120mm Fan...loud...spinning too fast

[Telexen]

I've just barely gotten my external water cooling setup running. I bought an Evercool 120mm aluminum fan that's supposed to be 32dbA and ~84CFM...well it's a LOT louder than that, probably close to 50dbA.

Asus probe says it's spinning at ~1300 - 1400 rpm, but that can't be because the fan's lowest speed is supposed to be 1800rpm (it's 29dba at that).

So I checked MBM5 and when I adjust the fan dividier/type it reads 2700rpm. The fans max rated speed is 2200rpm, but I can believe around 2700 because the fan makes some clicking noise also, leaving me to believe it's spinning too fast.

To get power to the external enclosure I used the excess cord from my pump and wired one end into the relay (using one of the 3 wires for RPM monitoring) and put a female molex on the end of it. Then I have a male molex wired with a 3pin connecting to my motherboard sticking out of my case.

Why is the fan spinning so fast?

[JPMiller]

Did you possibly overvolt it accidentally?
http://www.overclockers.com/tips808/

[Telexen]

I'm pretty sure I didn't...I'll check it again later though.

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with using larger wires...that doesn't make sense though because it has to go through all the small wires for the 3pin and male molex connectors.

It is going into a relay first in the external box, not sure that has anything to do with it.

[Telexen]

Just thought I'd update this with my findings.

I've checked the wiring (to the best of my ablility, a lot of it has been heat shrinked)...it's all wired right.

I did check it with a multimeter earlier, both just coming out of the case and at the relay ... both produced just under 12v

So I have a cheap fan where they fibbed a little on the specs.

[DPA]

here, waste another 4.25 [plus shipping.. and with that, id buy 3 or 4 to save on shipping]

http://www.bestbyte.net/Product.cfm?...yID=8&Keyword=

i just bought 1 to control my cpu fan and it works great!

really small too.

[Telexen]

No no no

I got a rheostat from Radioshack. $3.99 ... plus $2 for a knob. I'll wire it up and it'll work fine.

My next project will be making my own fan controller with rheostats and toggle switches

[stroyal]

If the inlet of a DC fan is restricted the RPM will increase.
If you hold the fan outside the case with no inlet or outlet restriction that is the slowest the fan will run. you then can lay it down on the table inlet side down and that is the fastest that it will run

[ArcticFox]

The ball berrings (sorry about spelling) may be shot in the motor. If all else fails, replace the fan unless you know it's still good.