Rock Pi 4 Penta SATA Hat - Fan Replacement

#1

Hello,
I am wondering if anyone has details on the fan used in the top LCD/Fan assembly, specifically the wiring. I am looking to replace the fan as I find the noise made is a little too much.
I was thinking of replacing the current fan with a Noctua NF-A4x10 5v, just not sure if the PWM version (4 pin) or the regular (3 pin) is needed/preferable.

I would prefer to be able to have the fan spin at various speeds just not sure if that can be done with with 3 pin or if the 4 pin is needed.

Thanks.

#2

Hi,
I just bought a Noctua NF-A4x10 5v (not PWM) and realize that the connectors aren’t the same.
:

fan_connectors
fan_connectors.jpg3000×4000 3.82 MB

On the left : Noctua connector
On the right : Rock Pi 4 Penta SATA Hat default fan
The Noctua can’t fit in the board.
I tried to swap the connector but ended up frying the default fan (I was testing some stuff) and maybe frying the noctua as well…

So I was wondering, what are these connectors called ? Because I can’t seem to find a fan online which would fit on the board…

Thanks

#3

The one on the right is a PH 2.0mm connector.
You would need to buy the connector part and the crimp pin headers.
The crimp pin headers attach to the wire and then a crimping tool is used to squeeze the wire and the crimp pin header together. After that you can easily insert the crimped wire into the connector.

Amazon and others might have pre-crimped wires. That is where at one end of three wires the PH 2.0mm connector is already attached and at the other end are bare wires.

The Noctua kit (PWM) also contains 4x clear plastic connectors. These could be used in place of crimping if you have a PH 2.0mm connector already attached to wires. There are instructions that come with the Noctua on how to do this.

The last option, I think, would be to solder the Noctua fan wires to the bare end of 3 wires already attached to a PH 2.0mm connector.

From what I have read on the Radxa forms the Noctua 5v needs to be the PWM model.

#4

Hi,

I’m thinking it’s a JST PH 3pin connector, but maybe someone can confirm this?

#5

Maybe this adapter will help?

pololu-1799---3-pin-female-jst-ph-style-cable-30-cm-with-male-pins-for-01-housings
pololu-1799---3-pin-female-jst-ph-style-cable-30-cm-with-male-pins-for-01-housings.jpg800×800 25 KB

https://kamami.pl/en/jst-cables/195847-pololu-1799---3-pin-female-jst-ph-style-cable-30-cm-with-male-pins-for-01-housings.html

#6

It is a JST PH2.0 3-pin connector… I checked with Setq on the connector type because I’m hacking together micro blower style fans to pressurise the chassis…

#7

Thanks everyone for all the tips !
I think I will buy a Noctua NF-A4x10 5V PWM and try to work with the clear plastic connectors it comes with. Maybe later I will buy a JST-PH 2.0mm Connector Kit and a crimping tool for a cleaner work.
I will try to keep you posted about the results !

I will also try to drill holes on the sides of the case to see if it improves thermals, and maybe even stick some fans on the sides connected to a usb 2.0 port.
Just a question, does the fan on top of the case push air inside or outside of the case ? I guess it’s inside but I just want a confirmation.
Maybe a good airflow would be the top fan pushing air outside of the case, and two bottom-side fans pushing air inside of the case. What do you think ?

#8

Default mode for the top fans: blows upwards to draw hot air out… plus side is that your pi runs cooler, minus side is that ur HDD will run much hotter because the heat will flow through the hdd…

I analysed the innards and conclude that there’s no space to cram normal fans inside… the only way is to cram mini blower fans to direct the airflow… hence I bought 3 30mm x 30mm x 3mm blower style fans to push air downwards to increase the exhaust pressure from the bottom holes…

#9

Where did you put your 3mm fans ? Inside the case on the sides ? And what are the fans references ?

#10

I ordered the fans from AliExpress… it’s still delivering… buy my plan was to cram it inside the chassis, two on the GPIO side, one on the USB port side…

I do note that the whole shell can act as a heat sink and blowing fan on the shell does help with temps…

This is the blower fan I bought…
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32943260760.html?spm=a2g0n.shopcart-amp.item.32943260760&

#11

Well best luck for your build ! :slight_smile:
I thinks I will try with just the noctua on top. If thermals aren’t great I will try to stick a fan on the back pushing air inside, with holes on the other side. That way air will flow between hdds.

#12

Got my Hat today after a long stay in customs.
Install was straightforward following the video online step by step.
The fan noise is terrible though, the cpu fan is making a loud high pitched noise constantly. I tested it by removing the top (larger) fan connector (suspecting that was the noisy one from reading this thread) but while that one is fairly loud I would consider it entirely tolerable compared to the cpu fan by comparison, maybe thats just a lemon ?
Given the time I have invested (and money on the 2.5 inch drives) besides I’d like to try and fix this if possible, can anyone suggest an alternative (quieter) fan which might fit in its replacement?

#13

The Rock Pi 4 Penta SATA Kit of this thread have only one fan, on the top of the build, with the oled screen. You are talking about the Quad Sata Kit then ?

#14

Yes, sorry, it didnt realise there was that difference.

#15

@Supercell It must be something with the scripts. I just rebuilt my quad sata kit and when I ran the install I started to receive the high pitch sound from the Pi. It sounds like it’s coming from the area of the CPU fan and the pitch changes depending on CPU load. Fortunately before my rebuild I kept a copy of the scripts because I had modified several of them. Reinstalled them and rebooted and the high pitch noise is gone.

#16

Figured out the high pitch sound. It is related to the fan.py script. Changed the 2500 below to 75, which is what the old script had. Also of note when set to 2500 the python uses around 13% of the CPU constantly. When changing it to 75 it drops to 3%.

pin12 = GPIO.PWM(12, 2500)
pin13 = GPIO.PWM(13, 2500)
#17

Hey, I updated a new version that should have improved the noise problem.

#18

Hi setq,

Sorry for the delay replying to this, i had the kit disassembled waiting for a replacement fan and just got round to putting it all back together.
I can confirm that the new code fixes the cpu fan squealing perfectly.
I have the cpu and top fans reversed as per other forum topic to improve cooling and the cpu is sitting at idle at 38C now with low normal fan noise which i consider perfectly acceptable and expected.
Thanks very much for the great support from Norbert in Allnet as well, it was a thoroughly painless support experience and follow up. Great stuff! Happy customer.

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