?. Would be nice to get sorted while waiting for citylink to deliver my new ek waterblock .

[jimbouk]

You can run them on 5V or 7V using a 4 pin molex with a bit of ingenuity - they'll be a guide on the tinterweb as to exactly how to do it but it essentially boils down to rearranging the pins on the a connector (just don't plug it into any other components than fans afterwards!

Molex to 3-pin fan connector conversions would just be a chop and splice job, I wouldn't run them off one header though as it would be 3x the expected power draw.

[Funkstar]

Some good tools here that might help you out:

Deluxe Crimp Tool for Molex Pins
ACRyan Molex Extractor Tool Male / Female
OEM Extraction Tool 20pin ATX

They also have all kinds of connector blocks and pins

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/..._Molex_66.html

[Pob255]

I take it you mean you want to rewire the fans so all 3 can be used on the rad and powered off a single 3pin header connected to a fan controller? if is then the answer is a simple yes.
You'll need a pair of wire cutters, a soldering Iron, solder and a 3pin fan connector and pins (got any old unused fans knocking about?)
Heat shrink would be good to to cover the joints.

You want to cut and strip the ends of the cables for all 3 fans (do they have 3 wires or only two?)
You then cut off the cable from the old fan (cut it at the fan end for most cable) now just solder together all the red wires and all the black wires, if your fans have a yellow speed monitor wire then you only want to solder one of these to the yellow wire from the 3pin plug.

That's it basically, you can of course wire them together in stages i.e. wire fan one to fan 2, wire fan 2 to fan 3 and then wire fan 3 to the 3pin connector.
Also remember to put the bit of heat shrink on before soldering, because once you've chained fans together like this there's no way to put heat shrink on.

However before you plu them into your fan controller make sure it can handle the combined load. (amp) the ampage for each fan should be listed on the sticker on the back of the fan