No native 4-pin fan support?

LK/ELK/VK/PK/OK/MX/GLK/EGLK/GVK/GLT Series

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marscay
LCD?
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

No native 4-pin fan support?

Post by marscay »

Hello


Have just received my matrix orbital 6 series screen and until this problem have been very impressed with the unit.

For the life of me i cannot get my 4-pin 120mm radiator fans to spin up under the device. I am connecting these fans with a 4->3 pin adapter from the fans to a 3-pin extension connecting to the MO. When the LCD powers up the fans spin for a split second and then shutoff completely. The unit has a floppy cable connected and the 12v option is enabled.

I have some other fans which are native 3 & 4 pin and these also wont spin up unless they are connected through the 3pin connection. These fans work with and without the 3 pin extension so i can at least rule out this as the culprit - it just doesn't want to co-operate with a 4->3pin at the fan end.

This setup works perfect under my sunbeam rheobus so i am completely stumped as to why it won't co-operate with the matrix orbital.

can anyone shed some light for this one???

Thnx

Tom
Matrix Orbital
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Post by Tom »

Hi marscay,

Thank you for posting on the forum.

What software are you using to test out the fan?

marscay
LCD?
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

Hi tom


not sure i understand your question entirely or maybe i didn't explain myself as clearly as i thought :) - i am using lcdc within windows and apart from the fan problem the software seems to be working just fine. As i mentioned above i can get fans with a 3pin output working as soon the the machine is powered up but when i have to use a 4 -> 3 pin converter for fans without 3pin output, that's when i have the problem with them not working either at bootup or once windows has loaded.

As far as i can tell everything is configured properly for 12v output to occur through the GPO's as evidenced by the native 3pin fans working.

I really didn't expect to have a problem using 4pin fans - i have 2 different type of rheobus/pwm fan controllers that use these fans just fine. I also tried a different kind of 4pin -> 3pin adapter to no avail.

Does the MO require sensing feedback? ie rpm to operate properly? this is all i can make of it.

Tom
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Post by Tom »

marscay,

The reason why I asked if you tested it with software is because the GPO may be set at a default off, since the fan turned on then off right away. I do see that you got it working with the 3 pin connection plugged in instanty, so I'll rule that out.

Can you check whether you get good continuity going to the pins of the 3 to 4 pin cable? I was thinking there may be a lose connection on the end. The RPM sensing doesn't need to be used to have the fan working.

marscay
LCD?
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

as far as i can tell the connections are good.

i really don't know where to go from here ....the lcd is working with 3pin fans fine ....the 4pin fans work perfect on other fan controllers - i'm at a loss.

if it was just a case of buyins some more 3pin fans i wouldn't hesitate but because i need them for my radiator i need powerful fans and they generally don't come with 3pin connections for obvious reasons.

arghhh! :cry:


is there anything different about your 4->3 pin converters in your store than meets the eye? they have a different configuration to the ones i am using.....it's the only thing i can think of at this stage.

Tom
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Post by Tom »

What is the power rating of your fan?

marscay
LCD?
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

they're .71amps so around 8.5w

but the quiet nexus fans also had trouble if i rigged them up via 4pin instead of 3 and theyre only .3amps ....i did think that way for a little bit that maybe the powerful ones weren't getting enough juice on startup but the nexus behaves the same way through the 4pin routing and perfect through it's 3pin.

somewhere along the line it's just not getting along with the the 2 different sets of 4->3 pin plugs i have tried. i would order the ones from your site if i really though it would be the answer but i am not so sure - although they are wired quite differently to the ones i am using.

Tom
Matrix Orbital
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Post by Tom »

marscay,

Make sure you have a direct connection from pin 2(+12V) of the fan header to the fan, and pin 3(Gnd) to the fan. Since you said your 4->3 pin cable is wired differently. Have you measured the voltage across the fan, when it's plugged into the 4->3 pin cable?

marscay
LCD?
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

tom

i don't have access to a multimeter so i can't verify the voltage but i assume this is where the fault is .....it has to be don't you think?

one of my pin cables is basically a short 4pin->4pin cable with a 3pin offshoot from one of these 4pins, which is different to the cable you have in your store.

i tried earlier to purchase some of your 4/3pin cables but had trouble on your website - after i confirmed purchase i was left with only 1 line of text in the upper left hand corner of the screen. So i am not sure whether this transaction has gone through or not ....i didn't receive any confirmations.

Is it possible for you to look into this? email address used was richard.cohen@lycos.co.uk

thnx for your efforts so far - you guys have great support!!

Tom
Matrix Orbital
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Post by Tom »

marscay,

It looks like a continuity problem with the wiring. I will contact you by email about your transactions.

Best Regards,

marscay
LCD?
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

yep i think you're right

thnx tom

marscay
LCD?
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

tom i have an update :D


thinking further about it last night i ruled out any kind of continuity problems as these would be found out by my other pwm devices.

so i had a look at the bootedit program on the cd and changed the startup frequency of the GPO's and bingo we have action.

just have to find the right figure now to eliminated the pwm buzzing!!!

tom - is there another program or can you use lcdc to enter custom frequency values?

Miles
Matrix Orbital
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Post by Miles »

Unfortunatley the preset values are the only values that are currently available. The limitation of our controller establishes this guideline. We have looked into ways of making the frequency totally customizeable and this will not be available until our next revision. I apologize for any inconvenience and I appreciate the patience you have shown in regards to this matter. :)
Miles Y.
Head of Technical Support
Product Manager
Matrix Orbital

marscay
LCD?
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Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:56 am

Post by marscay »

hi miles

thnx for your response - unfortunately i wasn't able to achieve an acceptable pwm noise within the available choices with these fans. for some reason they just didn't co-operate with the MO device under pwm as well as my other fanbus controllers, however i had some slightly weaker (90cfm instead of 120cfm) fans which are working perfect (no buzzing etc) with the unit so no drama.

Paradigm
Matrix Orbital
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Post by Paradigm »

That is what I've been finding too. I've tested at least 40-50 different fans with the displays and the results are generally good, but some fans can be really bad. The only advice to anyone who has a problem with a fan that is creating a lot of noise, no matter what PWM frequency you use: Try a different fan. Out of all the fans I've tested, I've only had 2 or 3 that I couldn't get to be quiet.
James McTavish, P.Eng
Director of Engineering
Matrix Orbital

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