HP Z800 PSU (Delta DPS-1050DB A) – Fan headers pinout

[SebastianMWS]

Task at hand:

Replacing factory default ADDA PWM fans (AD0812VB-A7BGP) in HP Z800 Power Supply (Delta DPS-1050DB A), due to high-pitch whirring sound they start to generate, after about 5min. from cold start up.

Replacement fans:  Arctic Cooling F8 PWM

Fan connector is standard 4-pin, differs a bit from HP proprietary 4-pin connector, so it doesn't fit the fan header in PSU out-of-the-box. This can be fixed by removing an inner plastic key/ridge on the AC F8 fan connector.

Problem to solve:

Wiring (color) scheme of ADDA AD0812VB-A7BGP fans appears to be reversed, compared to standard 4-wire PWM wiring/pinout.

• International Standard: 

1. GND (black), 2. 12V (yellow), 3. TACH or RPM SENSE (green), 4. CONTROL or PWM (blue) ;

• Common OEM variations:

1. GND (black), 2. 12V (red), 3. TACH or RPM SENSE (yellow), 4. CONTROL or PWM (blue) ;

1. GND (black), 2. 12V (red), 3. TACH or RPM SENSE (white), 4. CONTROL or PWM (blue) ;

• ADDA AD0812VB-A7BGP:**

1. blue 2. white, 3. red, 4. black ;

** Based on perceived pinout – the right-most pin of the fan header on PSU PCB is marked with silkscreen printed »1«.

It is utterly confusing, to say the least – is the fan header pinout reversed in Z800 power supply, or the color scheme order of the fan wiring ?

Has anyone else gone through this dilemma ? Any help would be much appreciated (fan header pinout, Service Manul or schematics for Delta DPS-1050DB A, etc.).

Kind regards,

Sebastian

[Z440Roger]

Has anyone else gone through this dilemma ? Any help would be much appreciated (fan header pinout, Service Manul or schematics for Delta DPS-1050DB A, etc.).

Yes, my original chassi fans in my Z800 sounded like a Cessna airplane but when i changed them to Noctua fans i got an error from the BIOS each time i booted the computer. I gave up and bought new chassi fans for the Z820 since they are much quiter than the fans in the Z800. (I assume that Z840 fans are even better today.)

Front chassi fans were no problem to get but the rear double-fan with it´s sepcial fan connector was harder, but i managed to get it. The two 80mm fans in the power supply sounds like a Cessna plane as well, so be preprared...

Not the answer you were looking for, but can be good if you one day decide to give up. 😉

[SebastianMWS]

Thank you 'Z440Roger',

Just curious – did you check if those Noctuas were spinning when the BIOS triggered the alarm ? What was the error message you were receiving ?

I was initially encouraged to swap the fans with something quieter, based on a single report – a buyer of Noctua NF-A8 PWM wrote a review on Amazon UK site, reporting a successful replaceement of ADDA fans with Noctuas. Unfortunately I have no means to contact this guy directly (no emails), to ask him how he did it (modding the fan connector, additional modifications,etc.)

As for my own research , regarding the HP Z800 PSU fan pinout, here's what I concluded so far:

The fan header pinout on Delta DPS-1050DB A PCB definitely appears to be reversed – the left-most pin (should be Pin.4 – CONTROL according to Intel PWM standard) is the GROUND, the pin to the right is 12V (should be Pin.3 – RPM SENSE).  I came to these conclusions by measuring resistance between left-most pin and PSU chassis (zero ohm), then between second pin from the left and one of the 12v (yellow wiring) output pin.

I am still puzzled about the purpose of the silkscreen marking »1« (right-most pin), considering that HP (or was it Delta) didn't adhere to PMW standard. Go figure ... 

Bottom line – the wiring color scheme seems to be correct, but the pinout is the display of some really weird humor.

Looking forward ...

Regards, Sebastian

[Z440Roger]

Just curious – did you check if those Noctuas were spinning when the BIOS triggered the alarm ? What was the error message you were receiving ?

