Late 2012 Mac Mini broken Fan connector work-around

[markosjal]

I have a late 2012 Mac Mini with a broken fan connector both on board and fan. I spent some time trying to apply 9V to different wire combinations on the fan to try to make it spin but the fan does not seem to spin with just a voltage. Since all wires are black it is kind of confusing. I was reading elsewhere about people wondering if their fans were working in their Mac Minis and from what I read a fan failure does not negate the systems ability to run and boot , as long as it does not overheat. Anyone know if this is true?

I was hoping to:

Convert existing fan to "always On" using 12V from power supply , as I think disk may be 5V only????? Is there an "always on" 5V or 12V fan that would fit the case ? It looks a lot like the fan in an old Acer Revo RL80 that I have.


But how do I make the fan spin? where is the easiest source of 12V I suppose I can try to test the power supply outputs.

Thanks

Mark

 

[markosjal]

Ok, was finally able to get the fan to spin. It must have a diode in it to prevent reverse voltage. I also found I can pull 12V off the power supply easily enough.

The question remains whether the mac will run if it does not detect the fan rotating. in other words of those 2 pins for detection are not connected.