Fan LED Mod

MKmods · Jan 16, 2010

Recently Greasemonkey sent me a couple fans and asked if I would mod them to be red instead of blue. I sent one back to him already but I figured you may want to see what it takes to do it so I will show the second one here

Here is a shot of the front of it (before modding begins)

Useful LED info

Different color LEDs run at different voltages

Link for LED info
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html

Metku.net guide(thanks)
http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng

pantherx12 · Jan 16, 2010

Might wanna post the pics Mark

MKmods · Jan 16, 2010

Dont forget im old (and feeble)

this is the fan removed from the mount(backside)

pantherx12 · Jan 16, 2010

Nice looking forward to seeing it done, always better to see someone else do this even if you know how to do it yourself : ]

MKmods · Jan 16, 2010

At first I just wanted to switch the SMD led for a blue one
http://www.lc-led.com/View/itemNumber/124

But I found that the blue ones ran at 3V and the red ones ran at 2V. 1Volt dosent seem like a lot but its enough to burn out the LED within a second. So I had to mount a different LED, and It had to put out enough light to be seen as well.

I picked up quite a selection to play with

On the first one I went with a pair of 5mm red 12V LEDs(have resistors built in each LED)

For those that havent seen SMD (surface mount device) LEDs they are VERY small

t77snapshot · Jan 16, 2010

I was going to change my Zalman cooler from bue to orange leds, but then I discovered SMD leds are a pain in the a** to deal with. So I decided to mod the leds of my A.C Ryan's from uv to orange leds. It was my first attempt with a soldering gun. I used 5mm capsules and I'm glad the resistor's were already built into the board.

DirectorC · Jan 16, 2010

WOW. Who would go out of their way to get a fan's LED color changed as opposed to just getting a new fan with that color? That guy must REALLY like these fans!

GREASEMONKEY · Jan 16, 2010

DirectorC said:
WOW. Who would go out of their way to get a fan's LED color changed as opposed to just getting a new fan with that color? That guy must REALLY like these fans!

That would be me

,I wanted them changed from blue to the red so it would fit the all red light theme of my case.And if it was as easy as changing fans i would have been all over it.But the fact that these fans are a special fit for the Nirvana cooler,normal fans are not an option.So i sent them to the MASTER of MODDING.
THANKS again MK. :toast:

MKmods · Jan 16, 2010

Ur welcome GM
It was a fun experience for me. I usually build cases just to be efficient and not so much bling.

So I wanted to mess around with LEDs for a change.

And thanks t77 for that. This thread can show how to mod all types of fan LEDs

DirectorC · Jan 16, 2010

GREASEMONKEY said:
That would be me,I wanted them changed from blue to the red so it would fit the all red light theme of my case.And if it was as easy as changing fans i would have been all over it.But the fact that these fans are a special fit for the Nirvana cooler,normal fans are not an option.So i sent them to the MASTER of MODDING.
THANKS again MK.

Now I get it. In that case this rocks. I wanna see the end result!

MKmods · Jan 16, 2010

Here is a closer shot of the LEDs

3mm,5mm, rect and a pack of SMD LEDs

those suckers are tiny

To remove the fan blads from the motor assembly its usually pretty easy

First remove the sticker

Remove the cap

Than remove the small plastic clip and voila

But these fans are weird and the center has to be drilled out

be really careful not to destroy the motor assembly if you drill out the center. Also there is no plastic clip, instead the drive axle end is mushroomed and needs to be removed with a Dremel

I think I will do something different to this one and complete remove the plastic back plate (glued to the motor) and make a new one.

t77snapshot · Jan 16, 2010

DirectorC said:
WOW. Who would go out of their way to get a fan's LED color changed as opposed to just getting a new fan with that color? That guy must REALLY like these fans!

That would be me as well

It seems orange led case fans don't exist, so I had to make own. Itls the same reason why GM is doing it.

MKmods · Jan 16, 2010

I forget who but I modded a fan a while ago orange for someone here at TPU...

Ok Im doing this different, I carefully removed the rear mount

Here it cleaned up a bit

Now I can get to the circuit board, notice the LEDs and resistors

t77snapshot · Jan 16, 2010

MKmods said:
Ok Im doing this different, I carefully removed the rear mount
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo142/Partspicts/007-6.jpg

Here it cleaned up a bit
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo142/Partspicts/008-3.jpg

Now I can get to the circuit board, notice the LEDs and resistors
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo142/Partspicts/FanCloseup.png

Do you think this would be the same process as a Zalman 9500A cooler?

