120mm Thermaltake fans, watercooling temps, other noob q's

Silver Sniper · Post by **Silver Sniper** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:47 am

Hi,

I've just ordered an LK-202-24 USB and have some questions related to its capabilites.

1.The high power GPO's are only capable of running up to 1000ma. The thermaltake 120mm fan I have running my radiator is rated at 0.14 - 0.43 amps - will it work on a high power GPO? If not, can I put a resistor in series to limit the voltage?

2. I want to be able to turn the 120mm fans right down to about 1000rpm or basically inaudible - can the GPO's do this?

2.a. I assume running the fans at low rpms either means sucking up those extra volts through resistors or delivering shorter 'bursts' of power through PWM - can you explain which method is used?

3. Is there any recommended method of using the thermal probes to monitor water temp - can I monitor the water temp by gluing the probes on externally or do I have to construt temp monitors using glue and t-shaped fittings?

4. My Lian li case has an in-built fan controller which puts either a 47 or an 18 ohm resistor in series with the two front case fans. Can I connect that fan controller to a GPO and utilise that unit to burn up extra volts that would otherwise be supplied to the fans?

Many thanks

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Tue May 16, 2006 1:18 pm

Hi Silver Sniper,

Here are the answers to your questions.

1. You fan works at 140 to 430mA, so it will be fine for the gpo.

2. The gpo has the capability of rpm sensing and fan control.

2a. The high power gpos use pwm.

3. You can monitor temps using glue externally or if you use it inside a t-shaped fitting, you should cover the joints with epoxy, to water proof them.

4. If you are putting extra resistance on the line, you will be drop the voltage a little, and your fan's won't go as fast. It's necessary to use the extra fan controller. If you are worried about the unit getting damaged, we have the mosfet that will protect the unit. That mosfet can handle a lot of power already though.

If you have anymore questions or concerns, please feel free to post them.

Best Regards,

Silver Sniper · Post by **Silver Sniper** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:20 am

Thanks for those answers, I guess I should have worked out that 1000mA was 1 Amp

I'm thinking of using sections of larger diameter tubing to house the temp probes in the water fluid itself, hopefully it will work - I'll send pics if it does

Now some gripes, the unit arrived today, and I've been busy setting it up, and I have to say that your suppport is wonderful but the Taiwanese produce better instructions! I don't understand why I have to search your forums for basic things, like where to find a manual for my r1.3 LCD, whether I need to modify my floppy drive plug power connectors (looks like I don't need to) and how to connect the USB headers to my MB. Right now I'm stuck on where to attach the LED bus indicator to the LCD circuit board. These are basic steps which all purchasers will need to complete, and imo they should all be included in the instructions. Otherwise, great product, I'm looking forward to getting past the supposedly easy steps and into the programming.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:24 am

Silver Sniper,

You can get lots of information from our support website at http://www.matrixorbital.ca/

Best Regards,

Silver Sniper · Post by **Silver Sniper** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:50 pm

Thanks for the response, as I said above, your web based support is excellent. But I think you missed the point of my post, which is that basic setup instructions, like the useful guide on attaching the LED indicator bus, should be in the instruction manuals, not buried in other parts of your site and in the forums. (I eventually located the instructions for attaching the LED bus - can't understand why they aren't listed with the other instruction manuals)
Otherwise how do people know what vital info they may be missing, and why should users have to look through your site for info that should be supplied with the equipment?