Acer EasyStore H340 Cooling Solutions
We purchased the Acer EasyStore H340 and found the system ran hot, particularly in a cabinet being used for streaming media. Unlike most computers that sucks cool air from the front and blows it out the back, the stock H340 sucks air in from the left side of the case and blows it out the right side. This requires more space than is obvious from looking at the pictures. My H340′s fan ran at 765 rpm and rose to only 875 rpm when the CPU was at 65C. IMHO, the H340 would burn up before speeding up the fan enough to cool itself.
I like the H340 and would buy it again, but like most things, it is not perfect. I spent some time on the internet looking for solutions and found few. This is a summary of my findings to date.
SpeedFan – This utility was recommended by a guy that had the VGA/USB header cable that allowed a monitor, keyboard and mouse to be connected to the H340. I do not have this cable and SpeedFan did not work for me. SpeedFan locked up the system and required a WHS home server recovery. Other forum posts indicated I was not alone.
Reversing the Fan – this was recommonded on several forums with systems running cooler. The H340 has an AVC 120mm x 25mm 12 volt DC fan with a maximum speed of around 1900 rpm and PWM (pulse width modulation) for speed control. This is a nice modifcation as it can be reversed if the H340 is sent back to Acer for warranty work.
Disconnecting the PWM – The 120mm AVC system has a 4 wire harness. Two provide 12 volt DC, positive and negative. The yellow wire is the tachometer impulse wire that tells the computer the fan speed and/or if the system fan has failed. The blue wire is the PWM wire that allows the computer to control fan speed using Pulse Width Modulation. Disconnecting the blue wire allows the fan to run at the full 12 volt speed, or 1900 rpm on my H340. By using a small screwdriver to depress the connector lock, the blue wire can be removed from the connector, and the wire wrapped with a bit of electrical tape. This dropped my system temp about 20F, but the fan is now audible.
Larger System Fan – There are several 140mm fans with round frames that have a 120mm fan screw pattern. A 140mm fan has about 38% more surface area than a 120mm fan. It is important to get a fan that is 25mm thick. A thicker fan will not fit between the system case and the cover. A thinner fan leave a gap and not pull fresh air from outside the case. The larger fan should blow more are on the top hard drive and the CPU. The following are 140mm x 25mm fans with a 120mm screw hole pattern:
- Scythe 140mm Kaze-Maru 500rpm Fan SY1425SL12L
- Scythe Kaze-Maru 140mm 1200rpm Fan SY1425SL12M
- Scythe Kaze-Maru 2 140mm Fan- 1700RPM SM1425SL12H
- Scythe Kaze Maru SY1425SL12H 140mm 1900 RPM
- Noctua Ultra Silent 140mm Fan NF-P14 FLX 1200rpm
There are some other 140mm fans that have a 120mm hole mounting pattern, but they are 40mm thick. The Scythe fans have 11 blades, a sleeve bearing and MTBF of 30,000 hrs. I chose the Noctua fan, which has 9 blades, a fluid/magnetic bearing, and MTBF of 150,000 hrs. All these fans can be found with a google or amazon search. I am waiting for delivery of the fan and will update when it arrives.
stelert said:
How did the Noctua fan work out?
admin said:
The Noctua fan works well. As previously discussed, I turned around the fan so it pulls air into the case. The fan is audible if there is no background noise. I don’t consider this a problem. It is much, much quieter than the AVC at 1900 rpm. There is also a gap between the fan and the side of the case. So I took some pipe wrap tape and wrapped it around the fan case so it sticks out about 1/4 of an inch. Used a leather punch and razor knife to cut slots for the fan mounting tabs to stick through. That sealed the gap between the case and the fan.
The Noctua fan runs at 1311 rpm, the CPU is 134F, the system is 114F and the air in the case feels cooler. The Acer has been copying and duplicating a 130GB archive from a remote computer onto its drives all afternoon.