MKmods · Jan 17, 2010

Im thinking the basic process should be very similar

pantherx12 · Jan 17, 2010

DirectorC said:
WOW. Who would go out of their way to get a fan's LED color changed as opposed to just getting a new fan with that color? That guy must REALLY like these fans!

A pack of 100 leds costs 10 quid or so :laugh:

a single decent fan can cost that much sometimes.

Its cheaper

people are cheap!

:laugh:

Cold Storm · Jan 17, 2010

Thanks MK! Now, I just need your PCI E power mod.. :roll:

MKmods · Jan 17, 2010

DirectorC said:
WOW. Who would go out of their way to get a fan's LED color changed as opposed to just getting a new fan with that color? That guy must REALLY like these fans!

pantherx12 said:
A pack of 100 leds costs 10 quid or so

a single decent fan can cost that much sometimes.

Its cheaper

people are cheap!

As I was growing up we didnt have so many options. There was no internet/PCs, and we had to make due with what we had so we learned to tinker. I was blessed to have a grandfather that showed me many things (even straightening/re-using old nails, lol)

As a teenager I built cars, my favorite thing was big engines in small cars(big block chevy in a VW bug, small block Chevy in a Triumph spitfire etc..) The laws were such that it was possible then. Than in the 80's the laws changed making it not worth all the hassle...

So bla bla bla now its comps...

Honestly the cost is in no way worth it to switch LEDs, this mod could cost a few hundred dollars(mostly labor) Im doing it because I LOVE this stuff (and as a favor to Greasemonkey) and I thought I would show it to all of you so if you wanted to mess with it you could. Another reason for these threads is I enjoy your input, its amazing how many good ideas all of you have come up with.

So get modding, its not rocket science :rockout:

Cold Storm said:
Thanks MK! Now, I just need your PCI E power mod..

Im just finishing up stuff so whenever ur ready. I picked up one of these so I can try to make a 1U PS (cross ur fingers)
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=112802

pantherx12 · Jan 17, 2010

Wow I've been undercharging for my services, I once changed some leds for someone to make me a dinner lol

MKmods · Jan 17, 2010

Careful mentioning that, lol...You will have a bunch of people expecting you mod for food..

Ok on the first fan I modded I used 5mm 12V leds that I just wired into the fans 12V input. I wanted to try something different for this one so here is a close up of me removing the resistor and blue led

Here is where the LED goes

And here is me removing the resistor

Here is a shot of the red LED mounted and the 330 Ohm resistor mounted.

I could have ordered a surface mount resistor but it would take more time and $ so I just used one I had laying around.

Thanks again t77snapshot for this camera it kicks ass..

MKmods · Jan 19, 2010

I sent this off to GM and forgot to post the finish picts..

Here is the back modded and running

And here it is mounted on its bracket

It turned out cool, I cant believe how many coolers I had that had LEDs that I didnt like. I wish I had done this sooner.

Thank you very much Greasemonkey for bearing with me on this and I hope you enjoy the new fan..

GREASEMONKEY · Jan 19, 2010

I look very forward to recieving and seeing,Looks like it turned out supurb.

Thanks again for your very valuable time MK. :respect:

MKmods · Jan 19, 2010

LOL, valuable time? (I am so unorganized its hard to imagine ever being able to put a price on it)

This was probably more fun for me than you, I really learned a lot about LEDs.

AsRock · Jan 19, 2010

MKmods said:
Recently Greasemonkey sent me a couple fans and asked if I would mod them to be red instead of blue. I sent one back to him already but I figured you may want to see what it takes to do it so I will show the second one here

Here is a shot of the front of it (before modding begins)
http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/oo142/Partspicts/007-5.jpg

Useful LED info

Link for LED info
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html

Metku.net guide(thanks)
http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng

Is that a Zalman fan ?. I did the same thing to one for a member on here some time ago although it was a pain to take apart the fan on the ones i had although was still possible

.

