Cooling fan with Rumba

[printbus]

When I use the slider it turns the LED on Fan 0. I did notice two pins right about the terminal blocks:

You can see it in that diagram and it says power. Do these pins need to be connected to provided power to the fan?

I don't have a RUMBA, but glancing at the schematic, yes, you have to select the power source to be used for three of the MOSFET outputs, including FAN0. The LED is driven by logic power; if the FAN0 LED is turning on, firmware is configured properly and you just need to solve the power selection problem.

[ex-egll]

Apologies! I got my fan assignment wrong in my last post. FAN0 is the one controlled by the slider (and LCD Controller). The assignment is done in the file "pins.h" around line 1245:

"#define FAN_PIN 7"

in the section headed:

"RUMBA pin assignment"

The fact that the orange LED is going on suggests that the command is being processed. This leaves a couple of scenarios.


1. The MOSFET that controls the fan is dead
2. The pins for the fan may have been accidentally shorted, damaging the PCB tracks and / or MOSFET (happened to me)
3. The fan is connected the wrong way round. The black wire on the fan goes on the side nearest the USB connector. It will NOT work if reversed.

To confirm whether or not 1 or 2 is the problem you could change the entry in the pins.h file mentioned above from

"#define FAN_PIN 7" to "#define FAN_PIN 8"

this should now move the fan from FAN0 to FAN1.

Good luck!

NOTE. Cross posted with printbus.

[BLKKROW]

So I want to make sure before I start moving jumpers around. I took a photo of my Rumba Board:

http://i.imgur.com/y9wDNcm.jpg

So I am using FAN0 and I see in the red box there is a PWR section. Can I take one of the jumpers from the blue boxes and use it for the power jumper?

I also see the 12V select section in green should that jumper move?

[ex-egll]

The pins in the red box are where the fan connects, they are in parallel with the screw block connector. The blue and green blocks serve the same function, they select (individually) what power source is used to power the fan (or what ever is being controlled) at Fan0 Fan1 and HE2. By placing the jumper between the centre of the three pins to Vin will provide the voltage direct from the power supply, by placing the jumper from the centre pin to 12v will provide power from the regulated 12v line. The choice is provided as the input to the Rumba board can be up to 35 volts; in that case the power to the fan would be 35v which for a 12v fan would be a tad high. I just leave mine on the 12v setting.

Does this help?

[BLKKROW]

The pins in the red box are where the fan connects, they are in parallel with the screw block connector. The blue and green blocks serve the same function, they select (individually) what power source is used to power the fan (or what ever is being controlled) at Fan0 Fan1 and HE2. By placing the jumper between the centre of the three pins to Vin will provide the voltage direct from the power supply, by placing the jumper from the centre pin to 12v will provide power from the regulated 12v line. The choice is provided as the input to the Rumba board can be up to 35 volts; in that case the power to the fan would be 35v which for a 12v fan would be a tad high. I just leave mine on the 12v setting.

Does this help?

Yes that helps a lot! I am trying to connect a 3 pin 40mm fan. However, the fan had a 3pin to molex adapter and by using that I determined what cable is positive and which is negative. Could it be that the a 3 wire fan will not work with Rumba?

Edit:

http://www.silenx.com/quiet.fans.asp?sku=ixp-11-14

This is the fan.

[ex-egll]

I have use a 3 wire fan with no problem. The third wire, I believe, just sends a series of pulses back from the fan so that the computer can determine its speed. It is likely the wire colours are Red, Black and Yellow. Yellow is the signal lead and is not needed in this situation. If you are not emotionally attached to the connector I'd give it the snip, then use the screw in terminals for the fan putting the black wire to the - and the red to the +. If that doesn't work then reverse the black and the red. You should insulate the end of the yellow wire to prevent accidental shorting.

[BLKKROW]

I have use a 3 wire fan with no problem. The third wire, I believe, just sends a series of pulses back from the fan so that the computer can determine its speed. It is likely the wire colours are Red, Black and Yellow. Yellow is the signal lead and is not needed in this situation. If you are not emotionally attached to the connector I'd give it the snip, then use the screw in terminals for the fan putting the black wire to the - and the red to the +. If that doesn't work then reverse the black and the red. You should insulate the end of the yellow wire to prevent accidental shorting.

The issue is the wires are all silver/clear so I had to look at the molex connector to guess which one is the red and black. I have already snipped the wires, is there anyway to test with a multimeter, to determine which one is the yellow wire?

[ex-egll]

Ummmm, interesting situation! As these fans are brushless it complicates the issue, I have tried a couple of tests using the multimeter and I may have a solution, no guarantee it will work for you and there is always the (very slight) possibility that the fan could be damaged. This will (may) only determine the red and black wires as a pair, but at least the yellow will have been eliminated. Once the red and black have been identified it is a 50-50 chance you will connect them correctly first time, if not just reverse them.

Put the multimeter on the 1 or 2 M resistance range and put the probes on a pair of wires (do not allow fingers to touch bare metal on the probes or wires as this will affect the reading. Eventually you should find a pair that show some resistance, albeit for a short time, these will be the red and black. It is likely that they will only show resistance in one direction so in addition to checking all the pairs, check them all again with the probes reversed if there is no resistance shown. If this fails to identify the pair then go up a level on the meter to 10 or 20M and repeat. It worked here on the 2 fans I have.

[BLKKROW]

Ummmm, interesting situation! As these fans are brushless it complicates the issue, I have tried a couple of tests using the multimeter and I may have a solution, no guarantee it will work for you and there is always the (very slight) possibility that the fan could be damaged. This will (may) only determine the red and black wires as a pair, but at least the yellow will have been eliminated. Once the red and black have been identified it is a 50-50 chance you will connect them correctly first time, if not just reverse them.

Put the multimeter on the 1 or 2 M resistance range and put the probes on a pair of wires (do not allow fingers to touch bare metal on the probes or wires as this will affect the reading. Eventually you should find a pair that show some resistance, albeit for a short time, these will be the red and black. It is likely that they will only show resistance in one direction so in addition to checking all the pairs, check them all again with the probes reversed if there is no resistance shown. If this fails to identify the pair then go up a level on the meter to 10 or 20M and repeat. It worked here on the 2 fans I have.

Don't worry your advice has not gone on deaf ears. I have been busying studying for school.

I got 20 mins to play with it today and I found which two wires are the black/red using your method. However, I cannot get the fan to work still. So it is either my fan or my Mosfet. I may purchase another fan before messing with the firmware.

Thanks!

[ex-egll]

Now you have the 2 wires identified you could always apply a voltage to them and see if the fan turns.