QL120 RGB fans flickering

[Viggo_K]

My Corsair QL120 RGB fans have started flickering recently, and I have no idea why this is happening.

I bought four QL120 RGB fans back at around 2021 - 2022, I bought one single pack and one three pack with an included Lighting Node CORE, and they have now suddenly started flickering out of nowhere since about a month ago.
I originally thought this was just a software issue because I had tampered with my computer's program files in an attempt to free up storage space, so I bought a new Corsair MP600 PRO XT 2TB NVMe SSD, re-installed Windows 10 on it and updated to the latest version of iCUE, but the problem did not go away. I then suspected the flickering to be the fault of the Lighting Node CORE somehow being broken, but I have replaced it with a spare one I had lying around in another three pack, and the flickering still did not go away.
I've also very recently replaced my old second hand Corsair RM750 PSU with a brand new Corsair HX1000i PSU because the old power supply was generally just in a bad condition and had a broken cooling fan, but that did not help either.

I've tried to look for a solution on several different websites, but I couldn't find anyone else who has the same issue as me, and the solutions I found for other similar kinds of flickering problems have not helped so far.

This is not the first time I'm having issues with Corsair's QL120 RGB fans either. A few months ago I noticed one of the fans had a dead green die, and Corsair has sent me a replacement for it which arrived the very next day after I tried to return the broken fan with its warranty, but I now noticed this exact same issue with another one of my QL120 RGB fans which I bought around the same time as the first one that had a dead green die.

I'm really upset that these fans are breaking so quickly, especially since they're so expensive, and it's such a shame as well since they're one of the best looking RGB fans on the market right now in my opinion.

Is there anything that could fix this issue? I'd really like to know if there is anything I should try that could get rid of this annoying flickering.

I have made a recording of the flickering issue, but the file was too large to be attached to this post, so I uploaded it to YouTube: Corsair QL120 RGB fans flickering YouTube link

[LeDoyen]

Sometimes, some have good results by re-balancing the SATA connexions to the lighting controllers. Like instead of having 3 or 4 controllers on the same SATA cable from the PSU, share the controllers between two cables, even if that leaves unused connectors on the PSU cables.

The ARGB lighting runs on 5V, and if you have all those QLs on the same cable, it may introduce voltage drop, which can cause all sorts of artifacts.

That could be a thing to try if it applies.

[Viggo_K]

1 hour ago, LeDoyen said:

Sometimes, some have good results by re-balancing the SATA connexions to the lighting controllers. Like instead of having 3 or 4 controllers on the same SATA cable from the PSU, share the controllers between two cables, even if that leaves unused connectors on the PSU cables.

The ARGB lighting runs on 5V, and if you have all those QLs on the same cable, it may introduce voltage drop, which can cause all sorts of artifacts.

That could be a thing to try if it applies.

I've read about this in a different forum before which talked about a similar issue, and it was the first thing I did when I was installing the new power supply. I have now connected both my Commander Pro and Lighting Node CORE to the first SATA cable, and my H150i Elite Capellix Hub and Corsair Internal USB 2.0 Hub to the other, but it sadly did not fix the issue.

[c-attack]

Sometimes the flickering is the result of intermittent signal through the fan-controller LED sequence and it's broken path that stops the series.  You can try temporarily swapping fans 1 and 6 on the controller since it looks like all the fans are flickering.  That suggests it would need to be controller based on on fan 1.  If the flickering shifts to #6 only, you've found the problem.  If it's still 1-6, then you need to keep working.  Try setting the fan count lower in CUE lighting setup (QL x 1, QL x 2, QL x 3, etc) to see if it still happens with less LEDs in the chain.  

 

The green LED is a common failing on the QL.  No user side fix, but the general consensus is if you like to use a lot of white, you'll need a lot of QL replacements.  

[Viggo_K]

10 minutes ago, c-attack said:

Sometimes the flickering is the result of intermittent signal through the fan-controller LED sequence and it's broken path that stops the series.  You can try temporarily swapping fans 1 and 6 on the controller since it looks like all the fans are flickering.  That suggests it would need to be controller based on on fan 1.  If the flickering shifts to #6 only, you've found the problem.  If it's still 1-6, then you need to keep working.  Try setting the fan count lower in CUE lighting setup (QL x 1, QL x 2, QL x 3, etc) to see if it still happens with less LEDs in the chain.  

 

The green LED is a common failing on the QL.  No user side fix, but the general consensus is if you like to use a lot of white, you'll need a lot of QL replacements.  

