What are the 3 wires on a PC fan?
A 3-wire fan has power, ground, and a tachometric (“tach”) output, which provides a signal with frequency proportional to speed. A 4-wire fan has power, ground, a tach output, and a PWM-drive input.
What are the wires on a PC fan?
The simplest PC fan requires just two wires – one wire provides power (12V), and the next wire is ground (0V). In a 3-wire fan, the extra (third) wire is the ‘tachometer’ signal (Tacho) wire that indicates how fast the fan is running.
What are the 4 wires on a fan?
- Black wire is for the fan.
- Blue wire is for the lamp if one is included with the fan.
- White wire is neutral.
- Green wire is for the ground.
- Red wire is sometimes included and acts as a conductor to carry power to the light kit.
Can I put a 3 pin fan into a 4 pin header?
Please Note: You can connect a 3 Pin Fan to a 3 Pin or 4 Pin header on the motherboard. The fan will function normally no matter type of fan header is used. The fan connector will have two guides (1) and these will need to line up with the tab (2) that is on the motherboard fan header.
Why do fans have 3 wires?
The third wire gives your computer control over it. The speed of the fan is reported back to the computer’s processor, which can be used to control the fan’s speed by raising it or lowering it when necessary.
What are the red black and white wires on a computer fan?
A PC fan’s wire colors are pretty consistent, with red almost invariably marking the positive and black marking the negative or ground. The third wire varies depending on the manufacturer, but usually, it is blue or yellow. You don’t need it to make the fan turn, but the third wire is there for a good reason.
Can I plug a 3-pin fan into a 4-pin?
1 Answer. Apparently a 3-pin fan can plug directly into a 4-pin socket. Two of the pins provide power to the fan, the 3rd provides an RPM pulse to the motherboard to read the speed. The 4th pin is for PWM speed control.
Can I connect a 3 wire fan to a 2 wire connector?
The 3 Pin fan will fit onto the 2 pin you just need to match the holes and the pins and see which two contacts make the fan function.
What kind of wire does a PC fan need?
The simplest PC fan requires just two wires – one wire provides power (12V), and the next wire is ground (0V). In a 3-wire fan, the extra (third) wire is the ‘tachometer’ signal (Tacho) wire that indicates how fast the fan is running.
What are the colors of a 3 pin fan wire?
3 pin and 4 pin Fan Wire Diagrams Pin Name Pin Name Color Color 1 Ground Black Black 2 +12v Red Yellow 3 Tach/Signal/Sense Yellow Green 4 Control/PWM Blue Blue
What are the colors of a PC fan?
A PC fan’s wire colors are pretty consistent, with red almost invariably marking the positive and black marking the negative or ground. The third wire varies depending on the manufacturer, but usually, it is blue or yellow.
What’s the difference between 3 and 4 wire CPU fans?
Each of these wires serves a specific purpose. Note that Chassis and CPU fans may use either 3-pin or 4-pin power connectors. 3-pin connectors are usually used for the smaller chassis fans with lower power consumption, while 4-pin connectors are usually used by CPU fans with higher power consumption.