Bypassing RGB fan control boxes

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So I see there are loads of rgb fans about now and a lot of the cheaper versions can't afford to develop their own control software like corsair/thermaltake etc. and so they come with a control box and remote control.

Now I'm thinking that that these fans should surely just have the standard 4 pin rgb format and so with the correct adapter cable you should be able to bypass the control box and connect the fans to a rgb header on your motherboard to control them.

Has anybody tried the above or have any thoughts on it? I know to check voltages 5v/12v etc.

I have the parts coming and will be trying to connect 2x raijintek rgb fans to my ASUS motherboard
2e1sxh1.jpg
 
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Soldato
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It sounds like you understand the concept well enough. Ultimately you can rewire the things to suit your needs. Some fans come with combined cables, some have separate 4 pin power and RGB cables. You can always split it out and rewire even if it means cutting and soldering. Depends on the fans how easy it is :)
 
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Be aware, looking at the images of the connector its a 4 pin.

But they also look like addressable 5v RGB.

Only one reason to have 4 conductors on a addressable RGB.

Two of the pins are the power +-, the others will 'signal in' and 'signal out'.

To function in series as they should. The first fans 'signal in' will go to your motherboard 'signal' pin on the header. The second fans 'signal in' must connect to the 'signal out' of the first and so on.

The Asus Aura etc, yout tell it how many LED's are in series. Easy to see when it works.

The spitter you have bought there will be a problem. It will only allow you to connect in parallel. Assuming you have the power correct, voltage etc. They'll either both light up and change together or you've got the wrong wire (signal out) and nothing happens. But the won't change one to the next as they should.



-----------------

Ref

Older boards have 12v non-addressable ports, some 4 or 5 pin.
[12v][G][R]{B} or [12v][G][R]{B}[W] where GRBW are PWM signals.

More recent boards also have 5v addressable ports, either 3 or 4 pin
[5v][D][G] or [5v][D][-][G] Where G is ground, D is signal out

Non-addressable and addressable (digital) are not interchangeable or adaptable.
 
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Associate
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Be aware, looking at the images of the connector its a 4 pin.

But they also look like addressable 5v RGB.

Only one reason to have 4 conductors on a addressable RGB.

Two of the pins are the power +-, the others will 'signal in' and 'signal out'.

To function in series as they should. The first fans 'signal in' will go to your motherboard 'signal' pin on the header. The second fans 'signal in' must connect to the 'signal out' of the first and so on.

The Asus Aura etc, yout tell it how many LED's are in series. Easy to see when it works.

The spitter you have bought there will be a problem. It will only allow you to connect in parallel. Assuming you have the power correct, voltage etc. They'll either both light up and change together or you've got the wrong wire (signal out) and nothing happens. But the won't change one to the next as they should.



-----------------

Ref

Older boards have 12v non-addressable ports, some 4 or 5 pin.
[12v][G][R]{B} or [12v][G][R]{B}[W] where GRBW are PWM signals.

More recent boards also have 5v addressable ports, either 3 or 4 pin
[5v][D][G] or [5v][D][-][G] Where G is ground, D is signal out

Non-addressable and addressable (digital) are not interchangeable or adaptable.
Thanks for the info!

I want them both to control at the same time so will have a play around based on your information.
 
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OP
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Be aware, looking at the images of the connector its a 4 pin.

But they also look like addressable 5v RGB.

Only one reason to have 4 conductors on a addressable RGB.

Two of the pins are the power +-, the others will 'signal in' and 'signal out'.

To function in series as they should. The first fans 'signal in' will go to your motherboard 'signal' pin on the header. The second fans 'signal in' must connect to the 'signal out' of the first and so on.

The Asus Aura etc, yout tell it how many LED's are in series. Easy to see when it works.

The spitter you have bought there will be a problem. It will only allow you to connect in parallel. Assuming you have the power correct, voltage etc. They'll either both light up and change together or you've got the wrong wire (signal out) and nothing happens. But the won't change one to the next as they should.



-----------------

Ref

Older boards have 12v non-addressable ports, some 4 or 5 pin.
[12v][G][R]{B} or [12v][G][R]{B}[W] where GRBW are PWM signals.

