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Fan Port on Commander Pro stopped working


ISandManI

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Well the fun fact is:

I used to run 6 Noctua Industrial (3 120 & 3 140) (3x2 with splitter) on a simple extension fan card (from Asus), I'm not even counting the other fans connected to the motherboard, and I've never had any issue with that card, at all. (used this setup for more than 2 years on my previous setup without any issue) And I'm still using it with my current configuration, since I have to return another Commander Pro.

 

The Commander Pro is supposed to be a premium product compared to that extension card, you can expect to be capable to run 6 fans without toasting a port.

 

My VRM fan draw 0.18A for information.

And yeah, 2400 rpm used to exhaust the huge amount of heat produced by a i9 7900x OC at 4.6Ghz during a workload. (I'm considering to delid it but... warranty you know..)

 

But yeah, on my next Commander I'm just gonna plug 1 NF-A14 on the Commander, because I need it to be tie with a probe, the other ones will be on the extension card.

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a simple extension fan card

 

does it have 2 RGB headers?.. 4 x temperature probe channels?. 2 x usb headers?. and an MCU? can it be software controlled?. its advertised as a 6 port fan hub and in iCue it shows you 6 fans....... thats 6 ports for 6 fans... anything after that is out of spec and at your own risk... i take that risk my self (currently running 8 fans on one of my Commander Pros).. but i do allow for the Commander Pro's other premium options and their power needs (1A limitation per fan header and a 4.5A limitation for the entire unit) .. the reason i do this is because i contacted Corsair direct and asked the question.. they said they do not support fan splitters.. others here have assumed they can because the manual didnt say it couldnt!.. i mean.... my manual for my car says nothing about the 160mph written on the dials.. but is no way that car will do 160mph!.. do i have cause for complaint to ford?

 

unfair comparison dude

Edited by Zotty
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does it have 2 RGB headers?.. 4 x temperature probe channels?. 2 x usb headers?. and MCU? can it be software controlled?. its advertised as a 6 port fan hub and in iCue it shows you 6 fans....... thats 6 ports for 6 fans... anything after that is out of spec and at your own risk... i take that risk my self.. but i do allow for the Commander Pro's other premium options and their power needs.. the reason i do this is because i contacted Corsair direct and asked the question.. they said they do not support fan splitters.. others here have assumed they can because the manual didnt say it couldnt!.. i mean.... my manual for my car says nothing about the 160mph written on the dials.. but is no way that car will do 160mph!.. do i have cause for complaint to ford?

 

unfair comparison dude

I've never ever used a splitter on any of my Commander Pro, ever.

Only used splitters on my extension fan card.

 

What I'm saying is, the product should have the strength to handle the juice, because the Commander Pro is more oriented for advanced users, who generally uses big fans.

 

Now that I know that I can either ask for a refund or a replacement, I'm choosing the second solution and I will split the load between the Commander Pro & my extension card.

 

I just hope their V2 of the Commander Pro (if one is planned) will be more solid.

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I just hope their V2 of the Commander Pro (if one is planned) will be more solid.

 

 

 

I know what you mean dude.. totally get your standing on the matter ;).. it is what it is. i suppose its all rosy if people live in the Corsair eco system ( i know i do!). for those that venture outside there can/may be consequences...

 

but you can be assured.. Corsair will read this... they will take it on board.. and should a Commander Pro 2 platinum GTI HTX FBI ninja model come out one would hope lessons will have been learnt along the way!.

 

as a beta tester i do make all the suggestions i can. i want the features and extra options as much as the next man! as does DevBiker and a few others who help out on here.. we got your back bud ;) :)

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  • 1 year later...

Hey, this is 2 years old and I have had the exact same issues. Never used splitters, only individual connections to the CoPro, but have the Noctua Industrial Fans, tho never ran them at max speed for long.

I'm in my 2nd Commander Pro and 2 of it's ports are dead.

 

Assuming the Noctua fans used caused the problem (and I've never used them again in the CoPro, after all the ports died, so I was forced to start using MB controls, which is not ideal since it doesn't read GPU temps...). Is there a way to open it up and fix it? Would it be possible? Because my CoPro still works just fine for everything else (the other 4 ports are all working, except for one that's kinda funky, and the LED channels and USB ports work too)... So, is there a way to "fix" those ports? Some soldering involved, idk...?

