Lamptron FC5V3 Six Channel Fan Controller Review

When using the fan controller all channels will display RPM, temperature and voltage information. You simply adjust RPM/voltage turning the dials.

The main selling point is the ability to change colour. By clicking the 1st dial once the fan controller begins a cycle of switching through the 16 colours spending 2 seconds on each. You have to click the 1st dial a second time to confirm the colour it is on.

Using the far right dial, #6, you can switch between fahrenheit and degrees celsius should you prefer one or the other.

There are three fan alarm options to choose from. The first one is on 6 channel fan alarm. Meaning if the trigger parameters are met the alarm will sound on any of the six channels depending on which one a fan failed in. The fail parameters are as follows:

• When more than 7V output voltage is provided, but the speed is 0 rpm, the fan controller goes into alarm mode. In alarm mode the sound beeps once every 1 second, the speed of the channel display area flashes.
• When a channel reaches a temperature higher than 85 ° C the fan controller goes into alarm mode. In alarm mode the sound beeps once every 1 second while the channel temperature display area will promptly flash.

The second mode is four channel fan fail this covers channels #1 to #4.

The final option is to just turn it off altogether if fan controllers aren’t your thing.

The last option worth pointing out is that you can just turn the display off by holding the first (far left) fan dial in for a few seconds.

Performance

Screen Quality: The quality of the Lamptron FC5V3 left me with no complaints. Lamptron always have the common sense of equipping a matte display and this is excellent because it means glare doesn’t occur unlike on some fan controllers that use glossy displays. The screen is responsive to inputs and the brightness is very good but not too overpowering. Unfortunately there is no brightness adjustment but you do have a full range of 16 colours which is brilliant as very few fan controllers offer this.

Usability: While the CW611 was a bit tricky because it had a lot of parameters and functions with just two dials/buttons to control it, the FC5V3 is much easier to control. Using it is a breeze and all six dials control their respective fans between 0 and 12 volts in proportional increments as you turn the dial. Clockwise adds voltage, anti-clockwise reduces voltage and there is an off position though there is no clicking to let you know it is off. The far left and far right dials are button dials and allow you to input various things. It is really very simple, the far left dial controls the display colour, and on/off state while the far right dial controls temperature unit and the fan alarm mode. You really can’t go wrong with using the FC5V3 fan controller and if you do the manual will clear up any queries in a few seconds.

Fan Tuning: Fan tuning is done in proportional increments between 0 and 12 volts and you can be very precise down to about 0.1/0.2 volts if you make subtle enough hand movements. It does what it says on the tin and allows you to tune fan speeds and voltages effectively, the voltages are stable and the input-to-output lag (voltage input change to RPM output change) is minimal at about 2-3 seconds which means the fan is causing the lag not the controller.

Build Quality: Lamptron have impressed once again with the build quality. The use of high quality metals and minimal use of plastic make the entire design durable and rigid. Furthermore the dials have been reinforced to prevent wobble and unlike some cheaper fan controller they certainly won’t be falling off or losing connection. The decision to not add a clicking mechanism was also a good one as it will make the dials more durable in the long run. The quality of the LCD panel is very good, we mention more details of that above. The cables are perfect and improved a lot since the last fan controller I looked at. Lamptron putting the sleeving under the heat shrink was a genius move and prevents the sleeving from moving around. It is also nice that Lamptron have thought about ways to turn off features that you might not like or need such as the ability to turn of Start Boost and the fan alarm, this just shows attention to detail that not everyone else puts into their products.