mCubed T-Balancer

I don't use this fan controller, but some people here do and are pleased with how it works.

I had the previous version of this fan controller but stopped using it because if the extra mess from the additional cables needed, and the delay between when the thermal probes used by T-Balancer report temps and software such as Speedfan report temps. Programs like Speedfan and other such utilities reported temp changes much faster than T-Balancer and altered fan speeds much faster.

This temp reporting delay and accuracy of the probes temps has been posted by others here on these forums.

Instead I use quieter fans and have them controller by Speedfan. Most of the time they are running at 12v and I don't hear them at all.

I don't think any fan can be inaudible at 12V :S

I think I shorted out one of the channels on my BigNG somehow. I heard the telltale pops of arcing, and my NeoHE 500 (bought to replace the bum 430 I had) cut the power. I powered the machine back up, and same thing. The third time (stupid, stupid, stupid), acrid white smoke came billowing out from under the heatsink in the center of the board. It smelled horrible, and the little room I was working in still smells like that smoke. MCubed said they can't just replace my TBalancer, since the problem was obviously my own error. They did, however, give me the part number of the transistor used. I think I'll attempt to repair mine. If that doesn't work, perhaps one day when I have some extra money, I'll order another one.

So if you aren't careful in your fan wiring, you can very readily blow a channel on your BigNG. And they won't simply send you another one if you do that.

Madshrimps assembled their BigNG incorrectly. One of the acrylic panels has a large rectangular cutout for the central heatsink, which can get as hot as 80 C (!) according to the manual.

not quite; neither of the acrylic panels we received had a whole cut-out as seen on the photo of the product box...

I also have the bigNG but have not got it setup yet...

I agree with Rory Buszka, looking at the this picture ( http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/mCube ... -15082.jpg ), it looks like there IS an acrylic panel with an opening for the heatsink (the one with the white protective covering).

On the Speedfan response time thing, I have not verified it, but the bigNG is supposed to be able to use the temp readings from Speedfan (from in a log file, I believe) in it's control.

the reviewer who did the tests informed me during his tests that neither of acrylic panels had a cutout, while the paper cutout might make you believe otherwise; there was no hole in acrylic. :-/

We did get an early sample of one of the first batches.

That is very strange...

I ordered mine the moment it became available for sale from the mCubed website store, so I'm sure I got an early batch as well. As suggested, that heatsink can get very hot.

sample came in early December here; well... good to know about the heat:)

I assume you mean Dec, 2006. I got mine in the early summer of 2006.

I liked the review. I was hoping to provide a mini review myself here in the forum once I get it working. I've been playing around with the FanAmp and have some very interesting things I've learned over time. I plan to eventually post something about it as well.

yah dec 06; would love to post your feedback in our review to share your point of view, if you're interested, send me a mail

I have the t-balancer XL (I bought it from someone from these forums, actually) and I completely love it. I am constantly on the search for another one of these things, two in fact. But they're DANG hard to even find for sale anywhere in the US, and I'm not wanting to pay $75+ for one (yet).

But I have no complaints about my t-balancer at all. I've never noticed a delay in it's reporting temps....or at least if there is, it's minor enough not to create a problem, even though it's running the CPU heatsink fan. The new software makes it a lot easier to control fans via MBM or speedfan, but I really prefer that it's independant of any running software.

The bigNG seems somewhat appealing, but only for it's ability to do both voltage and PWM fan control. I'd sooner take a cheap XL than a new bigNG, though.