Fan 8 Click Board™

Product Code: MIKROE-4824

How Does The Fan 8 Click Board™ Work? The Fan 8 Click Board™ as its foundation uses the MAX6615, a compliant fan controller, and accurately two temperature-channels monitors from Maxim Integrated, now part of Analog Devices. The MAX6615 monitors either the internal die temperature and the temperature of external thermistors connected on the onboard headers labeled as TH and reports temperature values in digital form using a 2-wire serial interface. To adjust the speed of the cooling fans, the temperature data controls the duty cycle of a PWM output signal, which minimizes noise when the system is running cool but provides maximum cooling when power dissipation increases. The Fan 8 Click Board™ communicates with MCU using the standard I2C 2-Wire interface to read data and configure settings with a maximum frequency of 400kHz. Besides, it also allows the choice of the least significant bit of its I2C slave address by positioning the SMD jumpers labeled as ADDR SEL to an appropriate position marked as 0 and 1.

This way, the MAX6616 provides the opportunity of the nine possible different I2C addresses by positioning the SMD jumper to an appropriate position. The MAX6615 monitors the fans' tachometer signals to detect fan failure. When the fan tachometer count is larger than the fan tachometer limit, the fan is considered failing. If that happens, the FAN_FAIL output represented by the FF pin, routed on the PWM pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, is asserted. Also, the MAX6615 features an over-temperature indicator routed on the AN pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, which sets high when a thermal fault occurs and can be used as a warning flag to initiate the system shutdown or to throttle clock frequency. In the event of any of these irregularities, the MCU will also receive information from an FLT pin (fault indicator), routed on the INT pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, in case of further necessary configurations necessary for proper operation. The Fan 8 Click Board™k supports an external fan power supply, connected to the input terminal labeled as VFAN with the value of 5V or 12V, while the fan connection wires can be connected to the onboard headers labeled as FAN1 and FAN2. This Click board™ can operate with both 3.3V and 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, it is allowed for both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs to use the I2C communication lines properly. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development. Specifications Type Brushless Applications Can be used for networking equipment, servers, or other applications requiring cooling and temperature control On-board modules MAX6615 - compliant fan controller, and accurately two temperature-channels monitors from Maxim Integrated, now part of Analog Devices Key Features Two fan-speed controller, dual-channel temperature monitor, external thermistors, fail-safe system protection, shutdown in case of overtemperature, programmable I2C addresses, and more Interface I2C Compatibility mikroBUS Click board size L (57.15 x 25.4 mm) Input Voltage 3.3V or 5V,External Pinout diagram This table shows how the pinout on the Fan 8 Click Board™ corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns). Notes Pin Pin Notes Overtemperature Indicator OT 1 AN PWM 16 FF Fan-Fail Indicator NC 2 RST INT 15 FLT Fault Indicator NC 3 CS RX 14 NC NC 4 SCK TX 13 NC NC 5 MISO SCL 12 SCL I2C Clock NC 6 MOSI SDA 11 SDA I2C Data Power Supply 3.3V 7 3.3V 5V 10 5V Power Supply Ground GND 8 GND GND 9 GND Ground Onboard settings and indicators Label