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CPU Fan headers dead after pop/spark, any ideas on cause?

Spoonhandle
Level 7
I've had an 8350 setup on the Crosshair V Formula-Z since October and everything has worked great using an FX branded Asetek water cooler (the one that was included in 8150 & 8350 kits for a while).

The water cooler includes Everflow fans that work well, but are very loud, so I grabbed some Noctua NF-12s that were on sales on Amazon. So last night, I swapped the fans on the water cooler, connected everything back up and turned on the computer.

There was an odd clicking and it didn't look like the fans were spinning as fast as they should have then the computer turned off on its own after showing a CPU fan error. I checked the fan connections and noticed one of the fans got unplugged from the water cooler fan connectors when I was routing the cables. Figured that was the problem and booted it back up, but had the same problem; clicking sound, screen shows fan error, then computer shut down.

I turned off the PSU, unplugged the power cable then checked all the fan/cooler connections and mounting of everything and it all seemed correct. Connected power cable, turned it back on then there was a spark and smoke from the back of the motherboard.

At this point I took off the water cooler completely worried that I had damaged the processor and despite the spark and burnt electrical component smell I couldn't find any evidence on the board of any parts being damaged/burned.

I grabbed the stock cooler, cleaned thermal paste off the CPU then installed the stock cooler. When I turned the computer on it booted up, then showed CPU Fan fail and I noticed the fan won't spin at all. I connected the CPU fan to a chassis fan header, turned it on and it booted and the CPU fan spins up.

Just for kicks I connected the water cooler to another chassis fan header and it runs as it seems it should and if I put my finger on the copper heatsink I can feel it get cold and feel liquid flowing through the tubes. (and the Noctua fans going full speeed are SO much quieter than the stock ones).

So yeah, now the CPU Fan and CPU Opt fan headers don't seem to be putting out any power. I have started the advanced RMA process with ASUS this morning, but what is bothering me is what might have caused this? I'm concerned that I will get the replacement board and that the same thing might happen again. Also, I don't even really have any way to determine whether any of the other components might have been damaged somehow.

I have been building and fixing PCs for years and haven't ever had an issue like this with ASUS boards. Any ideas on what could have caused this and what the clicking sound might have been?

tldr; swapped fans on the Asetek water cooler; sparks and pops when computer turned on. Only thing I can think of that might have caused it is if I connected it to the CPU fan header wrong.
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5 REPLIES 5

TheNerdBench
Level 10
The only time I have see something like this happen is when:
1) someone plugged the fan in while the board was "on"
2) something is mis-pinned on the FAN connector (did some pins get swapped or wires swapped as it appears you "modded" the fans)

I know you said that the fan worked fine in a chassis connector but was that a four pin or three pin header? I would do some serious testing before putting these components on a new board.

Also do the "new" fans included a tach wire....if so did you attach both tach wires to the CPU fan header as that could be the problem...you only want to attach one tach wire to the CPU FAN header.

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For trouble-shooting tips see my blog at:


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http://thenerdbench.blogspot.com/p/bench-testing.html


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MB: Crosshair V Formula-Z • CPU: FX-8350 • GPU: Asus Matrix R9 280x • RAM: 8GB of Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer (1866)• PSU: Thermaltake DPS Thoughpower 750 Watt • CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio Advanced • Keyboard: TT Sports Challanger Ultimate • Mouse: TT Sports Black Element • Case: Thermaltake GT Level 10


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The Asetek water cooler uses a 3 pin fan connector that control the pump and both fans. This is the only connection on the board for the setup. The pump has a double 4 pin cable that the fans connet to and a USB cable that connects to a USB header which the software uses to monitor the fan speed and all that jazz. Asetek is the OEM that different companies rebrand as their own (Intel, AMD, Antec, Corsair, etc.). The setup is the same as this Antec kuhler water cooler (http://www.antec.com/download/Kuhler%20920%20Manual.pdf)

The chassis fan headers on the Formula-Z that I connected it to after the problem are 4 pin. I think this evening I'm going to set it all up on fan headers with the pump connected on it's own then use a y-cable that came with the fans so they will not be powered from the pump and tell the BIOS to ignore the CPU Fan readings to hopefully get it to boot.
I figured I might as well test it all as much as I can before receiving the Advanced RMA replacement board.

My best guess is that I somehow connected the 3 pin connector from the radiator on to the 4 pin CPU header incorrectly. I remember reading of other people connecting 3 pin connectors and thinking, "How is that even possible? It has the little guide to make sure you plug it in right!"

Figured it out.

I had the software that controls the fans connected through the radiator on silent (to keep the stock fans from being super loud)

This setting prevented the noctua fans from fully spinning and for some reason the pump from working properly while the fans were connected.

I uninstalled the software and ran the radiator & fans off a molex adapter, then re-installed the software and set the fan control setting to extreme to make them run at full speed. Works great now.

Too bad I blew the CPU fan headers to get it working correctly. 😞

TheNerdBench
Level 10
Thanks for posting back and yep as you discovered if you mis-pin/plug a 3-pin connector on a 4-pin connector that is the result..a bad cooling fan connector.

Don't be too hard on yourself 🙂

[/HR]
For trouble-shooting tips see my blog at:


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http://thenerdbench.blogspot.com/p/bench-testing.html


[/HR]
MB: Crosshair V Formula-Z • CPU: FX-8350 • GPU: Asus Matrix R9 280x • RAM: 8GB of Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer (1866)• PSU: Thermaltake DPS Thoughpower 750 Watt • CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Frio Advanced • Keyboard: TT Sports Challanger Ultimate • Mouse: TT Sports Black Element • Case: Thermaltake GT Level 10


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Spoonhandle
Level 7
Props to ASUS for a speedy RMA.