RT-AC68U High temperature problems.

[alpha45]

Hello,
today I installed the new fw. Merlin 384.17 from 384.15 and I noticed that the temperature of the CPU has gone up from 81 ° to 86 ° as well as 2.4GHz + 2 ° and 5GHz + 3 °.
Do you think it is risky?
I thank

 

[ColinTaylor]

My RT-AC86U has been running at that temperature or higher for years.

You might want to check whether hardware acceleration has been disabled as that will increase the load on the CPU.

EDIT: Typo, I meant RT-AC68U.

 

[alpha45]

My RT-AC86U has been running at that temperature or higher for years.

You might want to check whether hardware acceleration has been disabled as that will increase the load on the CPU.

Is the hardware acceleration highlighted ,?
If so, how can you disable it?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Is the hardware acceleration highlighted ,?

That looks OK.

 

[ColinTaylor]

If so, how can you disable it?

LAN > Switch Control

 

[K-2SO]

If so, how can you disable it?

Any specific reason to disable it?

 

[Konor]

Both my olld AC68U and my current AC3100 both run a bit hot, but nowhere near 86° C. Typically i would see upper 60s to very low 70s until i created a little stand for my AC3100 with a cutout for a spare 120mm fan that blows into the bottom vent. Now usually i see mid 40s.

 

[alpha45]

Any specific reason to disable it?

With the old Fw., although the hardware acceleration enabled, the temperature was ~ 80°.
While with in new Fw. even if hardware acceleration is disabled, the temperature does not drop below 86 °

 

[K-2SO]

While with in new Fw. even if hardware acceleration is disabled

HW Acceleration disabled increases the CPU load. CPU temp in expected to stay a bit higher.

 

[lighting]

Both my olld AC68U and my current AC3100 both run a bit hot, but nowhere near 86° C. Typically i would see upper 60s to very low 70s until i created a little stand for my AC3100 with a cutout for a spare 120mm fan that blows into the bottom vent. Now usually i see mid 40s.

Less elegant but easier, I bought a little USB fan and I hang it on the back of my router on a string wrapped around the antenna bases, blowing directly on the back of the router. Keeps the temps at least 10 degrees C lower, for under a dollar a year of electricity. Might extend the life of the electronics.

 

[K-2SO]

Might extend the life of the electronics.

AC68U is very durable, but active cooling won't hurt. Blow the dust off from time to time.

 

[alpha45]

AC68U is very durable, but active cooling won't hurt. Blow the dust off from time to time.

Today it has reached this temperature ...
it is advisable to return to the 384.15 version of the firmware and the safest and most reliable method to downgrade the firmware.
Thanx

 

[Deleted member 51572]

Hello,
today I installed the new fw. Merlin 384.17 from 384.15 and I noticed that the temperature of the CPU has gone up from 81 ° to 86 ° as well as 2.4GHz + 2 ° and 5GHz + 3 °.
Do you think it is risky?
I thank
View attachment 23417

The CPU in my AC1900P (AC68U) runs hot too, above 80C without cooling. I picked up a USB fan, plugged it into one of the router's USB ports, and placed the fan behind the router to blow air directly into the vents. You don't need to move a lot of air to cool the CPU and wireless radios. With just a low-power fan, the CPU temperature on my 1900P dropped from 80+C to between 50-60C, it's currently 51C; radios are at 40C. WiFi signal quality is also better on my 1900P when the radios are cooled.

 

[KGB7]

Take it apart and put some fresh paste on the cpu.

 

[Gar]

AC68U is very durable, but active cooling won't hurt. Blow the dust off from time to time.

Keep those vent holes clear, and blowing some compressed air in from various angles is good too.

 

[Deleted member 51572]

Keep those vent holes clear, and blowing some compressed air in from various angles is good too.

I occasionally use a vacuum with a brush attachment to suck out the the dust from the rear vents, rather than just blow dust around inside. There are also hard-to-reach vents underneath that should be periodically cleaned.

 

[alpha45]

In the end I did this:

with this result:

hoping that with everything always on the fans will last ...
Ciao

 

[Deleted member 51572]

In the end I did this:
View attachment 23723
with this result:
View attachment 23724
hoping that with everything always on the fans will last ...
Ciao

those fans look pretty 'cool' hanging off the back of the router. great job!

a washable foam filter over each fan intake should help filter out some dust from being blown inside. I also thought of buying a box fan and rigging up something similar as you, but on a trip to the drug store one day, I found $15 USB fans that worked just as well. I bought three of them, one for each of my Asus routers (AC1900P and AC86U) + a spare fan. There are two speed settings, I set it to LOW, so the fan runs quiet. The AC86U with USB fan plugged in is shown in the photo below, for illustration purposes. I'm not actually using the 86U yet.

The screen capture is of my AC1900P temperatures, with USB fan cooling it. As you can see, the AC1900P (AC68U) temperatures are significantly lower than normal when the unit is actively cooled.

And of course, ambient room temperature will also cause CPU and Radio temperatures to rise, quite significantly if the router happens to be located in a warm room (above 20C) and/or high up on cabinet, where the air is warmer near the ceiling.

 

[joegreat]

Hello,
today I installed the new fw. Merlin 384.17 from 384.15 and I noticed that the temperature of the CPU has gone up from 81 ° to 86 ° as well as 2.4GHz + 2 ° and 5GHz + 3 °.
Do you think it is risky?

Nope, not risky at all! ...as discussed and solved here - and many other threads in the forum - why not do a small search about this topic???

 

[Deleted member 51572]

Nope, not risky at all! ...as discussed and solved here - and many other threads in the forum - why not do a small search about this topic???

I've read elsewhere (in Raspberry Pi forums) that when ARMv7 temperature rises above 82C, the CPU will begin throttling in order to maintain a safe temperature, within its rated specifications. Later generation ARM CPUs may work fine at 100C or higher, but just because it CAN operate at extreme temperatures, doesn't mean it should. If active cooling can help extend the life of the CPU and other components, and possibly prevent throttling, then why not show your router a little love.