More recent boards also have 5v addressable ports, either 3 or 4 pin
[5v][D][G] or [5v][D][-][G] Where G is ground, D is signal out

Non-addressable and addressable (digital) are not interchangeable or adaptable.

I have taken apart the rgb fan controller and it is as you say 12v +/-/Data in/data out

I've checked my asus croosshair hero VII board manual and it has 2 4 pin rgb headers that are 12v/r/g/b and an led 5 pin connecter which does not mention pins

Does it look like i have no way of controlling these fans using this board?

TIA


EDIT: i have just seen my board has 2 adressable rgb headers which are 3 pin +5v/data/ground Will the 5v work though as on the controller it states 12v
 
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Addressable LED's are usually 5v. If you put 12v down the +5v feed it will kill it dead.

How did you confirm the voltages going to the RGB? Sounds very odd. 5v down the 12v may still work.

Also, all you need is the signal wire from the motherboard. You can get power from a sata.
 
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Addressable LED's are usually 5v. If you put 12v down the +5v feed it will kill it dead.

How did you confirm the voltages going to the RGB? Sounds very odd. 5v down the 12v may still work.

Also, all you need is the signal wire from the motherboard. You can get power from a sata.
Ok so i spliced cables and connected the +v the -v and the signal in to mobo.

The lights never came on at all. I can only assume that they are in fact 12v lights so i will change the 5v feed for 12 later and see if they come on.

Another question in the asus aura software in the addressable section i can choose the amount of leds in strip, does this matter or have to be accurate?
 
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Ok so i spliced cables and connected the +v the -v and the signal in to mobo.

The lights never came on at all. I can only assume that they are in fact 12v lights so i will change the 5v feed for 12 later and see if they come on.

Another question in the asus aura software in the addressable section i can choose the amount of leds in strip, does this matter or have to be accurate?
100%, your system won't work properly or at all if you don't set that value up right. The data for each LED is passed down the chain in sequence. If the system sends data for 33 LEDs but your strip has 14, they won't know how to assign the right values to themselves. At least set that value to something in the right ballpark.
 
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Don't connect the in/out signals together.

Just use the signal out on the board to the signal in on the fan.

If you connect the wrong number of LED's they still work it, if you set the output as 1 just the first comes on, if you set to 100. It'll step through 14 on the fan then nothing happens as it counts through the rest, the the 14 comes round again.
 
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Ok guys so i put a 12v feed to the +v and i have rgbs! The only problem now is that when i use the asus aura software the color, say i choose green the fan goes a diff colour than chosen e.g blue.

So i am defiantly controlling the rgb fan but the commands are not right....... hmmmmm not sure what to try next

Also all the light effects e.g pulse/strobe/yoyo etc all work correctly, its literally just the colors wrong
 
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What happens with rainbow?

Are they going from one color to the next all together or in sequence?
Ii does rainbow as excepted but out of sync with the other aura rgb, i have also noticed it skips from orange to light pink very quickly with hardly any red at all
 
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Given its 12v and addressable then it's an oddity. None of the standard 5v motherboard outputs are going to work I would say.

Some sort of bespoke controller signal, sorry to say. If it was the usual 12v pulse PWM output cross connected, it wouldn't light in sequence and it would be one colour.

Funnily enough I do have some addressable single 5mm 5v that do the same. All the wrong colours.
 
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Given its 12v and addressable then it's an oddity. None of the standard 5v motherboard outputs are going to work I would say.

Some sort of bespoke controller signal, sorry to say. If it was the usual 12v pulse PWM output cross connected, it wouldn't light in sequence and it would be one colour.

Funnily enough I do have some addressable single 5mm 5v that do the same. All the wrong colours.
Its annoying because im sooo close lol, i just wanted to bypass the fans controller pcb that uses a remote control, i wanted to use aura
 
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Well on the bright side you know all about LED's now.

Take a look in my sig for a video on my rig. Made from a mix of ARGB systems. Even made a few 3d printed strips based on WS2812B LED (matek) units, way brighter and cheaper than named brands.
 
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Well on the bright side you know all about LED's now.

Take a look in my sig for a video on my rig. Made from a mix of ARGB systems. Even made a few 3d printed strips based on WS2812B LED (matek) units, way brighter and cheaper than named brands.
I found this post, very informative, looks like i need Fastled software. I will investigate
 
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