Heatsink issue

[moose09876]

EDIT: One of these is now dead and the other runs so hot in the case it overheats. The cooling solution for this device is unacceptable.

I ordered 2 of these units and both came with heatsink installation issues. The studs for the heatsink mount are not fully seated on the board so the thermal pad didn't contact the chip.



Re-soldering the studs completely seated on the board fixes the alignment issue, but these guys still run hot. A little tip, after you remove the heatsink, put the screws back in the studs to re-solder so you don't get it on the threads.

Very pleased with this unit, given that it's targeted at tinkerers. Not really acceptable for general consumers though. Still. Up and running without a hitch for a couple days now.

[guidol]

Are these R1S or R2S models? because both are with the yellow case...

[moose09876]

These are R2S models.

[igorp]

These are R2S models.

Mine is in good condition. But its not well designed since it can bent.

edit: its hot, true. I will try how it goes with lowering top speed.

[moose09876]

Temps were 72-85C+ in the case. Out of the case with a fan on low pointed at it, they've been 46-48C all day. I ordered some 40mm fans so I can modify one on the case.

[moose09876]

Problem solved. LOL



Was 72C absolute minimum without fan.

[Dutchman]

Do you also know what the power consumption is?

[moose09876]

I haven't measured it, but I'm running it off the USB port on my ISP's combo gateway router, since I have that on a UPS as well.

[arkadi]

Problem solved. LOL



Was 72C absolute minimum without fan.

Great mod! I need to do some drilling like this to cool this sucker down. I regret not buying the metal case

Running Armbian mine idles at 65-68 degrees with no load.

Stupid question, but how do I safely remove the board from the case?

[Goney3]

I lowered my clock speed on the NEO3 to around 400 MHz and it's still idling at 64°C

I can't seem to figure out how to open the small white case to look at the heat sink, I'm stumped that clock speed doesn't seem to affect CPU temperatures. Someone mentioned in the DietPi GitHub issues page said that there might be a Bluetooth service that's cooking the processor?

Can someone please point me to a better source since these tech support forums don't appear to be active?

Thank you

[igorp]

Someone mentioned in the DietPi GitHub issues page

Don't believe every BS you read on the internet.

Can someone please point me to a better source since these tech support forums don't appear to be active?

Here https://forum.armbian.com/ bullshit is quickly dismissed. This topic has relevant info:
https://forum.armbian.com/topic/14365-n ... hrottling/ Use search for more.

[Goney3]

Will do, thank you

[arkadi]

Stupid question, but how do I safely remove the board from the case?

answering my own stupid question, you have to take out the microSD card, and then board basically falls out.

I put many holes into my yellow case. It looks like swiss cheese, but it needs more holes. FriendlyElect should NOT sell the board in that yellow case. It's so damn hot in there.

[poddmo]

I've been testing the "Heat Sink+Fan(V2.0)" R2S with the yellow plastic case. There was no mention of an included fan on the product page. The first OS image I tried was FriendlyWRT and I didn't notice the fan noise. Then I tried Armbian Focal and was very surprised to hear a fan whirring inside the tiny R2S - I need silent as the internet connection is in my bedroom.

FriendlyWRT has a script at /usr/bin/start-rk3328-pwm-fan.sh that manages turning the R2S fan on and off. It can also apparently change the speed of the fan but I couldn't tell if the fan was changing speeds as the sound didn't really change under different loads or when I manually changed the duty cycle values. They are found at /sys/class/pwm/pwmchip0. On and off control is a great start.
Armbian focal didn't create that device and the fan runs constantly, even after I'd stopped all services and the 600MHz idle CPU temp was mid 30 degrees Celcius.
The R2S schematic shows the FAN connected to a PWM pin so maybe it's just my old ears not detecting the change in pitch but on and off control is a great start.
http://wiki.friendlyarm.com/wiki/images/5/59/SCH_NanoPi_R2S_V1.0-1912.pdf

The FriendlyARM metal heatsink case is now available as a standalone item: https://www.friendlyarm.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=283
I am still waiting to find the ultimate case that is heatsink and internal fan, like the Argon One for the Raspberry Pi 4. I'd happily sacrifice a few cubic centimetres of desk/shelf/cupboard space for that combination of passive and active cooling