Cooling Fan controllers

[PentiumPower514]

In short, I have 5 80mm fans, 1 60mm fan, and a HD cooling fan (direct bolt on). Can I control ALL of these fans with a 4 channel controller? Or will it be too much wattage? It fits into a 5.25 drive.

Thanks in advance

[got_ammo]

Doesn't a 4 channel controller control... 4 fans? Only put as many fans as something is desgined for on it, or you will overload it.

[scott_d]

get one of these
http://svc.com/zazm1mufansp.html
and ditch a fan. That thing fits in a 5.25 bay too.
You most likely dont need all of them, or you could just leave one on full blast or get a permanent speed reducer.
HTH

[mattg2k4]

Find out the power the fans will consume, usually printed on the fan itself as amperage, and find the power that each channel of the controller can provide. Do not exceed the rating for any single channel.

To see if any two or more fans will be able to share a channel of the controller, add the amperage rating of each fan and see if it exceeds the controller's rating. If it exceeds it, don't share the channel with those fans. It will probably work for a while if you exceed the controller's rating, but the controller (a rheobus probably?) will be overheating inside and will probably fail before too long.

edit: since ratings may or may not be in amperage, wattage=amps * voltage. Since you know the voltage you're running at, you can convert between wattage ratings and amperage ratings with basic algebra.