Mobo 12v headers

[Daza]

Right.

Bit of a weird one here, Ive braided all my PSU cables got them nice and neat however I've just dug out my 4 CCFL's that I was going to use, however since all my cables are done Ive got no way of plugging them into a 12v supply (yup basically forgot them).

Now as its 3am Im thinking that if I wire them up to a 3pin fan plug and plug them into my mobo will it work as they only need 12v, btw mobo in question is X48 rampage extreme.

Now Im going to bed before I blow something up.:wavey:

 

[noobieocer]

i dont see why it wont work, but i never used a ccfl before. how much current will you be drawing? cuase i know if you stick a delta on one of those they just burn.

 

[tinytomlogan]

You cant draw that much power from a fan header simples.

 

[Daza]

Right a new day a fresh brain.

The manual says ;

The fan connectors support cooling fans of 350 mA-1000 mA (24 W max.) or a total of 1A-3.48 A (41.76 A max) at +12V. Connect the fan cables to the fan connectors on the motherboard, making sure that the black wire of each cable matches the ground pin of the connector

Now my CCFL's are rated as;

Details:

CCFL:

Length : 300mm

Voltage : 570 ± 40V

Current : 3.5 mA

Brightness : Over 20,000 ± 10% cd/m2

Lifetime : Over 15,000 hours

Inverter:

Input voltage : DC 12V (via 4pin molex connector)

Output current : 2 outputs of 5mA each

Any chance the more technical minded will tell me if I need more house insurance.

 

[monkey7]

Max power (P in W) of the CCFL / fan = 24w according to the manual. The specs however are different, explained below.

Power = Current * Strength (don't know the proper english word)

Watts = Voltage * Amps

So, Voltage * Amps should be less than 24W.

Looking at the ccfl specs:

610V * 0.035A = 21.35W

But the maximum per fan header, looking at the mobo specs:

The fan connectors support cooling fans of 350 mA-1000 mA (24 W max.)

12V * 1A = 12W

So yes, if you use a single fan header you will need more house insurance.

EDIT: 3.5mA is 0.0035A... That would make the CCFL consume just over 2W of power? I'd check that again.

 

[Daza]

Yup that figure is correct.

Another ccfl info gives this;

CCFL:

Length : 310mm

Diameter: 10mm

Current Consumption: 3 watts

Brightness : Over 20,000 ± 10% cd/m2

Lifetime : Over 15,000 hours

Inverter:

Input voltage : DC 12V (via 4pin molex connector)

Output current : 2 outputs of 5mA each

So I imagine the figure to be right.

 

[mayhem]

worst idea ever. CCFL fluctuate in there power draw and since there all cheap ass electronics inside them you risking your whole system. Do it at own risk.

Not some thing i would even consider my self.

 

[tinytomlogan]

The inverter on ccfl's turn a the amps into a gazilion volts, you CAN NOT use mobo headers to power them.

 

[Daza]

Looks at braid tools, sigh here we go again.

 

[monkey7]

The inverter on ccfl's turn a the amps into a gazilion volts, you CAN NOT use mobo headers to power them.

Did you even look at the calculation? I used 3.5mA @ 610V. Well, 35mA because of my stupid mistake.

But indeed, it's not a good idea to connect it to your motherboard. Besides, if you do the braiding right PSU cables are easier to hide

 

[Daza]

But indeed, it's not a good idea to connect it to your motherboard. Besides, if you do the braiding right PSU cables are easier to hide

Erm not in my case lol, will have pictures sometime today.:yumyum:

 

[JN]

After seeing some of the pictures and horror stories about inverters catching fire (and having one of my own burn out in a nasty way) I've vowed never to use CCFL's in any of my rigs. The dangers are worse than a cheap PSU imo.

LED strips all the way. The colours are better, they are 1000x safer and they consume a fraction of the power. They'd probably work with no issues on a fan header too (maybe even control their brightness using speedfan etc lol)

 

[Bungral]

Where do you buy them from Jimbo? Or make them yaself?

 

[JN]

Where do you buy them from Jimbo? Or make them yaself?

eBay is generally a good place. Just do a search for "led tube" and you get quite a few results. Not all are specific for PC use, but most run from 12v either with an adapter or direct.

The ones I've got now though are a left-over from my F40 build. But I honestly cant remember where they came from.

 

[monkey7]

Or make a wanted thread on here, guess mayhem will jump in pretty fast

 

[mayhem]

nope lol ive sold out all of my Leds tubes and RGB's ... lol wont be getting any more for the moment. Im working on other things atm.