[Tombstoner]

Are all of the fans supposed to be spinning at all times? I had to open up the computer because I heard a clicking sound. Turned out to be the hard drive, but anyway, when I was doing that, I noticed that not all of the fans were spinning on the computer. The fans that are spinning are the power supply fan and the CPU fan. There are 3 others not spinning. Are the fans thermal controlled? I thought maybe they weren't spinning because I had the cover off and it wouldn't get hot enough for them to spin. I really don't know. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Tyree]

The fans should be spinning at all times if they are connected to a source of power.
Are they connected to the Mobo or the PSU?

 

[Tombstoner]

What is the PSU?

 

[Tombstoner]

Power Supply Unit?

 

[WereBo]

Yep, that's the PSU, some fans connect to the cables coming out of the unit and others plug into the motherboard - The mobo-connected ones are thermally controlled, whereas fans connected to the PSU run full-speed all the time.

Also, where are the fans that aren't spinning?

 

[Tombstoner]

Here are some photos attached of the inside of my computer. I have labelled the fans that are and are not working. I can't tell where these wires lead to, on the fans that aren't working so I thought I'd post the pictures here first and maybe you can make heads or tails out of it. The fans that are working are plugged into the motherboard.

 

[WereBo]

Looking over the pictures, it would appear that there's a power-connector from the 2 rear-case fans not connected to anything (the white 'Molex' (IDE-Drive power-connector)) plug sitting loose between the PSU-fan and the heatsink-fan). I can't quite make out whether the side-panel fan is connected to that cable-run or not, but I suspect so.

If you check where the huge bundle of cables come out of the PSU and split off to the various connectors, there should be a spare 'Molex' connector to connect to the loose one, hopefully that should then power all the none-working fans.

 

[Tyree]

Front & rear mounted case fans are usually the ones that actually do some good.
The side mount and slot fan can interrupt the desired front to rear airflow.

 

[Tombstoner]

I have bought a new video card and power supply because I wanted to upgrade anyway. When it comes, I am going to see if I can figure it out. I will be back to this post if it won't work.

 

[WereBo]

We'll still be here, good luck

 

[Tombstoner]

Well I went and looked inside. You're right, some of those fans weren't even plugged in! I let a guy work on my computer in a shop and he didn't even plug the fans in! I didn't even think of that because I thought any computer tech would plug in the fans! Anyway, everything is working fine now. Sorry for the stupid question.

 

[Tyree]

He probably assumed the fans were not needed and could possibly be disrupting the desired front to rear airflow but he should have asked if you wanted the fans reconnected.

 

[WereBo]

No problem, it wasn't a stupid question - The only stupid question is the one that isn't asked... :grin: