Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
A Service Action notice has been posted in the Announcement forum to prevent ReadyNAS NV and NV+ systems from premature power supply failures at viewtopic.php?t=10259. If you own a NV or NV+ within the serial number range in the notice, please either download and install the add-on or perform the simple fan reversal procedure. We've seen a small percentage of our customers experiencing power supply failure and we want to avoid any downtime you may encounter due to an unnecessary RMA process.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
I checked and my serial number does not appear to be in the range. I did, however, recently replace my NV power supply with the fanless one.
A few questions...
Do I need to do anything?
Can the power supply temperature be checked via FrontView?
If the fan is reversed, won't it then be drawing dust directly in through the back, blowing it across the drives, and then depositing it on the back of the dust screen on the front grille?
I was going to open a support ticket but never received the registration confirmation e-mail (tried two e-mail addresses). Thanks.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
SJMarty wrote:
I checked and my serial number does not appear to be in the range. I did, however, recently replace my NV power supply with the fanless one.
A few questions...
Do I need to do anything?
Yes, since you've replaced with a fanless PSU, you should either install the add-on or reverse the fan.
Can the power supply temperature be checked via FrontView?
Unfortunately we don't have a sensor there.
If the fan is reversed, won't it then be drawing dust directly in through the back, blowing it across the drives, and then depositing it on the back of the dust screen on the front grille?
It's possible the dust may collect on the dust screen in the front and you would have to regularly vaccuum it or use an air spray occasionally to clear it -- similar to what you would do to the outside of the mesh when the fan pulling the air into the system. What you can do to avoid this is to remove the dust screen. Just open the door, use a needle or a tweezer to get ahold of the mesh and pull out carefully. This actually helps in lowering the disk temperature more, allowing the fan to operate at lower RPM longer before needing to kick it up due to heat.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
I think SJMarty has a good point about the dust. I'm not concerned about it landing on the filter as much as it coating the various components of the power supply and drives.
Can we buy power supplies that fixed this problem? I don't mind having a spare, and really wished the NV+ had dual, redundant power supplies built in. :idea:
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
What is considered the preferred temp range for the NV+? Mine is ranging from 34-37C as viewed in FrontView. FrontView claims 0-60C is "normal", but I find that hard to believe.... 0 would be freezing, 60C would be...extremely hot. I just don't have a frame of reference for what the temp should be at, and when I should start to worry.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
Btw, I tried to remove some of the dust screen... but that stuff seem to be glued to the door, and would be very hard to remove.
I'm concerned about the fan reversal procedure.... I've just never seen computer hardware that blow air into the system, all the PCs, servers and storage systems I work with all pull hot air out.
So you replaced a power supply that had a fan with a fanless power supply (probably to reduce noise levels), now that appears to have not been a very smart move.... and you either increase the RPM of the one fan left, or reverse the airflow because power supplies are failing.... Don't think I have ever heard anything quite like this before.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
howardt wrote:
Can we buy power supplies that fixed this problem? I don't mind having a spare, and really wished the NV+ had dual, redundant power supplies built in. :idea:
There's no new power supply that fixes this problem. We see this in less than 1% of systems we ship, but we want to make sure you don't end up in that small group who would have to go through the trouble of downtime and RMA.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
samundsen wrote:
What is considered the preferred temp range for the NV+? Mine is ranging from 34-37C as viewed in FrontView. FrontView claims 0-60C is "normal", but I find that hard to believe.... 0 would be freezing, 60C would be...extremely hot. I just don't have a frame of reference for what the temp should be at, and when I should start to worry.
The board temp will be different from the PSU temp as the board is located at the top whereas the PSU is at the bottom. You'll get email alerts when temps start getting close to warning levels.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
samundsen wrote:
Btw, I tried to remove some of the dust screen... but that stuff seem to be glued to the door, and would be very hard to remove.
You have to play around with it a little to pull it off. A safety pin might do the trick for you.
I'm concerned about the fan reversal procedure.... I've just never seen computer hardware that blow air into the system, all the PCs, servers and storage systems I work with all pull hot air out.
Actually one of our earlier boxes, the ReadyNAS X6, has a fan in the front that blows into the drives.
So you replaced a power supply that had a fan with a fanless power supply (probably to reduce noise levels), now that appears to have not been a very smart move.... and you either increase the RPM of the one fan left, or reverse the airflow because power supplies are failing.... Don't think I have ever heard anything quite like this before.
Going fanless in the PSU reduces the high pitch noise that the small fan generated. Raising the RPM on the larger fan is not as noticeable -- more of a lower-pitch hum. In any case, you can try reversing the fan if the ReadyNAS is situated in the same vicinity where you may notice it.
