Hi,

I got two Panaflo FBK 12G12LHs and I'd like to use them with my Sonata (stock PSU for now) and ASUS K8V Deluxe with either AMD 64 3000+ or 3200+.

I understand that I will not be able to run the fans from the motherboard, because they are too demanding.

What do I need to mod the fans so that I can let the motherboard and CPU's Cool & Quiet features to control the fans, and yet not blow up anything?

I am absolutely clueless, I've never modded fans before, but I am not afraid of doing it.

I tried looking for 4 pin Panaflo tails, but the ones that I saw were for fans that had detachable tails. My Panaflos are OEM I believe, with the original non-detachable two wire, 4 pin square molex, with a two pin molex coming out of it.

Please point me in the right directions.

would a 4 to 3 pin connector from svc.com work? they also sell fanmates if you want to try that.

EDIT: misread post

Those Panaflos are rated at .2A, and the K8V is specced for at least .45, since it's rated to use the Thermaltake Venus 10+.

The 4 pin jack I believe is of the Auxilary style, not a flat 4 pin molex. That's the thing that I can't find, how to make it from that square style to a flat arrangement.

I thought that PSU connection was for the mobo?? It has 4 pins in a square arrangement, where did you buy the fan?

the fan should look like this

Since you can't detach the wires, just cut them and attach them to the type of connector you need.

I bought them from Schlotkins in the Deals forum. Here's what they look like. Sorry about the quality, I took this picture with a camera phone, because the USB ports on this old machine have died and my new machine is not yet finished, so I can't import pictures from my digital cam.





Yeah looks like that's what I'll have to do.


Thanks, so this means I can hook them up to the motherboard. So what kind of molex should I get? I only have two wires coming out from the fan, should I get a 3 pin molex? Or get a 4 pin molex, run it off Sonata's fan only. I don't even know if the two wires will provide RPM monitoring without further mods.

Are those really wires that come from the FAN?
I think the looks like wires that come from your PSU. Thinks seems to be a bit unclear.

Since you got a 2-wire fan you will not be able to monitor the fans RPM.
The latest tests on PWM vs voltage regulation would point me to suggest that you connect to the FAN-only connector of the PSU.

Yup those two wires are from the fan. The slimmer two pin plug comes out of the back of the 4 pin 12v Auxiliary plug.

Thanks, I'll now look into getting these plugs replaced by a 4 pin in-line molex.

If you're intending to plug those fans into the 3-pin fan header on your mobo you should put 3-pin connectors on the fans too. If you put a 4-pin Molex on the fan you'll have to buy yourself a 4-pin to 3-pin adapter so you can plug them into your mobo. Sounds like extra $$ and work to me.

These look identical to the fans I (and a few others) got off eBay.

The neatest looking way is to get a pair of crimpers, pins and nylon housing and crimp your own 3 pin or 4 pin connectors. I got the pins and housing at Fry's, Outpost carries them as well but I have no idea what shipping will be. Digikey has them but they're more expensive.

Alternative is to splice (heat shrink or electric tape) to a 3 pin / 4 pin cable. You can get the appropriate cable from SVC if you don't have one lying around.

google search came up with this. Just get that adapter, maybe you could modifythe 5V, 7V trick. (Link stolen from Ralf) heh, or run that through a bunch of adapters and a fan controller.

You're prob. well aware, but could:

A to 4, 4 to 3, fanmate, mobo.
-or-
A to 4, 4 to 3, fanmate, 3 to 4, psu.

would that adapter work?

Thanks for the tips and help.

Trip, I don't think that adapter will work, because the 12v Aux plug is the same as the one on the fan.

So what I will do is order molexes, and some wire, cut the plug off, crimp or splice a 3 pin molex on, and use that to hook it up to my motherboard, and let the motherboard's Cool 'N' Quiet feature adjust the speeds of the fans for now.

Sounds like the best idea to me. That way you can easily stick a Fanmate inline if the "Cool 'n Quiet" thingy doesn't live up to your expectations.

Thanks for your help you guys. I've ordered two Panaflo tails, and I'll be splicing them into place because I can't get the pins out of these Panaflo plugs.

Hey guys,

Here is what I did:

I had a spare panaflo tail lying around (2 wires and a 2 pin tail) so I just soldered the wires together after I cut them on the FBK and covered the soldered parts with electrical tape. Works like a charm, just match red to red and blue to blue.

I suppose it really depends whether you have a soldering iron or a crimper which method you would use. I don't have a crimper so I am planning to order 3 pin extentions for the others...

-Ken