Home > categories > Electrical Equipment & Supplies > Connectors > can you run three 12v fans off one 3 pin connector?
Question:

can you run three 12v fans off one 3 pin connector?

I have one 3 in x 3 in fan running on one 3 pin connector.My question is can i also run that fan plus one or two 140mm 12v fansI'm looking for a total cooling of the computer at the cheapest amountI can get the fans for like 6 bucks on OKorder and the cable for 6 bucks too. so what 12 bucks and my computer is as cool as the snowI am just curious if the plug will burn out if I am running too much power on it?

Answer:

The motherboard has no capability of detecting whether the fan is on or not. Now, that being said you can rule off the fan problem. I believe the reason your computer shutdown could be because of one or more of the following: a) If this is your first time running a game the CPU could have overheated and in most cases caused the computer to shutdown. In some cases (very rearly) the CPU could have been destroyed but I highly doubt this. b) The computer shut down you say? Maybe it was a cable from the back of the machine that had caused this. A No signal detected is a common error for this type of scenario. c) Electrical failure - This can be caused by one various computer compoments and caused the computer to shutdown or possibly malfunction. Since you have new pieces I suggest trying in a dummy CPU to see if it works. You can go to a computer store and ask to try a CPU before you buy it to see if it resolves the issue. I hope I helped ~
You would have to add up the ampere ratings of the fans. If they add up to more than 0.4 ampere, they would most likely overload the 3-pin connector on motherboard. The motherboard may be able to carry the load for quite a while until connector melts. Better hook them up to an adapter so that they connect directly to the 4-pin molex connector of power supply. The power supply won't have a problem running about a dozen of those fans. Take note that the yellow wire is +12VDC.

Share to: