For starters, I've been assembling my own rigs since 1997, so I'm not exactly a rookie in this. On the other hand, I've never actually modded any case before, so this is a new territory for me, and it shows, apparently.
Now the problem. Recently I bought CM Storm Scout. Very nice case, I really like it. But it comes with red LED fans, which I don't find suitable for my blue LED dominated environment. So I decided to swap the red LED fans for blue LED ones. And that's when the problems started.
If you don't know, this case has the option to turn off the LEDs -- of course, if the fans are provided with on/off switch cable. I ordered two such fans from Cooler Master (front 140mm and rear 120mm), but the on/off cable connectors on them differ from the ones the case has, so they can't be connected as they come. I retorted to some soldering and stuff, but, apparently, I was doing something wrong. I had trouble in making the case switch turn on the LEDs, I experimented with different ways of connecting, etc.
At some point, The front fan cables started smoking. I'm still not sure what happened. The fan became useless, so I ordered another one.
This time everything seemed fine, the fans working without problems. Then, yesterday morning, I noticed that the new front fan wasn't rotating. I unplugged the power cable from the mobo CHA_FAN connector and plugged it into a different CHA_FAN connector, near to where RAM chips are located. When I started the PC, I felt a burning plastic smell roughly from that connector area, accompanied by BIOS beeps. I immediately turned off the system and disconnected all the fans.
After that, the mobo stopped recognizing any RAM. The BIOS gives the beeps standing for "no memory detected" and that's it. The memory chips are OK, of course -- they work on another PC with no problem. I tried entirely different chips, too. All the same. So it can be safely said that the mobo is a toast.
Since I had nothing to loose, I decided to get into the problem with the front fan. I connected it directly to the PSU's molex connector. It started working. Then I connected the on/off switch cable. And the cable started smoking heavily. There goes the second brand-new case fan.
Now I have ordered a new motherboard, but I'm not sure what to make of this situation. What the hell is happening? What am I doing wrong? I'm connecting everything exactly the way the stock fans were connected, or I think so. Please give me some advice, I don't want to fry another motherboard. They are ASUS P8Z77-V Pro and they don't come cheap.
Now the problem. Recently I bought CM Storm Scout. Very nice case, I really like it. But it comes with red LED fans, which I don't find suitable for my blue LED dominated environment. So I decided to swap the red LED fans for blue LED ones. And that's when the problems started.
If you don't know, this case has the option to turn off the LEDs -- of course, if the fans are provided with on/off switch cable. I ordered two such fans from Cooler Master (front 140mm and rear 120mm), but the on/off cable connectors on them differ from the ones the case has, so they can't be connected as they come. I retorted to some soldering and stuff, but, apparently, I was doing something wrong. I had trouble in making the case switch turn on the LEDs, I experimented with different ways of connecting, etc.
At some point, The front fan cables started smoking. I'm still not sure what happened. The fan became useless, so I ordered another one.
This time everything seemed fine, the fans working without problems. Then, yesterday morning, I noticed that the new front fan wasn't rotating. I unplugged the power cable from the mobo CHA_FAN connector and plugged it into a different CHA_FAN connector, near to where RAM chips are located. When I started the PC, I felt a burning plastic smell roughly from that connector area, accompanied by BIOS beeps. I immediately turned off the system and disconnected all the fans.
After that, the mobo stopped recognizing any RAM. The BIOS gives the beeps standing for "no memory detected" and that's it. The memory chips are OK, of course -- they work on another PC with no problem. I tried entirely different chips, too. All the same. So it can be safely said that the mobo is a toast.
Since I had nothing to loose, I decided to get into the problem with the front fan. I connected it directly to the PSU's molex connector. It started working. Then I connected the on/off switch cable. And the cable started smoking heavily. There goes the second brand-new case fan.
Now I have ordered a new motherboard, but I'm not sure what to make of this situation. What the hell is happening? What am I doing wrong? I'm connecting everything exactly the way the stock fans were connected, or I think so. Please give me some advice, I don't want to fry another motherboard. They are ASUS P8Z77-V Pro and they don't come cheap.
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