Dell J23 2U storage chassis
- Thread starter MiniKnight
- Start date
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Well... it all worked, but I cant say I am very happy with the end result anyway. Still about 60dB total system noise after the mod, which is the same as the MD1000 at stock.
The power supply is by far the loudest thing in the chassis. But the other fans are also starting off quietly and then after a minute or so revving up to full power. They are still a good bit less noisy than stock (the new fans only, not the new fans plus the super loud PS), but I am wondering why they are revving up. Nothing in the chassis is warm to the touch. No board, chip, etc.
After all of that, I took the cover off the PS and disconnected the fans, leaving the PS cover off so it can get cooling from the fans blowing right over it. It starts off whisper quiet, but just like before revs up after a minute or so. This revving up also doesnt seem to be dependent on anything other than time from bootup. If I disconnect the power and reconnect, they go back to whisper quiet again until the same ~1 minute or so and rev up again. Also at the exact time they rev up, the amber light below the top green light is lit and stays on solid.
This behavior is the same whether the PS fans are connected or not, so that has nothing to do with it. The behavior also seems to be the same no matter which fan headers I connect, except the far right headers. It seems whatever is connected to those spins up to full speed right away every time.
Which fan connectors are supposed to be connected? Does it even matter as long as 4 fans are connected?
And per a previous post, I am assuming this is the pinout:
Black = ground
Red = 12v+
Yellow = RPM readout
Blue = PWM (fan speed control)
If I were to pull either the yellow or blue and keep the rest connected, could that keep the system from being able to spin the fans up?
After all of that, I took the cover off the PS and disconnected the fans, leaving the PS cover off so it can get cooling from the fans blowing right over it. It starts off whisper quiet, but just like before revs up after a minute or so. This revving up also doesnt seem to be dependent on anything other than time from bootup. If I disconnect the power and reconnect, they go back to whisper quiet again until the same ~1 minute or so and rev up again. Also at the exact time they rev up, the amber light below the top green light is lit and stays on solid.
This behavior is the same whether the PS fans are connected or not, so that has nothing to do with it. The behavior also seems to be the same no matter which fan headers I connect, except the far right headers. It seems whatever is connected to those spins up to full speed right away every time.
Which fan connectors are supposed to be connected? Does it even matter as long as 4 fans are connected?
And per a previous post, I am assuming this is the pinout:
Black = ground
Red = 12v+
Yellow = RPM readout
Blue = PWM (fan speed control)
If I were to pull either the yellow or blue and keep the rest connected, could that keep the system from being able to spin the fans up?
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Well that just made it spin at full speed if the blue wire was totally disconnected. Then if just touching that blue wire pin lead to the chassis, it cut power completely to the fan.
Yes, as I stated the blue PWM (pulse width modulation) - it controls the fan's speed and relies on the yellow wire to check the speed. The blue wire relies on the yellow wire. If you don't want your fans at full speed and you can't use a 4 pin connector then use a resistor.
I removed the yellow wire and left the blue connected. Now they are all on spinning at what must be minimum speed and no amber light or error on the chassis. So its working so far. Now to see if that melts anything! So far with a handheld Cooper brand IR thermometer the heatsink of the expanders is around 100F and the hottest part down in the power supply are right at 120 degrees F in a very specific part with the chassis cover off (which should cause the temps to go up a little since some air escapes). Most of the PS measures in the 80s except that hottest part. No drives are in the unit, though.
I sure hope this config is stable from a temp perspective and doesn't destroy anything, because it is very nice right now. With no drives it is pulling 30 watts from the wall vs 70 with the MD1000.
Weird also that upon startup the rightmost fan spins at full speed before very slowly over the first minute getting in line with the rest at whisper quiet. If I plug that fan into the middle section of fan leads it does not do this, instead starting as quiet as the rest.
The PS cover is just open inside the chassis and the PS fans are disconnected. I dont know how you guys stood the sound from the PS fan. It was crazy loud. I would like to have it connected at least at a low speed, but as a two wire fan with very little room around its wire or the connector, I am not sure what I could do.
Other than it simply failing one day, how would I know if it is OK to run it the way I have it configured now? Since I have no alarms, monitoring, etc? Just open it and measure temps from time to time? Or measure temps at the front and rear of the unit? How hot is too hot? I assume somewhere in the PS where the temps are highest is what I have to worry about.
I sure hope this config is stable from a temp perspective and doesn't destroy anything, because it is very nice right now. With no drives it is pulling 30 watts from the wall vs 70 with the MD1000.
Weird also that upon startup the rightmost fan spins at full speed before very slowly over the first minute getting in line with the rest at whisper quiet. If I plug that fan into the middle section of fan leads it does not do this, instead starting as quiet as the rest.
