U4 Fan Failure

[greentea]

Hi Beyonwiz crew & aficionados,

Does failure of the U4's cooling Fan cause hardware damage if the Wiz is left running for an extended period of time without the fan running?

Cheers

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I'd say so.
I bet that SoC temperature is climbing - MENU>>Information>>About.

[greentea]

Thanks for your reply G_G,

I didn't get the opportunity to check the temp since the U4 in question had already failed -in that it was failing to boot; and also failing to proceed when attempting to load a USB update. But it's not completely dead though...

ie: When using a trusty USB mem stick that has been used to update the U4 on other occasions, the USB stick appears to be recognised -since the prompt 'Press the button' is issued; then the message RootFile Sys is displayed, but the device goes no further after that. And of course, the U4 won't boot either.

It was only after observing all these issues that I noticed that the fan wasn't spinning.

So, I'm currently trying to resolve what can be done to try to recover the situation and return the device to a workable condition.

Any further thoughts?

PS: another known USB stick has been tried with the same result.

Cheers

[malibu91]

I seem to remember my U4 doing this when it was new. I ended up having to swap it out for a newU4, as it just wouldn't boot.
Good luck!

[stevebow]

If you're game and keen, according to prl's guide:

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=13269

it should be possible to connect a PC with a RS-232C connector (and running something like Putty) to a motherboard header via an adapter. I assume this would be some sort of 3.3V/5V - RS-232C level converter. Such things can be found on eBay for around $5.

I have a T4 (which very fortunately) has a rear RS-232C connector, and it outputs a lot of useful info when doing a firmware update. This output could be posted here for comment.

[sub3R]

... it should be possible to connect a PC with a RS-232C connector (and running something like Putty) to a motherboard header via an adapter. I assume this would be some sort of 3.3V/5V - RS-232C level converter. Such things can be found on eBay for around $5.

There is good advice in peteru’s post here about the U4.

[BushTerrors]

I have a U4 where the fan is plainly failing. Rather than not working at all, it appears that the silent/brushless nature of the fan has deserted it. So when it works, it's bloody loud, no doesn't tend to make viewing much fun,

Having opened the case, it's pretty easy to remove. It's a 40mm fan - roughly 40x40x10 12V 2-pin fan.

The problem is the most of the potential replacement units you'll find have a rectangular connector type, which is different to that deployed by Beyonwiz.

The Beyonwiz version also has a rectangular connector, but uses angled corners on the top side of the connector, which means I have to find a pretty specific replacement.

Does anyone know if Beyonwiz have a parts supply service, or know where I might find something this specific? Anyone got a spare they're prepared to sell?

[prl]

My understanding is that repairs sent to Beyonwiz are done by NASA Electronics. You could try asking them.

What firmware version are you running on the U4? Some very early versions were prone to fan noise anyway, and that was fixed in the firmware, but in your case it doesn't sound like that's the problem.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

Does anyone know if Beyonwiz have a parts supply service, or know where I might find something this specific? Anyone got a spare they're prepared to sell?

See - viewtopic.php?f=53&t=13275&p=187248#p191055 and the next post.
Also this - viewtopic.php?f=53&t=12173&p=192653#p192653