Question Fan Issue on first Ashida

[CosmicRazberry]

Hey all quick question. I am putting together my Ashida and I have been running test a various stages. At this point I have the PMS, Ashida interface, and PD3 all in the case with the batteries hooked up and the system boots into RVLloader. But the fan is behaving strangely. It starts at seemingly full blast when the system boots, pretty normal thing for computers and devices, but then it stops and starts a sort of electronic clicking sound as if its trying to spin but isn't being given enough power or something. A mix between coil wine and general mechanical clicking. I thought it may be a faulty fan issue and was glad I bought two from digikey to have backups/use on a future portable. But I get the same behavior on the second fan so unless I got two faulty fans its something with the wiring maybe?

But nothing is really wired in at this point, and the system boots so there can't be something MAJORLY wrong with the wiring I would assume. My next guess was it was something to do with the NTC tempurature sensor giving the fan strange temperature reading without the system being fully assembled with heatsinks? Or could the minimal wiring be causing the issue where some part in the fan control chain isn't connected?

The only last weird behavior I noticed as the second fan I tried was behaving similar but to a much less loud/obvious degree when the cables to the fan were longer. When I cut the cables to fit the fan into the second case the behavior got worse? Which again brings me back to some sort of power issue? Or could be interference with the F+ / F- cables being that short? But usually short cables help interference. Ha I am just at a loss.

I do have a video of the issue posted in the modding channel of the discord if seeing/hearing the issue would be easier than the picture.

 

[CosmicRazberry]

Got a response in the discord and it seems that fan clicking is pretty common. Once I have controls setup I can run the fan calibration and potentially set the min fan speed higher to prevent this once fully assembled. So Thanks YveltalGriffin!

Also got a suggestion from subierekt that it may be a case/fitment issue. I got a nylon printed case that didn't have any warping but sure enough on their suggestion to add some tiny spacers UNDER the fan between the case in the fan, the noise did get markedly lower. So hopefully someone with this issue finds this post in the future ha!

*Update*​

Unfortunately the tiny spacers didn't help as much as when I first tested. Still having pretty bad fan noises unless the fan is capped at max 255 speed. I did go ahead and buy a slightly different spec fan from Digikey and will test if I see an improvement. It's still 35x10mm with 2 wires and very similar power draw, but it has a wider stated voltage range which I hope may translate into better behavior at lower speeds/power. It also has higher air flow and static pressure which is great for radiator adjacent fans. However it is 7500 RPM max vs 4500 on the original and rated a few dB higher so we will see how RVLoader handles it at different speeds. I will link the fan if I see an improvement and update this post regardless with the results.

 

[Darkside19]

did you fixed yours with that? Mine got the same fan issue How did you set the fan speed min and max and the target temperature?

 

[abbell]

did you fixed yours with that? Mine got the same fan issue

How did you set the fan speed min and max and the target temperature?

In RVLoader go to Settings > Power and under Fan click "Run calibration" and that will set your fan to the right speed.

 

[CosmicRazberry]

did you fixed yours with that? Mine got the same fan issue How did you set the fan speed min and max and the target temperature?

I did end up getting a different fan. I swapped the one on the Ashida BOM for this MF35100V2-1000U-A99. It's a drop in replacement that actually has double the airflow, higher static pressure, and a larger Voltage range between 2.5 ~ 6VDC. It also has a higher top RPM, but all this comes at the cost of being louder at full ramp and using slightly more power. So far it has been a big improvement for me. I set the min fan speed to 56 and the max to 180. That keeps it in a sweet spot for me where it starts really low and is blocked from ramping up to the full 7500 RPM which made it way to loud. Basically I got a more powerful fan and "underclocked" it in the RVLoader settings. It runs MUCH better at slower speeds than the original fan at least for me. The original fan made noise unless it was 220+ as the minimum fan speed, now I can set it to 56 and it's relatively quiet, although it may still have a slightly higher top speed noise even with the lower settings. Worth the tradeoff to me.

 

[Darkside19]

thank you I ordered one of this fans now I make an update after testing it :-)

 

[Darkside19]

I did end up getting a different fan. I swapped the one on the Ashida BOM for this MF35100V2-1000U-A99. It's a drop in replacement that actually has double the airflow, higher static pressure, and a larger Voltage range between 2.5 ~ 6VDC. It also has a higher top RPM, but all this comes at the cost of being louder at full ramp and using slightly more power. So far it has been a big improvement for me. I set the min fan speed to 56 and the max to 180. That keeps it in a sweet spot for me where it starts really low and is blocked from ramping up to the full 7500 RPM which made it way to loud. Basically I got a more powerful fan and "underclocked" it in the RVLoader settings. It runs MUCH better at slower speeds than the original fan at least for me. The original fan made noise unless it was 220+ as the minimum fan speed, now I can set it to 56 and it's relatively quiet, although it may still have a slightly higher top speed noise even with the lower settings. Worth the tradeoff to me.

Got the fan now and builted it in and it works perfectly, waaaayy better than the old one. I used the calibration and rvloader set it to lowest speed at 16 and highest on 180. It sound so clean, thanks :-)

 

[CosmicRazberry]

Got the fan now and builted it in and it works perfectly, waaaayy better than the old one. I used the calibration and rvloader set it to lowest speed at 16 and highest on 180. It sound so clean, thanks :-)

Awesome, glad I was able to help!