ReadyNAS DUO getting hot, fan at low speed

[pvlier]

A customer had a ReadyNAS DUO with a Seagate ST3750330AS 698 GB inside. It was running without problems. Recently the customer wanted to upgrade storage. I saw the WD20EARS on the HCL but couldn't purchase it. I was told the WD20EARX was the followup so I bought 2 of those.

I put one WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 in the second bay and initialisation started. After that resync started. When I came in this morning the NAS was powered-down. I started it and reviewed the logs and it said it was shutdown because temp on disk 1 (the old disk that was running fine before) was at 64C.

I saw the temp rising again and checked fan speed but it varies between 294 and 788 RPM, it never goes to 1000rpm or above? I tried upgrading to the last firmware [4.1.8] but that doesn't make a difference. I went to the fysical device and saw the fan was starting and stopping. Not in a pattern, sometimes it stays on for a second or two, sometimes for 5 seconds. I expected it to run at full speed (thus making noise) but it only blows gently. I also clicked recalibrate a few times but no change.

I installed the "override min fanspeed "add-on and set it 1600 rpm but no change at all... When I check temps the new disk is always colder than the old one (about 5 degrees difference) but temps are climbing to 65C. I currently have the sides of the cover off the unit so heat can escape and now it stays around 55C for disk1 (old disk) and 50C for disk2 (new disk). It might still slowly climb...

So why isn't the fan speeding up and therefore cooling the disks?

[rnuser]

Did you ever find a solution? I am having the exact same problem.

[PapaBear]

If the fan is starting and stopping, it may be either the fan itself or the fan controller circuit.

[rnuser]

The fan works -- and runs at different speeds, but it won't run faster as the Readynas gets hotter and hotter. It was fine until I switched to two new drives -- WD20EARX and upgraded the Bios. Now, its starts at 70 or 80 degrees and gets to 130 degrees F until I shut it down. The fan is running, but maybe just 294RPM or higher, but not high enough. Sounds like a fan problem, yes, but was wondering if there was any option other than replacing the whole unit that I just bought two new drives for!

[PapaBear]

If the fan is running at 294RPM, there is definitely something wrong with the fan system. Going back and reading your first post, yous stated that the old disks was at 64 degrees Celsius, which is way beyond normal.

Open an on line technical support ticket. The Duo may still be under warranty.

What is the status of your backup?

[rnuser]

It's 4 years old, so out of warranty. And support suggested I buy a new unit.

I thought I'd ask on this forum first, if there was a way to make it work without "bricking it" over the fan, especially since this previous person had the same problem. The old disk was running at a fine temperature, it was the new ones only that triggered the overheating. Could be having two drives makes it overheat (which seems like a big design flaw and I'm sure others run the Duo with two drives). Could be the type of drives or could be the firmware upgrade, too.

Was trying to make sure I covered all my bases first before an expensive replacement.

Thanks.

[PapaBear]

If you have a can of compressed air, remove the back panel and give a little blast to the fan. It should spin freely. If it does not it indicates the fan may be at fault. If it does, then the controller is bad. That is of course on the motherboard, so it would indicate a replacement unit.

Backup - what is the status of the backup?