I reversed my fan but noise is bad now: it just doesn't idle
Well, the title says it all. Noise is a big issue for me (I just rebuilt, with help, a new pc so that it will be quiet).
So I reversed the fan, but the NAS+ is now idling only a fraction of the time it did before, so maintaining idle speed wasn't much help.
The room itself has good airflow and isn't hot (yet- summer is coming). The NAS is on a board on the floor (not on the carpet), with nothing nearby to restrict airflow.
Can I mount bigger fans or additional low speed fans to keep RPM and dB down? What about using a Scythe or similar ultra-quiet fan? Would this work? Do you have better suggestions?
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
SJMarty wrote:
Sorry to be pesky but...
SJMarty wrote:
After installing via local update and rebooting, I received this message in a pop-up window when I accessed via FrontView...
This add-on (Enhance_NV_Thermal_Characteristics) does not apply to this system. [Thu Apr 19 21:25:53 EDT 2007]
What should I do at this point?
There's a EnableFanMinRPMOverride addon at http://www.infrant.com/wiki/index.php/Add-Ons that allows you to override the minimum fan RPM. You can install this and manually set it for 2100. This will essentially do the same thing.
Re: I reversed my fan but noise is bad now: it just doesn't
bashkin001 wrote:
Well, the title says it all. Noise is a big issue for me (I just rebuilt, with help, a new pc so that it will be quiet).
So I reversed the fan, but the NAS+ is now idling only a fraction of the time it did before, so maintaining idle speed wasn't much help.
The room itself has good airflow and isn't hot (yet- summer is coming). The NAS is on a board on the floor (not on the carpet), with nothing nearby to restrict airflow.
Can I mount bigger fans or additional low speed fans to keep RPM and dB down? What about using a Scythe or similar ultra-quiet fan? Would this work? Do you have better suggestions?
Thanks.
If you take out the black mesh behind the grill, you'll find the fan speed go back to idle. Try opening the door and you'll see the fan speed go down after awhile. When taking out the mesh, use a safety pin and tug the mesh gently out from the back of the door.
On my NV+, the entire grill piece can be removed from the door, allowing one to remove the mesh. Simply apply gentle pressure against the exposed grill sections from the back of the door until it pops out. My mesh did have some dust on the front of it - matching the pattern of the grill and back of the door.
On my NV+, the entire grill piece can be removed from the door, allowing one to remove the mesh. Simply apply gentle pressure against the exposed grill sections from the back of the door until it pops out. My mesh did have some dust on the front of it - matching the pattern of the grill and back of the door.
If you choose to do this, do so carefully. We typically don't recommend this because some grills can be stuck in the frame pretty good, and we wouldn't want you to break off the door by accident.
What about the problems that dust may cause? We have cats and live in the midwestern US- there is lots of stuff in the air like dust, pollen, cat fur. This doesn't sound very safe.
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
yoh-dah wrote:
SJMarty wrote:
After installing via local update and rebooting, I received this message in a pop-up window when I accessed via FrontView...
This add-on (Enhance_NV_Thermal_Characteristics) does not apply to this system.
What should I do at this point?
There's a EnableFanMinRPMOverride addon at http://www.infrant.com/wiki/index.php/Add-Ons that allows you to override the minimum fan RPM. You can install this and manually set it for 2100. This will essentially do the same thing.
Use of this addon is discouraged as misuse can lead to fan circuitry failure on the mainboard. Please also understand that use of this addon will void your ReadyNAS warranty.
Are you suggesting that we pursue an option that would void our warranties?
Re: Service Action to Prevent PSU Failures in ReadyNAS NV/NV+
glam wrote:
yoh-dah wrote:
SJMarty wrote:
After installing via local update and rebooting, I received this message in a pop-up window when I accessed via FrontView...
This add-on (Enhance_NV_Thermal_Characteristics) does not apply to this system.
What should I do at this point?
There's a EnableFanMinRPMOverride addon at http://www.infrant.com/wiki/index.php/Add-Ons that allows you to override the minimum fan RPM. You can install this and manually set it for 2100. This will essentially do the same thing.
Use of this addon is discouraged as misuse can lead to fan circuitry failure on the mainboard. Please also understand that use of this addon will void your ReadyNAS warranty.
Are you suggesting that we pursue an option that would void our warranties?
It's been updated to say "Please also understand that use of this addon to lower the fan RPM below the default will void your ReadyNAS warranty."
Simply, what we're really trying to say is if you lower it below what the fan circuitry can handle, you could be putting a strain on the motherboard and forcing a failure -- just don't do that!
