Case fan not spinning

Hi all,

The case fan at the back of my new build is not spinning under any conditions. I unplugged the fan from the motherboard to see if anything was awry, and noticed that the fan 'plug'/connector (not sure what it's called) has three holes, while the 'socket' on the motherboard consists of four prongs. As a result, when I plug the fan in to the motherboard, I can only connect it with three of the four prongs. Does anybody know if this may be why the fan doesn't work?

Other suggests are welcome as well, of course.

Thanks
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Hi all,

The case fan at the back of my new build is not spinning under any conditions. I unplugged the fan from the motherboard to see if anything was awry, and noticed that the fan 'plug'/connector (not sure what it's called) has three holes, while the 'socket' on the motherboard consists of four prongs. As a result, when I plug the fan in to the motherboard, I can only connect it with three of the four prongs. Does anybody know if this may be why the fan doesn't work?

Other suggests are welcome as well, of course.

Thanks

What motherboard and case do you have?

That's normal. Case fans are not PWM fans, ie, they spin at a constant speed rather than adjusting their speed based on temperatures. PWM fans have 4 pins, normal fans have 3 but will work fine in a 4pin header just missing out the 4th pin.

I'd be surprised that a case fan is plugged directly into the motherboard though. Would normally expect it to be plugged via the PSU. That being said, I haven't experienced newer motherboards so may be totally behind the times. If it's those 3 pin headers on the fan, I would expect there to be some kind of fan controller that it should plug into rather than the motherboard.

If you look on the pins on the motherboard, normally you will see some kind of identifier that shows Pin 1, make sure the fan header is running from that Pin to the right ie, missing the 4th pin.

L7ZxTJe.jpg1.jpg


Here you can see the 1 and upward arrow denoting pin 1.

If it still doesn't work in that header on the motherboard, try and find a spare fan header and try it in that.
 
What motherboard and case do you have?

That's normal. Case fans are not PWM fans, ie, they spin at a constant speed rather than adjusting their speed based on temperatures. PWM fans have 4 pins, normal fans have 3 but will work fine in a 4pin header just missing out the 4th pin.

I'd be surprised that a case fan is plugged directly into the motherboard though. Would normally expect it to be plugged via the PSU. That being said, I haven't experienced newer motherboards so may be totally behind the times. If it's those 3 pin headers on the fan, I would expect there to be some kind of fan controller that it should plug into rather than the motherboard.

If you look on the pins on the motherboard, normally you will see some kind of identifier that shows Pin 1, make sure the fan header is running from that Pin to the right ie, missing the 4th pin.

View attachment 14067

Here you can see the 1 and upward arrow denoting pin 1.

If it still doesn't work in that header on the motherboard, try and find a spare fan header and try it in that.

Thanks for your response. My case is a "CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE", and my motherboard "Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Master ". You may be right about the fan not being plugged into the motherboard - I'm not sure which panel is the motherboard and which is other parts of the computer (apart from RAM and graphics card). I did indeed plug the fan into the first of the four pins, leaving the 4th one uncovered, so that isn't the issue.

Perhaps it would help if I plugged the fan into another set of pins? As I am unsure which pins are for what, would it be safe for me to plug the fan into any of the 3- or 4- pin sets that I see on the motherboard/PSU? There are a few of them scattered around the place.

Thanks
 
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