I m very happy with that new toy and it fits perfectly into my maker setup
if anyone else have the same feeling as me that the fan is very noisy? Newer rasbian version have a configuration for fan, but any idea when it will integrate into raspadOS?
cheers and rasp on
heiko
I have fiddled around with the voltage level of the fan, but even if it runs very slowly, it is noisy. I believe we need to look into a big heat sink solution (similar to PI400) as the housing of the Raspad3 seems to even amplify the noise. We need a fanless solution.
Jay
I replaced the fan with one that I had on hand.
Also, I selected CPU processor temperature for display on the top line. I understand the processor speed is not slowed down until the temperature reaches 80C. With my smaller/quieter fan it never reaches that temperature.
To add CPU temperature to Menu Bar:
Right click on Menu Bar
Select "Add/Remove Panel Items"
Click on "Add"
Click on "CPU Temperature Monitor"
Click on "Add"
Close
POOF! now you know the processor temperature!
Regards,
Charley
@Jay Bee you don't need a fabless solution you need to mount your fan not on a sounding board. The design problem is the back of the Raspad is a large souding board to which the fan is attached. I removed my fan (along with the screw mounts) and went with a pi mounted fan. Ever since replacing the fan I haven't had sound problems.
Perhaps you should think about changing the fan to one from Noctua. The fans from Noctua are from very good quality and most models are very silent. You can get fans in all needed sizes and voltages. Noctua have 5V fans but most 12V fans also work at 5V and are nearly noiseless at that level.
I just tried another solution:
I removed the fan and the small black heat sink from the SoC. I replaced it with two Pi4 SoC heat sinks by glueing the thermal pad half/half onto the surface. Meaning: I now have double the heat sink surface. Prior, with the standard sink, the SoC temp went well over 70 degree with no fan and Youtube runing at 720p50. Now, it remains between 58..62 degree. That works, I guess. I will keep monitoring.
Jay
With my RasPad, the fan is on all of the time. Surely it should only be on when the CPU gets hot - which may never happen. I hard that many people have removed the fan. I will be disconnecting mine and I'll watch the CPU temperature to see if it gets hot.
It would be useful to have an app to control the RasPad fan.
@David Hardingham It will climp over 70 degree C very fast and if you have load it'll go over 80 and then trottle the clock rate.
@Jay Bee i agree, i believe passive solution (i guess we need a really big one, Pi 400 for example). I use raspad mainly for google meet/zoom sessions with students, so it gets hot quickly. I wish there is alternative back-cover design that vent the hot air better
@Patrick Steinke I couldn't find a Noctua fan of the correct size to replace the one the Raspad comes with (3cm x 3cm IIRC). I tried a larger heatsink covering both chips (using different thickness thermal pads), but ended up with CPU throttling issues. So I settled on buying a Argon Fan HAT [Amazon link], and that has been working well for me. BTW, it fits over the acceleromoter and stock heatsinks just fine. I've got it set to not kick in until the temp hits 75C to prevent it from coming on so much.
I agree that one large heatsink would be better, but I haven't seen one that would fit correctly.
@Heiko Moye
It seems that the fan control of the rasbian system cannot be achieved at present, and the gpio port is needed. But our fan is not plugged into the Raspberry Pi.
Mine got extremely noisy after a couple of weeks. Had to replace it. Pretty cheap repair, though