I have switched fans 1 and 6 in the Lighting Setup, but that did not do anything, and neither did lowering the fan count.
Only fans 2, 3 and 4 are flickering, fan 1 is totally fine. I've switched their cables around before, I've switched fan 2's cable with fan 1's cable on the Lighting Node CORE, after which fan 1 did begin to flicker, but fan 2 stopped flickering. This has shown me that the fans themselves aren't the problem.

However, I did just discover that if I only apply a lighting effect to fans 3 and 4 in Lighting Channel 1, then the flickering is way less noticable, but once I apply a lighting effect to fan 2 as well, then they all begin to flicker very heavily. Even if only fan 2 has a lighting effect applied to it, it will still flicker just as much on its own, but if I only apply the lighting effect to half of fan 2's LEDs, then there is no flickering at all.

[c-attack]

3 hours ago, Viggo_K said:

I've switched fan 2's cable with fan 1's cable on the Lighting Node CORE, after which fan 1 did begin to flicker, but fan 2 stopped flickering. This has shown me that the fans themselves aren't the problem.

 

6 hours ago, Viggo_K said:

I then suspected the flickering to be the fault of the Lighting Node CORE somehow being broken, but I have replaced it with a spare one I had lying around in another three pack, and the flickering still did not go away.

 

Don't be so quick to pass on the fans as the issue.  If you swap 1-2 and that changes the flicker from 2->1, that is an indicator there is a fan issue.  It's a series circuit on the LN Core and its all connected.  Since you already swapped in a new LN Core, that leaves the fans and a much more uncommon cause like the power delivery problem suggested above.  

 

3 hours ago, Viggo_K said:

However, I did just discover that if I only apply a lighting effect to fans 3 and 4 in Lighting Channel 1, then the flickering is way less noticable, but once I apply a lighting effect to fan 2 as well, then they all begin to flicker very heavily. Even if only fan 2 has a lighting effect applied to it, it will still flicker just as much on its own, but if I only apply the lighting effect to half of fan 2's LEDs, then there is no flickering at all.

 All of which suggests Fan #2 is a problem .  Try moving it to the end of the chain or disconnecting entirely.  You will need to advance all the other fans up a slot if you remove it.  No gaps allowed.  

[Viggo_K]

On 5/14/2023 at 2:45 AM, c-attack said:

 

 

Don't be so quick to pass on the fans as the issue.  If you swap 1-2 and that changes the flicker from 2->1, that is an indicator there is a fan issue.  It's a series circuit on the LN Core and its all connected.  Since you already swapped in a new LN Core, that leaves the fans and a much more uncommon cause like the power delivery problem suggested above.  

 

 All of which suggests Fan #2 is a problem .  Try moving it to the end of the chain or disconnecting entirely.  You will need to advance all the other fans up a slot if you remove it.  No gaps allowed.  

I forgot to mention that fan 2 is using a third party extension cable due to the original cable being too short to reach the Lighting Node CORE properly, it could barely reach the header at first which forced the cable to make some pretty sharp turns in the back of my case.

I have now also switched around every fan's connectors on the Lighting Node CORE except for fan 1. Fan 4 is now plugged into header 3 and is now the one using the third party extention cable instead of fan 2, fan 3 is plugged into header 2, and fan 2 is plugged into header 4 and is no longer using the extention cable. So far I haven't noticed any flickering yet, but it doesn't always show up instantly after I boot up my PC, so I'll give it some more time and update you guys if it starts to flicker again.

[Viggo_K]

37 minutes ago, Viggo_K said:

I forgot to mention that fan 2 is using a third party extension cable due to the original cable being too short to reach the Lighting Node CORE properly, it could barely reach the header at first which forced the cable to make some pretty sharp turns in the back of my case.

I have now also switched around every fan's connectors on the Lighting Node CORE except for fan 1. Fan 4 is now plugged into header 3 and is now the one using the third party extention cable instead of fan 2, fan 3 is plugged into header 2, and fan 2 is plugged into header 4 and is no longer using the extention cable. So far I haven't noticed any flickering yet, but it doesn't always show up instantly after I boot up my PC, so I'll give it some more time and update you guys if it starts to flicker again.

Only fans 2 and 4, which are plugged into headers 4 and 3 seem to be flickering now, and the third party extention cable is currently plugged into header 3. Fan 3 has now also stopped flickering entirely.
I think the issue might actually be the third party extention cable causing some soft of daisy chaining issue, which now that I think about it makes me feel a bit silly since this is something I should have checked way sooner, and third party products aren't always as reliable to begin with.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Viggo_K
Corrected a consistency issue.

[Viggo_K]

I have removed the third party extention cable about a week ago now and I haven't noticed any flickering since, so the issue seems to have finally been fixed.