Case fan wires

[Fred]

I just installed a new Antec case fan in my powmax box. I put it in the
front to pull air in. The fan did not have an arrow on it showing me air
direction. It was a pain to put in. It has a four pin power connector with
only 2 wires in it that are easy to swap around. Will a simple wire swap
reverse this fan? Or will it hurt it? I really don't want to have to flip it
around if I find it blows out instead of in. Or I could easily turn the back
fan around too.

 

[Larry]

I just installed a new Antec case fan in my powmax box. I put it in the
front to pull air in. The fan did not have an arrow on it showing me air
direction. It was a pain to put in. It has a four pin power connector with
only 2 wires in it that are easy to swap around. Will a simple wire swap
reverse this fan?

No. One is for 12vdc the other is ground will not reverse and might
possible damage PS depending on how wired internally. Look at the fan
center, normally air will enter where the fan blade has a solid center and
exhaust over the motor.

Larry

Or will it hurt it? I really don't want to have to flip it

around if I find it blows out instead of in. Or I could easily turn the back
fan around too.

May find the restriction on air flow to be excessive and air flow may not be
suffiecient to properly cool the MB components. As a rule I just use one
fan on back for exhaust and don't worry about trying to force more air in.

Larry

 

[sooky grumper]

I just installed a new Antec case fan in my powmax box. I put it in the
front to pull air in. The fan did not have an arrow on it showing me air
direction. It was a pain to put in. It has a four pin power connector with
only 2 wires in it that are easy to swap around. Will a simple wire swap
reverse this fan? Or will it hurt it? I really don't want to have to flip it
around if I find it blows out instead of in.

The lesson from this? Test the fan before installation (or look harder,
the arrows tend to be hard to spot on some fans). I would not recommend
reversing the wires.

Or I could easily turn the back
fan around too.

Then it would be in competition with the PSU fan, and the airflow would
be all screwed up. Better to just take the time to do the job right now,
if it turns out you need to.

 

[jeffc]

May find the restriction on air flow to be excessive and air flow may not be
suffiecient to properly cool the MB components. As a rule I just use one
fan on back for exhaust and don't worry about trying to force more air in.

That works. One small benefit from blowing air in is that it increases the
air pressure inside the case. When you only have fans blowing out, then the
air pressure in the case is lower than outside, and air gets sucked in
through every nook and cranny. Your PC becomes a massive dust collector,
and technically you don't get the best airflow over your components. Not
gonna make or break your system though.

 

[sooky grumper]

That works. One small benefit from blowing air in is that it increases the
air pressure inside the case. When you only have fans blowing out, then the
air pressure in the case is lower than outside, and air gets sucked in
through every nook and cranny. Your PC becomes a massive dust collector,
and technically you don't get the best airflow over your components. Not
gonna make or break your system though.

Unless the system is sealed air tight, it's going to be a dust
collector. Positive pressure does NOTHING to help the problem.

 

[Terry Wilson]

Unless the system is sealed air tight, it's going to be a dust
collector. Positive pressure does NOTHING to help the problem.

Sealing the case tight should help make the system a bit quieter.

Filtering the incoming air in a positive pressure case should help keep it a
bit cleaner.

 

[jeffc]

Unless the system is sealed air tight, it's going to be a dust
collector. Positive pressure does NOTHING to help the problem.

Yes, it does. Positive pressure restricts the air flow to known paths with
inputs and outputs. The inputs can then be filtered. That's impossible (or
impractical anyway) when there is low pressure and numerous ways for air to
enter the system.

 

[ric]

I just installed a new Antec case fan in my powmax box. I put it in the
front to pull air in. The fan did not have an arrow on it showing me air
direction.

It was a pain to put in. It has a four pin power connector with
only 2 wires in it that are easy to swap around. Will a simple wire swap
reverse this fan?
No.

Or will it hurt it?

Chances are, no.

I really don't want to have to flip it
around if I find it blows out instead of in. Or I could easily turn the back
fan around too.

The back fan should blow in the same direction as the PSU fan, and the
PSU fan should blow out.