You should be able to do this as you have described with the Aquaero 5 (pro or xt) and the multiswitch once the software is fully functional. Do you really need that many separate fan controls or can the fans be combined? i.e. I am running an AEpro with 4 fans on my 480 radi on one fan channel. Previously used a AE4 and a AE4 LT, the AE 5 has allowed me to cut back a bit due to the additional capability.
If you could cut back to 8 controls it might be easier to use an AE5 (pro or xt) and an AE5 lt (or 2 AE 5 lt's), you don't need the display you could go with only LT's. The reason I say this is I've never set up the multiswitch for automated temp control, I've only used them for lighting options.

You can easily run 4 fans off one channel providing they do not exceed the max ampage on that channel. If you can find out what your fans pull then you can determine if each XT channel will handle the draw.

You can just connect then in daisy fashion or by using fan header spliters, guess it depends on how tidy you like your cables.

However, what you really need is PowerAdjust2's these are additional controllers which can be connected in series to the aquaero via aquabus or even used stand alone. I am not sure if there is a limit of how many you can connect but it is a fair amount. This can however be a costly option as they are around £30 each plus a faceplate (which hold 3 of them) @ £10 or so if you want to mount them in a drive bay. Just depends on your budget really.



EDIT: Think the powerbooster is only for the older models of the aquaero.

EDIT 2: missed this one, the aquaero will only generate heat if you run the fans at a reduced voltage, if you run the cannels at full 12 volts then then it will not generate any additional heat.

Cannot remember the max per channel but am sure have read many people running 4 fans off one header.

The PA2's just carry one header on them but also have seperate temp and flow meter monitors. Yes they will be visible as additional controllers and sensors on the Aquaero and in the software.

Do not think you can connect an LT to an XT. Will not work like that, am sure someone asked this before somewhere. However there is nothing stopping configuring them individually but only having one connected to the motherboard USB header for use with the software whilst the other just runs as configured. In this instance you could configure the XT via the software or front panel then disconnect it from the USB header and continue to use it stand alone via the front panel whilst the LT is controlled and configured via the software constantly..... Not ideal I know as you would have to have seperate flow and temp sensors connected to them both if you want to use a curve or set point controller to control your pumps and fans. I personally would opt for the XT and some PA2's this will allow you to connect everything together.

It can become expensive, I have an XT and 3 PA2's but am not even using them from my fans at the moment, just my pumps. The good thing is that the system is so versitile and gives you lots of redundency, it is by far the best controller you can buy on the market today.

Going back to the multiswitch, you could connect fans to it, one on each channel however you will not have any rpm monitoring even though you will be able to control the power output to each fan, again not great as you will not be able to see how fast they are going or if anthing fails easily.

Hi Cilohaxes,

Just to confirm chippie's suggestions.

One Aqaero has four fan headers. Each fan header supports up to 1.65A /19.8W load or 5A combined on all channels. This means that, if you are not running some monster fans, you can connect many fans to the same channel. Martin did some excellent tests and he ran 14 or more Gentle typhoon fans from one channel. There is also the temperature limit, if you run the fans at lower voltages the voltage regulators will heat up. I am running 4 fans on each channel, usually at 7V and the voltage regulators are usually around 50C. This is with a passive heatsink and is well within the limits.

You can connect up to 6 Poweradjusts to your Aquaero, which gives you six additional fan channels. PA's are more powerful, they support up to 2A/48W load, so you can use them to control even more fans on single channel. The costs add up quickly though, so don't go shopping crazy if you don't really need them.

You can use two Aquaero units in the same system, and Aquacomputer guys have stated that, sometime in the future (not to be expected in less then a year) you will be able to use one unit as a slave and the other one as a master. Right now you can run them independently.

Kind regards,
Boris.

Quoted from "Cilohaxes"

Some questions do arise though in relation to the installation of 3 x PA2's. I have read that some people have had problems installing more than one into there system. There are english instructions for installing the AQ5 but not for the PA2 . Also is there an english layout map as to which connection is which.. Any ideas???
Secondly how do you connect all 3 to the AQ5. A simple step by step explanation might help more than a few of us. Not only explaining how to connect them up but how to set each up on the AQ5.

PS. bcikota suggestion of using two separate AQ5's also seems a great idea although does get more expensive, but would be an excellent idea if I wanted to run two separate loops.

Yeah, there is not much ot there on the PA2 unfortunately. However the solution once known is pretty easy. First off you need to download and install Aquasuite 4.72.00 from the software section. Close down (not uninstall, they can both be installed on the same system quite happily) Aquasuite 2012 (best to disconnect the Aquaero from the USB header as well) and connect one of your PA2's to the motherboard USB header. Then in the 4.72 software, which will show the PA2 you need to set an individual address for each unit, I cannot rememebr the exact tab it is on but the default is 50, so you can keep one at 50 then the others will be set to 51 and 52, get the idea. This same process needs to be followed if you are using more than one multiswitch and possibly pumps but I do not use the AquaComputer pumps so cannot be sure.

Ok, so once you set individual addresses for each PA2 you can then reconnect your Aquaero back to the USB header and obviously disconnect the PA2 from the motherboard. To connect the PA2's to the Aquaero you use what is called an aquabus cable which is essentialy a fan header cable with female conectors at each end. Each PA2 has 2 of these connectors and you basically just daisy chain them with one end of the chain going to the Aquaero Fast Aquabus connector.

Attached is a drawing of the back of a PA2 showing the connections so for exapmple you would connect your Aquaero to the red aquabus connector then the yellow one to the next PA2 unit and so on... As they sit very close to each other I made up some cables which literally just span the short gap between the connectors giving a really tidy look.



You could use 2 AQ5's but you will only be able to have one connected to the motherboard and monitored/configured by the software at any one time, you would also have to be extremely careful with profiles as to not overwrite one with the other and as I mentioned also have seperate temp sensors for each, this may cause an issue if you are using any software sensors as only one unit (the one connected to the mb) will be able to read them. If AC ever develop the software so you can run 2 units simultaneously then that would be great but I would not hold my breath for such functionality, using PA2's is the way to go at this point in time.

Happy to help!!!!

No need to uninstall, I keep both on my system, you cannot run them together but can have them installed, up to you really. I have kept it on a just in case basis!

No need to address any other pumps and not even positive if you need to do it to the AC ones (possibly if you have 2 in the system). I run 2 D5's and 2 400's (Koolance branded) off the PA2's. They are just controlled as fans. If you have yet to buy the D5's make sure you get the ones with the tachometer cable otherwise you will not be able to see the rpm and will be controlling then via the voltage blindly.

With the XT pump, I have heard good things and with the Ultra version you can monitor and adjust lots of things on the pump.

The reason I use the Laing pumps is, one as I have always used them and they have never let me down, two because I like a little cabeling as possible in my system and finally as little tubing as possible in a dual pump setup so I use the Koolance dual pump reservoirs. One which is a single drive bay one and the other a dual bay (for the D5 pumps). The flow and the head I get from these is really amazing.