Alphacool Heatmaster Pump/Fan controller Review
by Dark Mantis
Alphacool's Heatmaster pump and fan controller is unusual in that it doesn't have any external switches or controlls and no display
panel. Just to add to the confusion there is no instrucions or driver disk either. So I spent the first fifteen minutes just looking
around this panel and trying to work it out without any clues. Nowhere on the box does it mention how to set it all up although it
does extoll the virtues of how clever it is once done. In desperation I went to the Alphacool website and there I found that I could
download a pdf instruction manual that was very well written and the necessary software. It just would have been nice to have been
given some guidance on where to find this in the box.
There is everything that you will need to start using the Heatmaster included although you might want to add more cables and sensors
as you go. I did find that the cables were not labelled for use and it was purely a case of finding a cable that fitted the
requirement. The supplied USB B to four single pin connectors I never did figure out where to attach them to so I used a standard USB
A to B cable that I already owned. I figure it must be to attach to an internal USB header but some sort of guidance would have been
a big help.
The circuit board has many connections and I will go through them in order in a clockwise direction. First there are the two power
switch connectors - the left hand pins go to the case switch and the right hand to the Power Switch pins of the F_Panel on the
motherboard, next there is a socket for an external relay with a maximum switching load of 30W @ 24 V - most people will probably
not use this, number 3 is the header for the alarm buzzer - the same as for the motherboard but only a two pin connection. Forth is
a set of headers for the five off board heat sensors - there is a sixth that is fixed onboard to monitor the circuit board. If you
have water cooling and a flow sensor the next connector, number 5, is where it should be attached. There are next to this four pump
or fan power headers labelled accordingly. That completes the top row of pins.
On the right hand side there is a standard four pin molex power connector socket.
None of the connector blocks on the bottom of the board are for use by the end user. They are purely for testing and calibration
purposes by the Alphacool technical staff.
On the left hand side there is a USB type B socket allowing data communication with the motherboard. This doesn't have to be
connected permanently and after initial setup the cable can be removed if required.
The software setup was surprisingly straightforward and seems to work well with my OS which is Windows 7 64 bit. I did have some
concerns as to whether this would be the case but it seems they were unfounded.
Once complete the Heatmaster's onboard LED should illuminate with a green light.
The use of the Windows based software is primarilly "Drag and Drop". The interface is split into four main parts. There is the main
monitor window at the top and this is where all the data/graphs are displayed when active.
To the right of that is a smaller display that shows what data the main window is showing. In the centre of the screen is the
"Library". All the various fans, sensors, alarms etc are held here and can be accessed from this point. Any of the different functions
can be dragged and dropped into any of the display panels for use.
At the bottom is a panel of five "Control loop" windows. They each show what is available for each loop. From here all the settings
can be manipulated. This is not always an easy task and requires some practice to master some of the more obtuse parts.
The main screen will show a graphical display of any fans and sensors that are active at the time. This is done with a scrolling
screen measured against a time frame in seconds. The other axis is displayed as Temperature and Speed. The whole chart can be grabbed
and moved in any direction. A key to the various charted lines will appear in the top left corner of the display and these colours
can be changed by simply double clicking on the icon in the right hand screen. For any display to show the loop must be activated.
This is done in the bottom control loop window.
Alarms for the various functions can be set at whatever level is required. Once the set level is reached the alarm will sound and the
onboard LED will flash red. There are three levels of alarm and they range from stage one where all fans and pumps are switched to
maximum through stage two where motherboard BIOS safety measures are initiated and through to stage three where the system is forced
to shut down completely. The device can create a log file of all the readings for careful checking of alarm conditions or just sensor
readings
When the levels are all at a setting that is correct for the system the USB cable can be disconnected and the unit will carry on
monitoring and controlling without any further necessary input.
This control unit is very powerful and all encompassing but is not the easiest device to get setup and running. Better basic
instructions and labelling of the cables etc would have helped a lot and certainly should be included in the box. There is little to
fault in the unit itself and it's capabilities but parts of the GUI could be improved upon to make it more user friendly also the
number of cables was insufficient. Alphacool supplies a two year warranty.
Althought the device performed well and the price is reasonable enough there were several issues that needed addressing. Because
of that I award the Alphacool Heatmaster 7/10
Supplier : Alphacool http://www.alphacool.com/ Price :44.95€
The pack contains the following cables:
1x Heatmaster control panel @ 140 x 38mm
1x adhesive Velcro pad @ 110 x 120mm
1x USB to motherboard cable @ 480mm
1x fan extension cable @ 600mm
1x sensor extension cable @ 330mm
1x spdif cable @ 900mm
3x heat sensor cables @ 530mm
