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Is it possible to connect Thermaltake commander 10 port pwm sata powered fan hub to Corsair Commander Pro?


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I'm trying to connect 20 Corsair fans and would like to control them through icue. 19 Ql120 and 1 Ql140. I'm almost done with the build and ready to install windows but want to be sure I get the wiring right so I don't unintentionally burn something up. Right now i have two thermaltake commander 10 port pwn fan hubs that is sata powered that all my fans are connected to. I'm wondering if i can plug the 4 pin cable going from the thermaltake hub into the corsair commander pro? From looking into this thermaltake hub it sounds like only one fan is detected and the other 9 fans speed is the same as the master fan on the hub. Since it's sata powered i'm assuming it will be safe to plug into the Corsair commander pro. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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@Rubber-T - there should be no issues doing exactly what you want. I use Lampton SP105 fan controllers (10 port PWM controller) connected to a Commander Pro (shortened to CoPro from herein) in both of my machines (9 x PWM 120mm fans across three 360mm radiators for each machine).  It also has the added bonus of allowing a single change in ICUE to a CoPro fan port to propagate across all the ports connected of the Lampton SP105.

For your scenario: You'll need to use a total of 3 ports on the CoPro... 10 x QL 120 fans via the first Thermaltake controller on 1st CoPro port, 9 x QL 120 fans via the first Thermaltake controller on the 2nd CoPro port and finally the single QL140 fan directly wired to the 3rd port of the CoPro. The reason for singling out the 140mm fan is a limitation of the Commander Pro when creating the fan curve. Though you can specify a fixed PWM speed for a fan, you cannot build a custom fan curve based of PWM percentages (I think the Commander Core XT can). You need to specify an absolute fan speed for each step for the curve.

Below are 3 fan curve entries I use for my Corsair ML 120mm Elite fans (specified RPM range is 450 ~ 2000 ) using the liquid temperate as the source...

Custom Curve Name   Liquid Temp   PWM Fan Duty Cycle   ML 120 Elite RPM
             
             
             
             
Quiet   20⁰C   25%   500
    25⁰C   25%   500
    29⁰C   30%   600
    33⁰C   40%   800
    37⁰C   50%   1000
    40⁰C   60%   1200
             
             
Balanced   20⁰C   30%   600
    25⁰C   40%   800
    29⁰C   50%   1000
    33⁰C   60%   1200
    37⁰C   70%   1400
    40⁰C   80%   1600
             
             
Extreme   20⁰C   40%   800
    25⁰C   50%   1000
    29⁰C   60%   1200
    33⁰C   70%   1400
    37⁰C   80%   1600
    40⁰C   100%   2000

For your fans, simply plug in the maximum speed of the QL fans (1500 RPM for the 120mm, 1250 rpm for the 140mm) and multiply it out for each of the six points the CoPro supports for a custom fan curve.

eg. Using the Balanced custom fan curve above at 33⁰C / 60% for the QL RGB fans -

  • QL 120 RGB = 0.6 x 1500 RPM = 900 RPM.
  • QL 140 RGB = 0.6 x 1250 RPM = 750 RPM

You may end up with entries that calculate below the minimum support RPM speed for a given fan (eg, 25% for the QL 120 RGB fan is 375 RPM); if this happens just use the minimum supported RPM spec. until you pass the minimum RPM threshold.

Note: If you use my example curves above, you'll need a total of 6 custom fan (3 each for the QL120mm, 3 each for QL140mm).

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@BlaisePAppreciate the wealth of information! Easy fix to move that pwm cable to the commander pro in the third slot.

Would you have any insight into how I have the commander pro connected? Right now I have two NZXT 4 port usb hubs plugged into both of the motherboard ports. Is it ok to have the commander pro plugged into the nzxt hub or would it be better to plug the commander pro into the motherboard and then use one of the usb ports on the commander pro to plug the other nzxt usb hub into?

Edited by Rubber-T
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In general it's better to leave the commander pro USB ports alone 🙂

Better leave the two NZXT hubs on dedicated motherboard ports. With Corsair gear using a lot of software control, it's always best to not limit yourself to a single port bandwidth. Technically it should still work, but it's best to keep the more reliable connexion with the amount of fans you're managing.

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9 hours ago, Rubber-T said:

@BlaisePAppreciate the wealth of information! Easy fix to move that pwm cable to the commander pro in the third slot.

Would you have any insight into how I have the commander pro connected? Right now I have two NZXT 4 port usb hubs plugged into both of the motherboard ports. Is it ok to have the commander pro plugged into the nzxt hub or would it be better to plug the commander pro into the motherboard and then use one of the usb ports on the commander pro to plug the other nzxt usb hub into?

As @LeDoyen stated, keep your all USB cables plugged into the NZXT hubs and leave the Commander Pro USB ports free, it's more reliable. I have a NZXT Internal USB hub (Gen 3) in each of my rigs to manage all of my internal USB connectivity. (Note: Corsair has very recently made their own internal 4 port USB 2.0 hub.)

I had an error/typo in my earlier post... 

10 hours ago, BlaiseP said:

<snip>

For your scenario: You'll need to use a total of 3 ports on the CoPro... 10 x QL 120 fans via the first Thermaltake controller on 1st CoPro port, 9 x QL 120 fans via the first second Thermaltake controller on the 2nd CoPro port and finally the single QL140 fan directly wired to the 3rd port of the CoPro.

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