They all spinned but since they were standard PMW fans the motherboard  did not detect them and reported "Chassis fan not detected. Press F1 to continue" at every boot. So everything worked but i got tired of pressing F1 and was thinking "what if the fans do fail, i will always dismiss the warnings...". (Yes, i know... 😉 )

Are you replacing the two rear chassis fans as well? They have a 6-pin (?) connector. I will follow your progress since i want to change the fans before i sell my Z800. 🙂

[SebastianMWS]

There's nothing special about those ADDA PWM fans, other than bizare wiring/pinout scheme. The only thing I can think of is if the Noctuas were reporting rpm value / signal (through RPM SENSE out) that bothered BIOS, expecting higher value at IDLE. Still, not all 4-wire PWM fans are the same - I'm not referring to rpm range, or 3-wire vs. 4-wire variety (standard nowadays), but the algorithm (and chip) used for the fan circuit to communicate with BIOS. I wonder how that guy reporting success on Amazon UK got it working ...

I don't plan to replace any other fans - the rest of the fans are behaving well (for now), plus I'm on a tight budget, since I'm configuring this machine for a friend of mine, not for myself.

Thanks again for all your input, will report back when I swap the fans; I decided to pick some higher cfm fans, as the rpm rating of original ADDA (5000 rpm) got me thinking a bit. There's got to be a good reason why HP (or Delta) chose high rpm fans for this application - the space in Delta PSU is pretty crammed, plus there's quite a long air flow path, for the cool air to be pushed through by those two 80mm fans. Just a thought ...

Kind regards, Sebastian

[SebastianMWS]

Hello 'Z440Roger',

I was prompted recently (by forum's admin, automated message) to close this thread, by either accepting the most useful response or post an additional feedback or question. It just so happens that I finally got around to it, to replace the original Adda fans with a pair of new AVC fans I just received in a mail. Before I do this, I've got one more question for you:

How did you rearange the wires on the fan connectors of your Noctua fans, to match the oddball PCB fan header wiring scheme of the HP/Delta PSU ? I can't imagine you just plugged in your Noctua fans and make them work, considering the reversed wiring color scheme of original Adda fans, which I confirmed with my measurements with a multimeter (at least for the GROUND and +12 fan header pins).

Your input would be invaluable …

Kind regards, Sebastian

[Z440Roger]

SebastianMWS,

I bought a Noctua 4-pin PWM fan, filed down the two plastic sliders on the 4-pin contact so it fits nice on the PCM board in the power supply. That´s all i had to do to make it work. It seems that neither the power supply nor the motherboard monitor the fans in the power supply. The fans rotated and the air moved from the front through the power supply and out from the back, just as the original fans moved the air. No warnings from the BIOS.

The original fans have two plastic sliders as well but are wider apart from each other and that´s why i needed to file them down on the Noctua fans. Place the filed end the same way as the original fan contact are.

If i do the same and attach the fan to the motherboard the BIOS warned me at every boot. Pressing F1 to continue was required. That´s why i opted for HP fans for the chassi fans.

[SebastianMWS]

Greetings to everyone,

who may have been waiting (indefinitely), for the right answer to come around the corner;

It was finally confirmed, first - by a skilled repair technician, followed shortly by Delta Tech Support - the fan pinout on Delta DPS-1050DB A PCB is reversed ! It's just as I suspected - the wiring colour scheme of AD0812VB-A7BGP fans in Z800 PSU follows the oddball pinout of fan headers.

NOTE: The drawing detail of the fan connector, to the left of descriptio of the signals, shows this connector from the bottom-up perspective, not a top-down !!

To wrap up: The wires of replacement fans (AVC DL0825R12U-PS14 - standard PWM pinout) just needed to be rearranged - pins pulled out then reinserted into fan connector in a reversed order.

I hope this will save somebody a great deal of time and frustration ...

Kind regards, Sebastian