Fan controls

[Maverike-prime]

hey all, anyone know a way to wire in a control switch to an ANTEC LED-Tricool 80mm fan? Basically, what I want to do is be able to turn off the blue LEDs with out turning off the fan itself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[AJ@PR]

Well, ... I'm unsure....

If you don't care much for the fan, just yank-out the LEDs.

If you do such a thing, please snap before/after pics, and post them here. :)

I think the LEDs are wired into the fan input lines... think...

[dgrmkrp]

i don't have a tri-cool led fan to play with now, but if they are like normal led fans, you just have to trace the + input of the leds and put a switch in series there.. this way, you can turn them off :) put some pics up so we can see what u do:)

[Maverike-prime]

Well, ... I'm unsure....

If you don't care much for the fan, just yank-out the LEDs.

If you do such a thing, please snap before/after pics, and post them here. :)

I think the LEDs are wired into the fan input lines... think...

We'll here's the situation, I think a jet black case would look with a blue glow from from it. However, since said case will be residing in my parents living room, I need to make a compromise. Hence the desire for a switch.

[SgtM]

i don't have a tri-cool led fan to play with now, but if they are like normal led fans, you just have to trace the + input of the leds and put a switch in series there.. this way, you can turn them off :) put some pics up so we can see what u do:)

He's right. Since the LED's get thier power from the fan leads, you will have to essentially intersect the positive leads with your swith. Maybe getting CCFL's or that neon wire would be easier. CCFL's/neon wire = simple solution. Modding fans = time consuming, but what we're all about here.

[Maverike-prime]

Okay, now I'm stumped. I took the fan and one by one cut the wires trying to determine which would cut out of the LEDs but not stop the fan. Here's what I found:
Wire 1: No effect
wire 2: Fan Stops, LEDs stop
Wire 3: Fan Stops, LEDs stop

any insight anyone?

[AJ@PR]

Okay, now I'm stumped. I took the fan and one by one cut the wires trying to determine which would cut out of the LEDs but not stop the fan. Here's what I found:
Wire 1: No effect
wire 2: Fan Stops, LEDs stop
Wire 3: Fan Stops, LEDs stop

any insight anyone?

I think you're cutting the 'fan' wires...

Can you cut the LED's wires?
I mean, look at the LED straight in the face...
Tell him You're going down h0m3z!...
Trace the wires that give him power...
Cut those suckers out...
Watch him go night-night...
Say Hasta la vista, Baby...

[Maverike-prime]

Those three wires are all there are. Well those and the three leading to the fan speed control, but I tried those as well and they have no effect on weather the fan or LEDs is on.

[dgrmkrp]

well... actually.. those the fan wires.. but you have to think in terms of electronics.. inside, the fan has several coils, circuits and the leds who need power.. basically, the leds are not affected by the fan speed control with this design because they are separated from the fan motor.. not important in this case, but nice :) what u need to do is look at the fan from it's side.. or from it's bottom.. different manufacturers use different techniques.. that said, look where the leds are.. they should have 2 tiny legs and wires/traces going somewhere from there :) one is the +, the other is ground.. the + is the one u wanna intersect and it usually has 2 things to make it obvious it's the +: it has a resistance in series to limit the current the led "sees" or you look at the led and the smaller horse-head/tower-shaped "thingy" inside the led is the "plus-thingy"... that is the wire you wanna intercept... and, of course, if u wish to switch the leds one by one.. you can stop here.. or you can trace the wire down to the source.. which is somewhere on the back of the motor, on a pcb :)
hope i helped,
happy modding :D

[slytherock]

If it's the kind of fan I'm thinking of, it may be difficult to do (doable but difficult). Those leds seems to be powered, not by the PSU, but by the fan itself. When fan spin, it work like a dynamo, wich mean that the only way you can accomplish this is to open the fan, find a way to plug a switch between the dynamo and the leds...

My bad, I just checked teh fan in question, and it can be done with only 2 little soldering. Ok, what you have to do is:
1- there is a (probably green) wire going all around the fan. Find the ends of it, it's probably connected to the actual wires.
2- unsolder ONE of them, it can be the black or the red one, it doesnt matter.
3- connect you switch (or the wires leading to the switch) to it
4- Et voila!!!