 

I'm asking this 'cause I'm not buying in dollars, local currency sucks.

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Really good question....I just swapped motherboard and cpu in my system. When I went back together with it, I swapped the ML Pro fans with ML pro RGB on my radiator. Only had 4 fans hooked up to the commander. Now, I have 5 ML Pro RGB fans, or should I say 4, now that the #1 port is dead. Worst part is, Corsair replaced it for the same thing 6 months ago, and now I'm 4-5 months out of my original warranty.

 

Think I'm going to go with Aquacomputer 6 lt controller this time. 2.5A per fan header, overcurrent protection and time out, and short circuit protection on fan headers. At least I don"t think I can blow it up.....

 

BTW 5 fans, one per header, ALL Corsair ML fans.

 

If a way to fix this exists, I'm all for it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For what it's worth, I fixed the dead fan port on the Commander pro. Turns out the driver transistor for port one was blown. Not sure what the original was rated for, but I bought the replacement driver rated to 1500ma. Hate surface mount work, took 45 minutes to replace on transistor and my eyes aren't what they used to be, but it works.

If anyone wants to give it a go, they're available from Mouser. P/N MMSS8550-H-TP

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For what it's worth, I fixed the dead fan port on the Commander pro. Turns out the driver transistor for port one was blown. Not sure what the original was rated for, but I bought the replacement driver rated to 1500ma. Hate surface mount work, took 45 minutes to replace on transistor and my eyes aren't what they used to be, but it works.

If anyone wants to give it a go, they're available from Mouser. P/N MMSS8550-H-TP

 

Well done buddy!!.. i do believe you are the first to bring one back from the other side :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Hi guys,

 

I'm new in the forum but I just want to confirm the issue with transistors. After replace my Commander Pro using RMA, the second one has same issue:

 

After a couple of days working fine, start to lose FAN Channels. I've lost 3 of them in my second device.

 

I've checked the device and transistors are burning. I cannot touch them so it's more than likely that power dissipation is the problem.

 

I've checked them with a polymeter and they are broken (Even you can see the SOT-23 Packet burned if you look close)

 

I've orderer new transistors to replace myself and I've added a heatsink to the PCB. The heatsink is quite hot too.

 

I will post with the result after replace the transistors but I think that heatsink is needed if you want to control 6 FANs of 3-Pins as I have.

 

I'm electronic engineer so I know a bit about that. This issue will be only when use 3-pin fans because the commander pro needs to regulate the voltage of each fan so BJT transitors dissipate much more power than in PWM where they are always ON.

 

I hope that this help other people. My fans are rated to a really low current ~ 0.15A.

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Hi guys,

 

I've checked them with a polymeter and they are broken (Even you can see the SOT-23 Packet burned if you look close)

 

I've orderer new transistors to replace myself and I've added a heatsink to the PCB. The heatsink is quite hot too.

 

Hi

 

If you post a picture of the failed transistors I am sure that would help many people. If you don't, I will as I have two duff CP's here and will give it a go.

 

Did you use the same MMSS8550-H-TP as Steve?

 

Thanks

 

David

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Hi David,

 

I'm waiting parts to arrive from eBay. As soon as I rework the device, I will post a short tutorial.

 

The main issue with the device seems to be power dissipation in 3 pins fans. If you plan to use a 3 pins fan raiting > 0.2A, you need to ensure to run them at a min. RPM to avoid overheat these transistor.

 

I will post more details when I make a deeper analysis.

 

Regards

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Hi David,

 

I'm waiting parts to arrive from eBay. As soon as I rework the device, I will post a short tutorial.

 

 

Regards

 

Hi

 

I ordered a couple a few days ago, and like you, waiting. Ordered them from a UK supplier and paid through the teeth for them - wanted them quickly... you know the story.

 

I will swap them out as soon as they come. I did wonder about using a TO92 packaged device - that was you can clip on a heatsink, plus the range of higher powered devices is much higher... that might have been a plan.

