Can I take LED's OFF of a fan?

[GrimReality]

My previous case was a big bright windowed mistake. I didn't take into account when buying it that while it looks kinda cool, it really sucks if you plan on leaving it on overnight in a room that you sleep in. So I made sure my next case wasn't anything like that, and I'm now trying to mod it to fit more fans inside. Anyway, I've got 3 LED fans left over from my old case that are sitting around doing nothing and I figure as soon as I make the holes in my new case for more fans, it would nifty if I could save myself some cash by disabling the LED's on my old fans and using them on my new case. They work perfectly fine, I just can't stand the lights. Is there anyway I could just snip the wires going to the LED lights or would that disable the whole fan by cutting the current?

I don't think this is my exact fan but its the right brand and size and the wiring looks the same. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999061

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-999-061-08.jpg
And I just happened to be playing around with the fan right now as I was looking at it and if I spin the fan blades the LED's come on without being plugged in. Does this mean the LED's are powered by the spinning of the fan rather than the electricity coming into the fan?

[Spawn-Inc]

And I just happened to be playing around with the fan right now as I was looking at it and if I spin the fan blades the LED's come on without being plugged in. Does this mean the LED's are powered by the spinning of the fan rather than the electricity coming into the fan?

it means that the leds and fan are connected circuit wise. when you spin the fan the motor creates energy instead of using it.


it would take some fiddling but you might be able to keep the leds and wire in a switch. the 3 wires (in the pictured fan) are 12v, ground, RPM sensor. so adding a switch anyway there wouldn't help.

[Redundant]

Yes, you can simply snip the wires going to the LEDs. Make sure the wires don't short out on each other afterwards. Instead of cutting the wires to the LEDs anywhere, though, break them off or desolder them at the solder joint on the fan circuit board itself.

If you want to add a switch for the LED's only, remove the sticker on the back of the fan. If the LEDs are wired to a common ground, you simply add a switch in between those wires and the circuit board. If they all have separate ground contacts, don't bother with it and just take the LEDs out.

[GrimReality]

Yeah, no need for a switch, I want them permanently off. The only lights I'll ever want on my computer are the Power and HDD activity light.

Thanks guys.