Product News
The C-600 Miniature Fan Controller
Degree Controls, an industry-leading provider of airflow sensing and thermal management products, announced the availability of the C-600, a unique fan controller, which controls & modulates fan RPM, based on measuring the real time air velocity. This is an ideal way to ensure the linear air velocity determined during system design, is available and maintained in the actual system, while external factors like filter clog, inlet blockage, or different populations of components & cabling, affect the air flow rate.
The user programs the desired air velocity set point at the sensor location, which is derived empirically during the prototyping or analysis stage of the product. The sensed air velocity is compared to the set point in order to generate a PWM control input to the fan. In this fashion, the C-600 increases and decreases fan RPM in order to maintain the desired air velocity.
The controller also communicates to a host system by means of I2C or UART, and can provide, the air velocity, air temperature, as well as the PWM signal being generated, all in real time.
Should your cooling fan(s) be unable to generate the desired flow requirement, then the controller would initiate a low-flow alarm to the system. Because the C-600 also measures air temperature, a second configurable over-temp alarm can also be initiated to the system. If, within a system, there is access to monitor fan RPM, it is possible to predict filter clog by comparing the fan RPM to the sensed air velocity over time!
Advanced users will also implement the C-600 to control fan speed using a temperature set point, instead of an air velocity set point. In this case, the C-600 will modulate fan RPM to maintain the desired temperature using a tunable PI loop.
This controller is extremely compact, (<1.0 in2), using 7 pins on standard 0.1” centers. The component is mounted directly to the PCB, wherever air velocity or temperature is most critical in the system. If long term reliability, acoustic noise and power consumption are critical concerns in an application, implementing the C-600 fan controller is the most cost effective way to ensure thermal performance is met, while optimizing these variables. Call us today to learn more.
About DegreeC
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Milford, NH, DegreeC is a private, minority-owned ISO-9001 registered company. With more than a decade of experience, DegreeC has become a leading provider of thermal and airflow solutions for challenging telecommunications and medical applications. DegreeC is now applying its chassis-level thermal expertise to mission-critical room-level spaces, starting with data centers and clean rooms. In addition to its USA locations, DegreeC has facilities in India, China and Japan. With DegreeC’s most recent acquisition, Integrated Quality Services, LLC (IQS), DegreeC employs approximately 100 people. Additional information about DegreeC and its products and services may be found at http://www.degreec.com.