 

David

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If you can fit a TO92, it will provide better heat dissipation. The key is BJT is working as an amplifier in 3-pins mode. It means (rought aprox.) running FAN at 50% of RPM will drop 6V in transistor. If FAN is rating to 0.3A, it will be around (0.3/2)*6 = 900mW and these transistors are rating to 625mW so you will burn them.

It's just an approximation but it's a valid one.

Check your transistors with a lens and you will discover as they are burned

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Check your transistors with a lens and you will discover as they are burned

 

Thanks - will do - I had another CP that I think I binned as it was not worth even looking at the repair (when new ones could be found for £40ish) and I did not see marks... but will this time have a very close look.

 

As you say, crap original design... and identifying a higher power replacement seems the priority!

 

 

David

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Hi guys,

 

I've received the transistors (MMSS8550 650mW) and replace all of them in CP (6 in total). See picture:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ov67EmCHTIKcjZax9ZtXYq5sXswFn9V_/view?usp=sharing

 

Now all channels are working fine. In order to test my theory, I add a heatsink and one of the CP temp. sensor to the heatsink:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eu2gpqcnD9G3Mood6_GhxpPIZo20Gd8u/view?usp=sharing

 

Running CP with my default set using 6 FANS of 3 Pins, the temp. increase really fast above 50ºC (It was running 30min. and temp still increasing)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yxSJR9RptT5DWbWlaPC4JDVWpXvHn6Ci/view?usp=sharing

 

I set all FANS to 100% where transistors shall have a min. power dissipation and temp. quickly drop below 40ºC (After 5min. temp. still dropping)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bmq44mwGj3zmAVplj7DJ6pPLf9wBmmuT/view?usp=sharing

 

As a conclusion, CP can come from the dark side replacing the transistors but you have to be really carefull when using 3 Pins FAN because of Power Dissipation. With this transistors (I'm not sure if factory one are 650mW or 350mW) you can run a 3 PIN FAN without constraint if Current Rating < 0.2 A.

 

If current raiting is > 0.2A you shall use high RMP to avoid thermal issues.

 

I hope that help people to fix their Commander Pro.

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Hi guys,

 

I hope that help people to fix their Commander Pro.

 

Well done... and thanks for the photos - my transistors came this morning so will swap them tonight.

 

Really like your idea of using a thermistor to monitor the CP, will probably copy that if I can find a suitable heatsink as it looks a tricky size.

 

All good fun....and I am sure this will become the go to thread for the future!

 

David

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Thanks David,

 

As reference, I used an M.2 SSD heatsink that fit perfect

 

Thanks - would not have thought about using one of these - that looks an ideal fit and covers the transistors and a couple of chips by the look of it too.

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All sorted - three swapped and all good... and ordered a heap of transistors from china for much cheapness as I am sure I will have to swap them at some point in the future (have three CP's).

 

Well worth the 15mins it took!

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  • 7 months later...

Hey,

 

I know this an old thread but hoping I might still get some advice, none of the fan ports are working on my Commander Pro and I'm keen to try and replace the transistors to see if that works, but I'd like to test that they have failed first before I do it.

 

Visually they don't look damaged, and whilst I'm no expert, indeed not even an amateur electrician, I did use a multimeter to register voltage across each of the live/ground pins of the fan headers.

 

Should they still work like that if the resistors had failed?

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  • 2 months later...

I have just finished building a corsair 5000x with 10 fans. I used the the fan repeater hub that comes with the case. This has blown the number one port of the commander pro, so I am replacing the fan repeater with two commander pro units. Can these units be daisy chained or must they each have their own usb header port.

 

Also can the ek loop flow meter be connected to the commander pro, or can the ek loop connect be connected to the commander pro to make use of the flow meter readings

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You should be able to connect the second to the first’s pass through on your MB. I have the same MB and have been doing so until recently. Some of the recent AMD boards have a problem with this.

 

Be aware the second Commander will display as “Commander Pro (1)” and it has a tendency to move around in the device order. You will be stumbling into the other device on occasion.

 

Assuming the flow meter has a standard fan connector it should give off a tachometer reading. Whether that number is useful or not is another matter.

Edited by c-attack
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