PaYFrog Customs Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 ForewordHello, my name is Dirk from PaYFrog Customs and today I want to show you what I figured out while playing with the controller of the Thermaltake Riing RGB fans for my Thermaltake Core P5 mod. The controller you receive whit the fans has a lot more potential than you would think. Open the controllerBefore we are going to use the controller for something it is not intended for, we should know what is inside of it. So I first opened it to know how it is looking inside. To open the controller, we have to unscrew four PH2 screws in the corners of the controller. The interiorThe interior has a very simple design. On one side of the circuit board we can see five pin headers, three for the fans (5pin, red), one for the power supply and PWM signal (4pin, green) and one for the optional connection cable (blue). Also, we see two mosfet (purple) for the circuits of the controller. On the other side of the circuit board we can see three switches and one status LED. We can set the controller’s functions with these switches but this isn’t the only way to do this. Functions of the boardLet’s take a look at the two mosfet. One of them is for the 5 Volt supply of the LED controlling unit and the LEDs. The other one for the supply of the fans. Both circuits can be set with the switches on the other side. One of the switches will set the fans to performance or silent mode, you can see which mode is activated if you´re looking for the status led. The other two switches will be used for the lighting of the fans. You can set the programmed colors or the “rainbow†mode with the first one. If you’re using the rainbow-mode, you can pause it with the second switch, so you can show any color permanently. There is still one problem, if you restart your pc you have to set them again. Fan connectorsPinoutWe have three pin headers for the fans. They looking quite similar to other fan connectors, but they are very different. The first thing we can see is that they got five pins. The only two pins that are similar to other connectors are the first and second pin („GND – Pin 1“ and „12V – Pin 2“). The last three pins are used for the LED controlling. The only thing I found out for now is the pin for the 5V supply, I can´t figure out which one is the data pin or what signal they are using to control the LEDs („Pin 3 – Y“, „Pin 4 – P“, „Pin 5 – 4,5 - 5V“). Max. tested fans/channelI for myself was running 3 fans per channel, that makes me running 9 fans on 1 controller. I had no problems with it. Of course you shouldn´t supply that with your motherboards fan header, so we will change the power supply for the controller. Unfortunately, this also gets rid of the PWM signal from the motherboard but we’ll get that back later with a little trick. Construct the splitterIt is really simple to build a splitter. We are going to split all pins to get more connectors. Likewise, a normal y-Splitter. First step: You need 3 headers for the fans. Step two: Be sure that they can’t touch each other to avoid damages and short-circuits. Step three: Bring them together at one connector. External buttons to set the controllerYou can use external buttons to control the light and speed of the fans. In my case I disassembled the pin header because I do not have the right material to plug something in. To show you how it works I will connect three buttons and make a video. The video will be uploaded in 2-3 days. Power supply for the controllerConfigurationWe want to use more than 3 fans at the controller, that means we have more than 3 fans at the fan header on the motherboard. I don’t want to damage anything and connecting more than 3 fans to one fan header on the motherboard should be avoided to prevent damage. I spliced the cable of the power supply in order to prevent damages. In that case the motherboard is used to regulate the fan speed only. Construct the cableThis is the simplest job of all. You have to trim the sleeve a little bit and change the connector for the 12V and GND. I for myself have added a normal Molex 4 pin connector for an easy plug and run. I´ve done this because I want to control the speed of the fans, but I didn´t want the motherboard to power all of them. I have extracted the 12V and GND only from the original connector so that we still can use the rev counter and the pwm signal of the controller to connect them to the motherboard. This is a usual setup at pwm pumps for a water cooled setup. Now we´re ready to go, the speed control can be set in the bios of the motherboard and the power supply is managed directly from the psu. Closing wordsI hope you can understand all this. I did this because I did not want 3 controllers on my Mora3. I don’t regret it, but you know it´s your own decision if you want to do the same. If you have any questions feel free to comment and I will do my best to help you. Tte Martin and xoma262 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tte Martin Posted June 16, 2016 Report Share Posted June 16, 2016 Greatt guide! Hopefully this helps a few people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cde2006 Posted June 17, 2016 Report Share Posted June 17, 2016 Nice, guide! I want to do the same for my 6 fans Can you share with us where did you find the 5 pin connectors (male and female)? Most of the one I have are standard 4 pins connector for fans. Also how did you connect the external button cable in the board, can you share a picture of it? Thanks