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DIY Cooling RT-AC86U, Is it safe? Increased lifespan?

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Shah Saad

Occasional Visitor
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I just put these two fans on the back of my AC86U router (left). The bigger one is 140mm and the smaller one is 120mm. These were spare fans from my PC laying around so I thought of utilising these in this way. Connecting the fans to USB ports make the fans run very slow so I bought a 12V AC to DC adapter from the market and connected the wires of both fans to that adapter.
The router isn't even getting warm on touch when these are powered on. I tried to copy large number of files from the attached Hard Disk with my router to PC so as to put a load on router's CPUs for few minutes. Even then it didn't get warm let alone hot.
The fans are positioned in such a way that they are throwing air outwards.
On the right side is my ISP's ADSL router which is configured to act just as a modem. But it will still get too hot so I put fans for it as well.

I have two questions:
1. Is this safe for the internal circuitry of the router? Will this create any kind of static charge on the components which might degrade these components?
2. If it's safe, how much effect these fans will have on the router's life span? Because if these fans aren't getting the router hot or even warm, the electric components inside the router will work longer if no other issues happen, right?
 
1) yes, it's safe. No, it won't create any static charge
2) routers that run cooler tend to also run longer. I have an R7800 from NETGEAR that is well ventilated but runs hot in the summer so I cool it down with a 120mm fan connected to its USB port
 
I considered these one too but these don't have much speed and secondly you can't stick it with the outer casing of the router.
I think that all the dust you suck into your router negates any tiny benefits you may get from the fan
 
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I think that all the dust you suck into your router negates any tiny benefits you may get from the fan
That's why I kept the fans like this. The fans go down to the bottom of the ventilation holes...There is no ventilation space on side of the router..only back and same on top. So I guess any dust going from top will be sucked by the fan before it reaches the ventilation holes and thrown out of the fan. This way the dust will actually stay out of the router rather than going in if there were no fans there, I hope so.
 

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That's why I kept the fans like this. The fans go down to the bottom of the ventilation holes...There is no ventilation space on side of the router..only back and same on top. So I guess any dust going from top will be sucked by the fan before it reaches the ventilation holes and thrown out of the fan. This way the dust will actually stay out of the router rather than going in if there were no fans there, I hope so.
I think that the best way to use a fan is in reverse if you know what I mean.You would have the fan set up so it's sucking the heat out through the ventilation strips as apposed to blowing air into it.IMO it is just as affective to suck the heat out as it is to blow air through it
 
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I think that the best way to use a fan is in reverse if you know what I mean.You would have the fan set up so it's sucking the heat out through the ventilation strips as apposed to blowing air into it.IMO it is just as affective to suck the heat out as it is to blow air through it
Yes, you are right. That's what I am doing here too. These are sucking the air out not throwing it in.
 
I think that the best way to use a fan is in reverse if you know what I mean.You would have the fan set up so it's sucking the heat out through the ventilation strips as apposed to blowing air into it.IMO it is just as affective to suck the heat out as it is to blow air through it

So, it doesn't matter which direction as long as air is flowing through to affect heat transfer.

If moving unfiltered air, eventually the box will fill up with dust and overheat. So, you'll need a router dust maintenance plan.

If you have a box of used routers that have never failed, I would just take my chances with passive cooling as designed. I suppose it depends on the surrounding climate control.

OE
 
I considered these one too but these don't have much speed and secondly you can't stick it with the outer casing of the router.

Well they do work well as they keep the operating temps down in the 50s.


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So, it doesn't matter which direction as long as air is flowing through to affect heat transfer.

If moving unfiltered air, eventually the box will fill up with dust and overheat. So, you'll need a router dust maintenance plan.

If you have a box of used routers that have never failed, I would just take my chances with passive cooling as designed. I suppose it depends on the surrounding climate control.

OE
I think i will put an air/dust filter on top then to reduce the amount of dust going in.


Well they do work well as they keep the operating temps down in the 50s.
That's very good then :)
 
Some people who have inspected the internals of their AC86U have found the heat sinks to be poorly attached, so one option to consider before using a fan is to make sure that the heat sinks are properly attached.
 
Some people who have inspected the internals of their AC86U have found the heat sinks to be poorly attached, so one option to consider before using a fan is to make sure that the heat sinks are properly attached.
Oh okay, thank you for telling me that. But won't it void the warranty if I open it up?
 
Oh okay, thank you for telling me that. But won't it void the warranty if I open it up?
yes it will and you cant open it without sights of doing so - or you are a real professional who can remove the backside label without being seen, because of hidden screw under it.
This has been a problem on 68U, is it really the same on 86U too? Never heard about that.
 
yes it will and you cant open it without sights of doing so - or you are a real professional who can remove the backside label without being seen, because of hidden screw under it.
This has been a problem on 68U, is it really the same on 86U too? Never heard about that.
That means I shouldn't touch it then. I don't think there would be any problem with the heat sink because it doesn't get abnormally hot.
 
I understand the warranty aspect, however, if you add fans, you'll probably eventually need to open the case to dust-off the electronics.
 

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