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RT-AC66U B1 vs AC68U cooling

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McRookie

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Hi all

I have both an ac66u B1 and an ac68u that are defective. After opening them I notice that the AC66u B1 has a larger heatsink on the front and also a quite large heatsink on the back. Whereas the AC68U has a one the fron ta bit smaller and then a very small one on the back.

Since they use same CPU and radio chipset is the AC66U B1 just better cooled? Or is it maybe due to the AC66U B1 being horizontal mount only which makes it running hotter and the additional heatsink is needed?

Any with both that can share temperatures?
 
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So out of curiosity I took them apart to see if I could fix them.

Damaged, not defective. Any progress? If the water got under ICs you'll need ultrasonic cleaner for a chance to fix. The problem is the PCB is quite large. I do component level repairs and my cleaner isn't large enough to fit a router PCB.
 
Damaged, not defective. Any progress? If the water got under ICs you'll need ultrasonic cleaner for a chance to fix. The problem is the PCB is quite large. I do component level repairs and my cleaner isn't large enough to fit a router PCB.
Unfortunately the water then "drowned" them in the basement was very mineral rich. And the routers dont even booth up even after drying and cleaning with isopropanol to remove moisture.

Just wandered about the heatzink difference on seemingly identical hardware
 
Just wandered about the heatzink difference on seemingly identical hardware

You have the answer already - horizontal unit has restricted air circulation. The same hardware is used in Netgear R7000 and Linksys EA6x00 routers, all flat design. Netgear has a big housing with many air vents. Linksys uses a toll heatsink with many fins. All run at about 75C CPU in normal conditions. The CPU thermal throttling starts at 100C. Those were very durable long life devices, better made than newer home routers. Many folks still use them today with different custom firmware. Asus still actively supports their AC68x/AC1900/AC66U_B1/AC1750_B1 variants.
 
You have the answer already - horizontal unit has restricted air circulation. The same hardware is used in Netgear R7000 and Linksys EA6x00 routers, all flat design. Netgear has a big housing with many air vents. Linksys uses a toll heatsink with many fins. All run at about 75C CPU in normal conditions. The CPU thermal throttling starts at 100C. Those were very durable long life devices, better made than newer home routers. Many folks still use them today with different custom firmware. Asus still actively supports their AC68x/AC1900/AC66U_B1/AC1750_B1 variants.
Thank you for reaffirming my hypothesis :)

I would have liked to make a more scientific measurement wih the two devices. But sadle the water killed them. Annoying global warming and rising sea levels ;-)

This would seem to suggest that an AC66U B1 mounted veristically in a homemade stand would provide even better cooling for placement in hotter surroundings.
 

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