Looking for a Fan Controller.....

[Mixman]

I am looking to replace my Noise Isolator controller. I have a couple of Sanyo Denki 92mm fans and a couple of 120mm Panaflo High Speed fans. I want a controller that can lower these fans with no whine or motor noise.

I know I don't want the Sunbeam Rheobus....LED's too bright and I just don't like the it's look. The models I am looking at are :

Aerogate 1-$14.99
Aerogate 3-$7.99
Sunbeam Lightbus-$14.99

Which of these will control my fans with the least motor noise and whine ? Any other models I should look at ?

 

[dunkster]

Check out silentpcreview regarding the Sunbeam Rheobus.

I recall a review/article (by Mike Chen, I think), where he solved the 'too-bright LEDs' problem by simply pulling the LEDs back a bit from the inner panel. Voila - effective and inexpensive fan controller with pleasant appearance.

Hope this helps!

 

[iRONic]

Aerogate 1 pic here. About 3/4 way down the page.

Works great and looks great.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I've had bad luck with the Sunbeam Rheobus, which is a shame, because it would be such a nice controller. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit in my system well at all (the sides expand a bit, and it won't fit without modding).

I've had good experiences with the Zalman 6-channel controllers. And the fan controlling system on the Hardcano 13 sucks, I think. The temp monitoring system is nice, but it sucks for controlling fans. So I will never get another digital fan controller again.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

High speed 120x38 Pans(113-114cfm) are the absolutly wrong fans to undervolt.

Read about them over at SPCR. I won't find it for you.

How do I say this with such authority. I have this fan, it's a cast off as far as I'm concerned.
It undervolts with great protest on a Sunbeam Rheobus and a NeXus PWM fan controller.
The PWM controller is noticably worse.

The Sanyo Denki 103cfm at 39dBA will run near silent at 5V. It will start/run reliably at 4.6V.
So at 5V there never has been a problem for start-up.

Over at overclockers.com you will find a short tutorial, it covers soldering resistors into the
ground wire of the LEDs. This is a much better fix for the uber-bright LEDs on the Sunbeam
Rheobus than the tutorial at SPCR.


...Galvanized

 

[Mixman]

Anyone use any of the controllers I listed ?

 

[Zepper]

If you decide on the Aerogate I, I have some for sale in my listing in the FS/T section (for less than the price you mentioned) which is linked in my sig here.

.bh.

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: Mixman
Anyone use any of the controllers I listed ?

*Raises hand*

 

[Mixman]

How is the Aerogate 1 ? Does it control the fans without a whining sound ?

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: Mixman
How is the Aerogate 1 ? Does it control the fans without a whining sound ?

My Gigabyte case came with three very quiet 120mm fans and my Zalman CPU HSF 92mm fan is quiet stock.

The Aerogate 1 doesn't *add* any sound to my system as it turns the rpm's down.

 

[Mixman]

You don't have any "high speed" fans. Those are the ones that will whine and make noise when turned down.

 

[Zepper]

If you want to be assured that your fan controller will NOT under ANY circummstance exacerbate any fan noise problem, then you must get a linear (rather than a PWM) controller. The only one that I know for sure is linear is the Sunbeam Rheobus. Or you could get a handful of the rheostats that Radio Shack et al. sells for a fully passive arrangement (no lights at all). You could mount them into one of your drive bay filler plates or drill holes into the back of your case...

.bh.

 

[Mixman]

I am not sure that all PWM fan controllers have problems, I just think that the Noise Controller that I am using is just a poorly executed PWM fan controller. It's very picky with it's fans. I know the my Sunbeam Chromatic Windmill didn't have any problems with noise, but it had a few other problems though.

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: Mixman
You don't have any "high speed" fans. Those are the ones that will whine and make noise when turned down.

Nope. I'm all about the fast, cool, and QUIET!

 

[SketchMaster]

I went from the Noise Isolator to the Sunbeam Rheobus and couldn't be more happy. Low cost, good workmanship and no whining noise that I got from the "Noise Isolator".