Have fun

[AJ@PR]

Just grab the little mo fker with some pliers and crush him to d347h...
That'll teach him...

[Maverike-prime]

Ah, okay. On a much much closer inspection then I originally performed I found the LEDs and I found how they get their power. Each of the three LEDs has a seperate connection a circuit board situated directly behind the motor of the fan. THat's the good news.
The bad News, I see no way to get at those connections with out like taking a drill to the back of the fan to crack the plastic. Lemme try and use my phone to snap some pics and I'll post em. maybe one of you will see something I'm missing.

[Maverike-prime]

okay here's a pic, please excuse crappy quality. Phone camera and all that.http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/fan.jpg
The contacts circled in red at marked at the possitive leads while the green lines show the wirling through the body of the fan itself. The wiring is exposed on the underside of the fan struts, HOWEVER, they're blocked by the fan itself. If I could get the blasted fan free of the housing, I could get the wiring with out trouble. Any idea here?
{and please don't tell me to take a hammer to it, that just kinda defeats the purpose}

[slytherock]

I think you took the problem on the wrong side. The leds are outside the motor, right? You dont need to go inside the fan, get as near as possible to the leds. Have you any pics from the outside of the fan? (sided view)

[dgrmkrp]

hmm... 10ks for the pic.. now let's solve your problem step by step :D
.. in this case, there is not much u can do because the "root" of the leds is actually a trace on the pcb.. that is what u have to cut in a place and solder 2 wires there to install a switch :) if u are handy with a solder gun.. no problem :)

now, how to take the fan apart...? see the black rubber cap in the middle? you can take that off.. inside you'll see the axle and a white(hopefully) plastic circle around it.. take a sharp thing and take that thing off the axle.. then simply remove the fan itself and... you can access what u want :)

of course, i don't know how you can take the pcb out.. right now. more pics of the results u get will help tho, as i'm thinking of several possibilities of how it is mounted (glued probably).. so, try again and never give up.. if in doubt, google and ask questions :)

[Maverike-prime]

okay, here's a pic tracing out the lins the LED lines take. I donno, it might help.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/fan-leds.jpg

As you can see, the the leadsfor the LED are soldered to the board. Not a problem to splice in a switch with that information, however, the contacts are covered by a sheet of plastic (Foot note: Antec Fans, bad idea for modding)
But the lead then travels down the support strut for the fan and then meets with the LED in the mounting of the body.

but I did manage to take off the cap (It actually pops off if you poke it with something :dead: ) however, I don't see an axel lock of any sort.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/1221060817.jpg
Thinking maybe the axel is built into the body, I peeled the ANTEC logo sticker off the reverse side to see if there was anything. Once more, just a plastic shield.

(Dear lord Antec builds their fans tough! Now I'm glad all the fans in my main comp are Antec :) )

[slytherock]

I may have a solution, but it may be tricky.
1- remove the fan blade from the fan socket.
2- unsolder the wires from the fan to the leds.
3- remove the cricuit from the socket.
4- check if the circuit put the leds in serial or in paralell
5- If the leds are in serial:
solder a switch from the circuit and back to the leds
If the leds are in paralell:
You will need to find where the circuit separate the leds and solder the switch just before it split.
6- put the fan all back together
7- Cross your finger....

[Maverike-prime]

Now that I know where and how the LEDs are wired in, I can connect a switch with little difficulty. The problem comes from the dissasembly of the fan part. I can't tell how to disassemble the body.

[slytherock]

There's a little pin behind the blade. Push the blade inside the socket, delicatly, remove the click DONT LOSE IT!!! And make sure you dont bend it. Be carefull, there's also a spring in it... Now that the blade is off, it will be no problem to remove the circuit.

[Maverike-prime]

do you see said pin in one of the pics I posted? I don't see anything.

[slytherock]

There's a retention clip in the middle of the fan, it's the clip in question, it can be removed...