Fan controller and pump.

Hi all. I am wondering where i would be able to get a cord that would connect a pump to a 3pin fan controller so i can control it outside of the case.
And also if i have a 4 pin fan. how would it fit into a 3pin fan controller. thanks.

Presuming it's a D5 vario pump you have, connecting it to a fan controller isn't ideal. This will reduce the voltage to the pump and your fan controller may not be built for it. The D5 vario pump, the one with the dial at the back uses it's own internal PWM to reduce the speed of the pump.

I had the same requirement as you with a previous build of mine; I wanted to adjust the speed remotely, and there is a way.

How handy are you with a soldering iron?

If you take the back off the pump you'll notice that the speed adjusting screw goes down to a 10k ohm potentiometer soldered on to the pump's circuit board. I removed this and soldered 3 wires in it's place, and these wires went to a remote 10k pot, purchased from the likes of RS, Farnell or Maplin if you're desperate. You just have to make sure you wire the new potentiometer the right way. I'll do some digging and see if I can find some images if you're interested.

If any of the above doesn't make sense, don't attempt it. I don't know your skill level and you could bork your 60 quid pump!

For the adapters you can find them easily by Googling molex to 3 pin adapter or 4 pin to 3 pin adapter. Just make sure you get the correct male/female connectors for your needs.

You might as well find a pump setting which suits your loop well and leave it at that, it's so much less hassle, the pump speed doesn't make a huge difference temperature wise, and it's potentially safer. If you are insistent upon doing it, you need to make sure that the channel on your fan controller can handle enough power with some extra for leeway because start-up current will probably be higher than running current. The D5 draws 2A at 12V = 24W, most fan controllers should handle this, but check. The operating voltage of a D5 is 8-24V, and most fan controllers probably go quite a bit below 8V, at which point you may not be supplying enough power for the pump to even turn on, so your loop will overheat quickly, and you probably won't even notice.

Do it at your own risk I'd say, I just leave mine at a fixed setting.

As the guys said, we need more specifics on the pump. If it's a D5, you need a 30W per channel controller to handle that since it's a 24W pump. But honestly, speaking as someone who has 2 D5's running at full speed (5) 24/7, you shouldn't be too worried about pump noise. These pumps are very quiet. Unless you have a VERY silent PC, I doubt you'll even hear them.