$9 Router Cooling (RT-AC68U Example)

[sfortis]

Looking to see where you live, because it can’t possibly be the UK if it’s warm outside, I saw you were:

Viewing thread Overclocking RT-AC56U, 20 minutes ago

Have you been up to no good?

im living in Athens,GR so its a bit warmer than UK my room temperature is around 26 C but the poor AC56U with diversion, skynet and freshjr_qos is constantly hitting >90c

ps. yes, i was tempted to overclock this thing now (which now features an active cooling system, lol) but it seems that nvram method is no longer working.

 

[Grisu]

Looking to see where you live, because it can’t possibly be the UK if it’s warm outside, I saw you were:
Viewing thread Overclocking RT-AC56U, 20 minutes ago

Link doesnt work, should it be https://www.snbforums.com/threads/overclocking-rt-ac56u.12578/page-19 ?

 

[martinr]

Link doesnt work, should it be https://www.snbforums.com/threads/overclocking-rt-ac56u.12578/page-19 ?

Oops: I didn’t realise it was a link! I simply copied the topic title from the pop-up box when I clicked on sfortis’ name. We’ll see if @sfortis will confirm.

 

[Val D.]

I have an ASUS RT-AC86U with 2 x 70mm 12V fans installed running on 5V from routers own USB 2.0 port. Both fans blow air inside the router; the hot air escapes from the top vents. There is no noticeable noise coming from the fans. The router is running high-speed VPN client and has up to 20 wireless clients connected, all 5GHz n/ac with exception of two 2.4GHz n clients.

Before fans installation:
2.4GHz: 68C - 5GHz: 74C - CPU: 87C

After fans installation:
2.4GHz: 44C - 5GHz: 50C - CPU: 48C

This mod definitely makes a huge difference. Mine is DIY setup - 2 x ball bearing fans from Amazon, an old USB cable, some heat shrink tubes, some good quality double sided adhesive tape on 4 corners of the fans, 10min work to solder the connections and install the fans.

 

[Smokindog]

FWIW - I used to run a fan on the RTN16 and a couple other products including the Toshiba DST2000 DirecTV receiver (I think that was the model) that ran so hot you could actually burn your finger on the connections/case. They knew it was a hot box too

I do use large single fan laptop cooler for my fanless AV equipment that's in a cabinet. I get variable speed coolers and run them at their slowest level and always to exhaust It's more to keep the air moving across/through the unit versus a cabinet exhaust although it does help change the air.

However, for small items like routers I still use the setups I made years ago. I've got dozens of old CPU fans and USB cables in my box of junk in the office. I found that an old 486 cooling fan, a USB end from a broken/USB1 cable, some shrink wrap, and a little soldering is all it takes to solve most any heat issue. You don't need a lot of air, just enough to move things around. I locate the intended case exhaust location and place the fan over the slits/holes to pull air. 4 pieces of double sided automotive trim tape for the corners is all that is needed to secure things in place. Plus, if I recall correctly, the 486 CPU fans were 12V so running them at 5V makes them run more slowly and more quietly. I always powered them from the router USB without issues. These little setups have literally run for years 24/7 without issue. Every now then I vacuum the fan and the router just like I do with my PC cooling fans.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. You probably have a sufficient and free solution already in your junk box.

 

[Starrbuck]

This $13 fan (set on low) brought my RT-AC86U's CPU from 80C+ to 55C.