I recently set up my first home NAS using the Radxa Penta HAT. Now, I want to add a fan to cool the drives under heavy load. I’m considering a standard 90mm fan (I have a custom case) and would like to know which type of fan I should get, how to connect it, and how to configure it for optimal performance.
I assume there is no out-of-the-box solution, and I am not interested in the SATA HAT Top Board. I’m willing to improvise and take a DIY approach to get it working as efficiently as possible.
I assume that a lot has already been written about this topic on this forum, but unfortunately, I haven’t found a concrete answer to my question (at least I couldn’t find one). I apologize if I’m unintentionally duplicating a question.
Can You please post some photos of this setup?
Are You using 2.5 or 3.5 inch drives?
Recommended solution was always to get dedicated case with top fan. This with some small tweaks works perfectly and You wont get anything better or more compact. Today some printable cases are available, but the whole point of this approach is to get something clearly customised to own setup.
Probably it would be easy path to just use header for top hat and connect PWM FAN there. Then You can just tweak radxa service for fan speed levels and temperatures.
Ot of box recommended solution was metal case with top fan. This covered few things, SoC cooling, right power, additional fan and enclosure for everything. If You design Your own case then You can just use top fan header to connect and control fan.
No worries.
Start with good photos and Your requirements.
It should be as easy as connecting fan to PWM line in top hat header.
I am currently working abroad and don’t have photos of my setup, but it is identical to the setup in the video. Except for the 2.5G networking, I skipped that. I have the exact same type of drives, but mine are 2TB instead of 8TB. I will be able to send photos of my setup in a few weeks when I am back home.
So, I am using 2.5-inch SSD drives.
Please don’t laugh - but by “custom case,” I actually meant a little house made out of LEGO bricks that my daughter and I built. It’s just to make sure the setup isn’t sitting “bare” on the shelf and to protect it from dust.
And my idea was to leave some open windows on the front side of the case (the little house) and place appropriate dust filters on them. On the back wall, I would install a fan blowing air out of the case. This way, cool air would enter through the windows, flow past the vertically mounted drives, and be exhausted through the fan. BTW, the Raspberry Pi itself also has its original active cooling.
And, of course, if possible, I would make some adjustments to connect the fan to the 10-pin connector on the HAT itself.
And this is where I need some help. To make everything work as I envisioned, I need a fan: first, it has to have the correct voltage—I believe that’s 5V. Then, I need one that the HAT can control and adjust the speed. I assume that means a PWM fan. Of course, in the end, I would need instructions on which wires from the fan should go to which of the 10 pins so that everything works properly. If that’s even possible?!?
Ok, this HAT can be used in few ways, including case with larger 3,5 inch drives.
Are You using same samsung SSDs? Are they in plastic or metal enclosure?
If You don’t care that much about warranty You can get best results by removing their case, mostly those dont have any heat dissipating elements and they don’t help much, look at those inside case:
You will get much more compact setup and much better results.
This is perfectly ok
Initially same HAT was used for Rock pi 4 family, and this one had SOC on bottom side, air should circulate from bottom to top. HAT has some holes between ports to make that possible.
All You need is 5V PWM fan. On TOP hat Header You will have:
pin 8 is PWM, pin 4 is 5V, and 7,9 is GND,
Typical PWM fan header:
I use a Samsung SSD QVO 2TB 2.5" SATA 3, and I think the casing is plastic. I’ll check it out because that’s a VERY interesting idea—to take them out of the case and making the setup smaller.
Back to the fan topic.
I’ll get one of those Noctua fans, just smaller, buy some male-to-female jumper wires, connect three of them to the 10-pin connector, and inserting them into the fan connector. The jumper cable order is:
STATA HAT to FAN:
PIN 8 to hole 1
PIN 4 to hole 3
PIN 7 or 9 to hole 4
This is first thing I always do with most ssd, and so far only one pro model (intel) was filling whole case and used it as heatsink. Plastic case is nice for handling drive, but does not make much sense
Yes,
You can use penta sata service with modified PWM values, each fan is different and can have different levels for certain speeds.