a lot for this guide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaYFrog Customs Posted June 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hey, I got my out of another controller. The only shop I know is aliexpress, there you can get those. http://de.aliexpress.com/item/100pcs-Lot-5-Pin-Connector-Leads-Header-2-54mm-KF2510-5P-Kit-Housing-Pin-header-Terminal/828195538.html?spm=2114.010208.3.198.a2ZD5G&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_0,searchweb201602_2_10017_507,searchweb201603_2&btsid=4c7b53fa-3394-4e8c-ae7f-8b16efd76b86The cables for the buttons has been soldered in the pcb. I will upload a picture of it tomorrow. Best regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaYFrog Customs Posted June 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2016 Nice, guide! I want to do the same for my 6 fans Can you share with us where did you find the 5 pin connectors (male and female)? Most of the one I have are standard 4 pins connector for fans. Also how did you connect the external button cable in the board, can you share a picture of it? Thanks a lot for this guide! I added a picture to the post. Now you can see how i add the cable on the board. Video is coming up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diablo13 Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Haha check facebook page from thermaltake i post it 4 months ago there to mod the controller and make 5 pins splitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaYFrog Customs Posted June 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2016 Haha check facebook page from thermaltake i post it 4 months ago there to mod the controller and make 5 pins splitters Not everybody is looking in Facebook for information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhn bndct Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 can anyone help me my controller is not working and stuck on red and ibought another get stuck in blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinks Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Great guide, I'm looking forward to seeing your custom controller & vid!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaYFrog Customs Posted July 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 can anyone help me my controller is not working and stuck on red and ibought another get stuck in blue. Hello, what exactly is going on with it? How many fans do you run with it an how do you connect it (Motherboard or PSU)? Great guide, I'm looking forward to seeing your custom controller & vid!! Thanks man, I have a lot of work at my house at moment but will try to Upload it fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaYFrog Customs Posted July 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2016 Here I have a small video to show the usage of some buttons for the controller. I´m sorry for the quality, it will be better in the future. https://youtu.be/GGbyAEh-49wbest regardsPaYFrog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xoma262 Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 ConfigurationWe want to use more than 3 fans at the controller, that means we have more than 3 fans at the fan header on the motherboard. I don’t want to damage anything and connecting more than 3 fans to one fan header on the motherboard should be avoided to prevent damage. I spliced the cable of the power supply in order to prevent damages. In that case the motherboard is used to regulate the fan speed only. Technically it won't damage MB. It won't draw enough power to supply all 9 of them. Overall it's a very good job. Just one question how 1 controller would handle this in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xoma262 Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Btw ... soldering is a big drawback ... Assuming that not everyone can do that. I'll post soon how to utilize 4 fans - 1 controller with direct plug in to the MB. and how to connect up to 6 fans - PSU molex connector. Everything without soldering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tte Martin Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 Thread is pinned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingYam187 Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 i know im kinda late on this, and im not sure if there is a new thread on the subject, but here goes nothing. im trying to build the splitters to connect multiple riing fans to one controller, and id just like more detail about how you made yours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToxicScorpion1989 Posted May 4, 2019 Report Share Posted May 4, 2019 Quote can anyone help me my controller is not working and stuck on red and ibought another get stuck in blue. If the Controller stucks in red where it should be fading colors press the Play/Pause button. Quote Construct the cable This is the simplest job of all. You have to trim the sleeve a little bit and change the connector for the 12V and GND. I for myself have added a normal Molex 4 pin connector for an easy plug and run. Is the Big 1 sign on the PWM plug GND or 12v? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momorain Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 Hello is it somehow possible to controll the rgb via software instead of pressing the button all the time in order to switch colours? I would love to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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