search

sinara-hw / Booster

Modular 8-channel RF power amplifier
Other
16 stars 3 forks source link

document fan control #351

Closed hartytp closed 4 years ago

hartytp commented 4 years ago

@wizath how is the fan speed determined? With all channels running and fanlevel set to 0, the fans aren't turning on even with all channels at 40C. Is that expected?

hartytp commented 4 years ago

@dnadlinger I'd probably keep the min fan level at, say 15%-25%. Assuming the temperature diagnostics are remotely accurate, having the fans off won't cause damage (the modules are pretty well heat sunk to the case) but there is no point letting things run hot. 15% fans isn't offensive from a noise perspective.

dnadlinger commented 4 years ago

@hartytp: So far, I haven't bothered changing any fan-related settings at all – should I be running fanlevel 20 or something then?

hartytp commented 4 years ago

As far as I understand it, there is dynamic fan control to adjust the fan speed to maintain a constant temperature at the hottest channel. Or something like that (I'm not aware of the current implementation being documented anywhere). fanlevel adjust the minimum fan level, which only has an impact when the chassis is cold. So, it shouldn't really matter.

Empirically, the fans currently never turn on with fanlevel 0 (perhaps because of heat sinking through the chassis) but the chassis does get a bit warm. fanlevel 20 will help keep things a little colder without creating much noise, so seems like a good idea.