Fan controller?

Markatomic · Post by **Markatomic** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:13 pm

Hi all
Will the typhoon be able to control fan speed, if so will the be possible to do via remote or will it be software orientated.
How long now till its release?
Thanks
marl

Post by **Henry** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:39 pm

This is the next project being worked on after a couple of OEM/Industrial product... more details will come over the next few weeks.

Markatomic · Post by **Markatomic** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:02 am

So if I was to bu it when it is releases in a couple of weeks it WONT be able to control fan speed?
mark

Post by **Henry** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:20 am

Markatomic wrote:So if I was to bu it when it is releases in a couple of weeks it WONT be able to control fan speed?
mark

Right, the Digital Baybus is an addon card, this way we were able to keep the GX as inexpensive as possible and when the Digital Baybus addon is released it will allow us to add on features we could not normally put on.

Markatomic · Post by **Markatomic** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:22 am

Ok that makes sense, which leads me to.... when will the addon card be released

thanks
mark

Post by **Henry** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:42 am

Markatomic wrote:Ok that makes sense, which leads me to.... when will the addon card be released
thanks
mark

minimum 8 weeks more like 10... depends if engineering gets it right the first time

kdryden · Post by **kdryden** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:22 pm

Any updates on the fan controller? Im basically waiting until a fan controller atachment comes out and then ill order one

cipher_nemo · Post by **cipher_nemo** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:55 am

Henry wrote:minimum 8 weeks more like 10... depends if engineering gets it right the first time

P.R. rewrite: As soon as 8 weeks! Engineering will only release the design after it has been refined. We only release quality projects, so this may require an additional 2 weeks.

slavearm · Post by **slavearm** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:09 am

Is this still coming out?

Post by **Ray** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:09 am

Due to some more OEM/Industrial projects this one got a little sidetracked, we are currently aiming for a spring'08 release.

NeilF · Post by **NeilF** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:02 am

Ray wrote:Due to some more OEM/Industrial projects this one got a little sidetracked, we are currently aiming for a spring'08 release.

Will the fan speed be controlled by voltage or 'pulse'?

Paradigm · Post by **Paradigm** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:05 am

This one is up in the air still. If it is controlled by pulse, it will be up in the 30+KHz range to keep it WELL outside the audible range, and if someone is inclined to put a light on there, outside the visual range. Overall, pulse is much simpler to design, and far more flexible, but we will NOT use it if there is any audible or visual artifacts.

However I'm still kicking around a few designs that are voltage controlled. The main difficulty with them is designing them for a reasonable price while being able to handle the power requirements of the higher end fans. We're targeting about 12W max (1A at 12V). Anyone who knows electronics, knows that this is quite a bit of power to control.

Then there is the hybrid designs that have been contemplated...

Bottom line, for now, both have been crudely prototyped, and both are under consideration. Right now we're experimenting with half a dozen different designs, and we'll finalize on one when we move our focus back to this project.

NeilF · Post by **NeilF** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:57 pm

Paradigm wrote:This one is up in the air still. If it is controlled by pulse, it will be up in the 30+KHz range to keep it WELL outside the audible range, and if someone is inclined to put a light on there, outside the visual range. Overall, pulse is much simpler to design, and far more flexible, but we will NOT use it if there is any audible or visual artifacts.

However I'm still kicking around a few designs that are voltage controlled. The main difficulty with them is designing them for a reasonable price while being able to handle the power requirements of the higher end fans. We're targeting about 12W max (1A at 12V). Anyone who knows electronics, knows that this is quite a bit of power to control.

Then there is the hybrid designs that have been contemplated...

Bottom line, for now, both have been crudely prototyped, and both are under consideration. Right now we're experimenting with half a dozen different designs, and we'll finalize on one when we move our focus back to this project.

With my existing display (from you guys) which is pulse, I'll swear the fan generates noise at certain speeds that it wouldn't by voltage control? Am I mad or is there something in this?

cipher_nemo · Post by **cipher_nemo** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:30 pm

NeilF,

It depends on the type of fan and its ability to handle pulse-width modulation (PWM) verses more traditional throttling via a flux density waveform. The differences could cause a fan to either not function or generate extra vibrations and/or noise. Not all DC fans can be controlled well using PWM.

But may be I'm reading your question wrong? Let me know if that helps.

Paradigm · Post by **Paradigm** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:05 pm

No, you're not hearing things. Our previous motor controller did use pulse control, however it did it at a much slower rate. The result is that there are artifacts within the audible range. On some fans, you really couldn't hear it. On others, you definitely could.

If we do go pulse control on this next one, it will be in the order of 1000 times faster. This would push any artifacts, or harmonics there of, way out of the realm of human hearing.