The PS cover is just open inside the chassis and the PS fans are disconnected. I dont know how you guys stood the sound from the PS fan. It was crazy loud. I would like to have it connected at least at a low speed, but as a two wire fan with very little room around its wire or the connector, I am not sure what I could do.
Other than it simply failing one day, how would I know if it is OK to run it the way I have it configured now? Since I have no alarms, monitoring, etc? Just open it and measure temps from time to time? Or measure temps at the front and rear of the unit? How hot is too hot? I assume somewhere in the PS where the temps are highest is what I have to worry about.
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So testing reveals that a the single area of the PS gets too hot for me to be comfortable with it, so my thought is to put a small low profile fan that I have lying around right over that area and connected to the two prong fan connector from the PS itself. The fan works, the only issue is how to get the fan positioned over the area of need with enough space behind it to pull air from. Here is the area in the red circle below (a little hard to see with the red wires also near it, sorry)..
and the fan...
I guess I could simply cut a hole in the top of the case and position the fan to suck air in through the hole and only on that area of the PS. I do want to make sure that does not impede the front to back airflow that the rest of the case is designed for. Thoughts on that?
and the fan...
I guess I could simply cut a hole in the top of the case and position the fan to suck air in through the hole and only on that area of the PS. I do want to make sure that does not impede the front to back airflow that the rest of the case is designed for. Thoughts on that?
I'm afraid you're doing too much modding for this machine and trying to make it something it's not gonna be, a silent JBOD.
If you put that fan in the top over the PSU, you'll create a high-pressure area behind the fan module. This will severely impede their ability to move air front-to-back in the enclosure. The unit relies on those 4 fans for ALL of the cooling in the unit. They suck air in across the front hard drives and the holes in the top of the cover then blow it across the expanders and PSU and out across the rear drives. Putting a fan in top of the rear section of the enclosure will create a situation where the fan module can't push air into the rear section because of the fan on top blowing in. This means that air won't be sucked across the front drive bays cooling the hard drives. You might have half-way decent cooling in the rear since you'll be blowing extra air into the top, but I wouldn't be certain.
This whole situation will be exacerbated by the fact that you have replaced the stock fans with lower flow fans.
If you put that fan in the top over the PSU, you'll create a high-pressure area behind the fan module. This will severely impede their ability to move air front-to-back in the enclosure. The unit relies on those 4 fans for ALL of the cooling in the unit. They suck air in across the front hard drives and the holes in the top of the cover then blow it across the expanders and PSU and out across the rear drives. Putting a fan in top of the rear section of the enclosure will create a situation where the fan module can't push air into the rear section because of the fan on top blowing in. This means that air won't be sucked across the front drive bays cooling the hard drives. You might have half-way decent cooling in the rear since you'll be blowing extra air into the top, but I wouldn't be certain.
This whole situation will be exacerbated by the fact that you have replaced the stock fans with lower flow fans.
Ok thanks. Yeah I will keep looking at a way to get that fan inside the chassis blowing on that part of the PS instead. So you didnt find the PS fans objectionably loud? On my unit the two small PS fans are as loud or louder than the 4 other stock fans. I dont even want it totally silent 
- just somewhere between yard blower and fanless...
And any thoughts as to why my new fans spin up and cause the amber light to come on when all wires are connected, but spin at min speed and do NOT cause the amber light to come on when connected incorrectly with the yellow wire dangling outside of the connector?
And on another plane entirely... is there any decent direct attached SAS box, 3gb or 6gb, that is quiet? I realize that was not a priority in the design of most of them...
What else is out there?
- just somewhere between yard blower and fanless...And any thoughts as to why my new fans spin up and cause the amber light to come on when all wires are connected, but spin at min speed and do NOT cause the amber light to come on when connected incorrectly with the yellow wire dangling outside of the connector?
And on another plane entirely... is there any decent direct attached SAS box, 3gb or 6gb, that is quiet? I realize that was not a priority in the design of most of them...
What else is out there?
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Are you sure you have the fans connected to the correct headers? My photo shows the middle pair on the wrong headers. On mine that would cause the fans to ramp down after the power on surge and then go up permanently after a minute or so.
If you want really quiet, I'd think the Rackable SE3016 would be more friendly to fan modification. Put an Intel 6G expander in there and get some quiet constant-velocity fans for it.
For each pair you need to be on the left (towards PSU connector) header. At least that's how it is on mine. I could see how disconnecting Yellow would stop the ramp up because that's the sense wire and it would think no fan is connected.
@hifiaudio2, Can you give us a picture of your current fan config? Because unless I'm mistaken, if you remove yellow, it will ramp them all up, thinking there is a problem with the fans. Also, can you give the model number of the fans you put in the fan module?
I've had the J23 for about a year and a half, and was never able to find rails for it, I used a shelf instead