RT-N66U - Steady temperature increasing during years

[netware5]

I am using RT-N66U since March 2013 always with the latest Merlin's FW. In the beginning typical temperatures of the radios were between 49 and 51 degrees Celsius. During years of operation these temperatures trended to increase slowly and now they are typically between 57 and 59 degrees Celsius. The typical usage of the router and connected devices didn't changed so much since 2013. The environmental conditions didn't changed also.

Any ideas regarding the reason for this trend during the years?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Inside of case full of fluff? Maybe the thermal pad underneath the heatsink has dried out and isn't very effective anymore.

 

[netware5]

Inside of case full of fluff? Maybe the thermal pad underneath the heatsink has dried out and isn't very effective anymore.

Yes, it (fluff) is possible as I have two cats I am doing regular (may be semiannually) cleaning of the router from OUTSIDE using vacuum cleaner. But I didn't open it since initial mounting of MicroSD card inside five years ago. You probably know that opening of RT-N66U case is a tricky task, so I prefer not to do this. Do you have have any ideas how to clean inside without opening? The same might apply for changing the thermal paste.

 

[lighting]

A stopgap for the remainder of your old router's useful life might be a DC / USB fan pointed at the back. I've been using one for years on my 68U, and it typically reduces the temperatures by 10-15 degrees versus in still air. (I do this proactively in the belief that cooler chips mean longer life. Possible it's a waste of time and energy, but it's not much of either. I calculated the energy cost at $1/year.)

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yes, it (fluff) is possible as I have two cats I am doing regular (may be semiannually) cleaning of the router from OUTSIDE using vacuum cleaner. But I didn't open it since initial mounting of MicroSD card inside five years ago. You probably know that opening of RT-N66U case is a tricky task, so I prefer not to do this. Do you have have any ideas how to clean inside without opening? The same might apply for changing the thermal paste.

Not really. The vacuum cleaner should be sufficient assuming it's a "proper" vacuum cleaner with plenty of suck, and not some battery powered unit. If you've got an air duster to hand you might want to give it a quick blast with that. From the pictures I've seen the N66U uses thermal pads, not paste, so you'd need to work out what the correct thickness is if you want to replace them.

https://www.arctic.ac/uk_en/thermal-pad.html

 

[netware5]

Not really. The vacuum cleaner should be sufficient assuming it's a "proper" vacuum cleaner with plenty of suck, and not some battery powered unit. If you've got an air duster to hand you might want to give it a quick blast with that. From the pictures I've seen the N66U uses thermal pads, not paste, so you'd need to work out what the correct thickness is if you want to replace them.

Thank you, Colin! I will study further.

 

[sfx2000]

@thiggins - this is really weird...

Chrome balks hard on the link to this thread... see screenshot below...

 

[netware5]

@thiggins - this is really weird...

Chrome balks hard on the link to this thread... see screenshot below...

I am normally using Mozilla, but checked with Chrome - I confirm the case. It is really weird as ONLY this thread is affected.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Chrome balks hard on the link to this thread... see screenshot below...View attachment 14471

I've changed the image I had linked to in post #2 (it was previously hosted on wl500g.info). Is that any better? It's still embedded in @netware5's quote in post #3.

 

[netware5]

Now it is fine. I've edited my quote in post#3.

 

[sfx2000]

I've changed the image I had linked to in post #2 (it was previously hosted on wl500g.info). Is that any better? It's still embedded in @netware5's quote in post #3.

I suppose it's the risks of deep linking images...