MKmods · Jan 19, 2010

nope they are from a nirvana cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887011

System Name	Crossflow III
Processor	AMD 965 (4.04Ghz)
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Air
Memory	4 gigs Mushkin 7-7-7-20@1T
Video Card(s)	single 9800GT
Storage	Raptor 150's in Raid0
Display(s)	LG Flatron 24"
Case	Custom
Audio Device(s)	AuzenTech X-Raider W/OP637
Power Supply	Custom modded Corsair 750HX
Software	Win 7 64/Solaris Utility
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06--21963 so far

System Name	My pc
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling	Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory	16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage	2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s)	Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case	Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply	650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse	Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard	Generic mechanical keyboard
Software	Windows ten

System Name	Crossflow III
Processor	AMD 965 (4.04Ghz)
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Air
Memory	4 gigs Mushkin 7-7-7-20@1T
Video Card(s)	single 9800GT
Storage	Raptor 150's in Raid0
Display(s)	LG Flatron 24"
Case	Custom
Audio Device(s)	AuzenTech X-Raider W/OP637
Power Supply	Custom modded Corsair 750HX
Software	Win 7 64/Solaris Utility
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06--21963 so far

System Name	My pc
Processor	Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	Asus Rog b450-f
Cooling	Cooler master 120mm aio
Memory	16gb ddr4 3200mhz
Video Card(s)	MSI Ventus 3x 3070
Storage	2tb intel nvme and 2tb generic ssd
Display(s)	Generic dell 1080p overclocked to 75hz
Case	Phanteks enthoo
Power Supply	650w of borderline fire hazard
Mouse	Some wierd Chinese vertical mouse
Keyboard	Generic mechanical keyboard
Software	Windows ten

System Name	Crossflow III
Processor	AMD 965 (4.04Ghz)
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Air
Memory	4 gigs Mushkin 7-7-7-20@1T
Video Card(s)	single 9800GT
Storage	Raptor 150's in Raid0
Display(s)	LG Flatron 24"
Case	Custom
Audio Device(s)	AuzenTech X-Raider W/OP637
Power Supply	Custom modded Corsair 750HX
Software	Win 7 64/Solaris Utility
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06--21963 so far

System Name	New Build - Oct. 2021
Processor	Intel i7 10700k
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming H570-PRO
Cooling	Corsair H100i
Memory	Corsair Vengence 16gb 3600 mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 3060ti 8gb
Storage	1Tb Samsung 970 EVO NvMe m.2
Display(s)	27" LG Ultragear 144hz
Case	Fractal Design- Meshify 2
Audio Device(s)	Onborad dts
Power Supply	Corsair RX 650 W
Mouse	Roccat Kiro
Keyboard	Razer Tarantula
Software	Windows 10 Home x64

System Name	-= Son of a Whore =-
Processor	E8400 @ 4.0GHz (445 x 9)
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory	3GB Corsair XMS2
Video Card(s)	EVGA 8800 GT 512
Storage	74GB Raptor + Caviars in RAID0
Display(s)	I-Inc 19" LCD 1440x900
Audio Device(s)	Audigy SE & Logitech X-540
Power Supply	Corsair 750TX
Software	Win32 v6.1.7600
Benchmark Scores	Logitech KB & Sidewinder X3

System Name	SYS-1//SYS-2//SYS-3//SYS-4
Processor	AMD FX-8350//AMD FX-8350//AMD X6 1090T //AMD FX-8350
Motherboard	Biostar TA990FXE//Gigabyte 990FX-G//MSI 890GXM-G65//ASUS M5A99FX Pro 2.0
Cooling	ZEROtherm Nirvana//Corsair H-110i//AMD PII Cooler//AMD CL Water Cooler
Memory	REDLINE 1866 (4X4g)//REDLINE 2133 (4X4g)//Geil (4x2g)//AMD R9 G 2400 (4x4g)
Video Card(s)	XFX R9 270 (CF)//R9 270x(CF) Devil's//XFX HD7870//R9 270X(CF) Devil's
Storage	Corsair ForceIII GS-360 //Samsung 850-Pro//Samsung 840-Pro//Hyper-X Savage 480
Display(s)	Samsung 214T 21.3" LCD//BENQ G2400WD 24" LCD
Case	SIGMA LUNA//Corsair 650D //Silverstone SG-01//Cooler Master HAF-XB
Audio Device(s)	X-FI Fatality Pro//Sound Blaster Z//Sound Blaster Z//Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Corsair HX620W//Corsair HX850i//Corsair HX620//Corsair HX 750
Mouse	Logitech G9x // Logitech MX-518
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe//HyperX Alloy Elite
Software	Win 7 Ult-64 In Them All

System Name	Haro
Processor	AMD 1700x
Motherboard	AsRork x370 Taichi
Cooling	EK Custom Loop - CPU only
Memory	32gb G-Skill Trident Z
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1080 Superclock 2
Storage	Too Many
Display(s)	Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24" & LG 32 IPS
Case	Cooler Master Cosmos II
Power Supply	Cooler Master V1000
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 500
Software	Win10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	i5 750 4.62ghz pi runs // Evga FTW p55

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s)	Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.

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