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[Stonehenge]

Has anyone had any success replacing the fans in their DNS-343?  One of mine has gone out, and I can't get a response from D-link as to whether they're serviceable and/or how.  Hopefully they can be replaced with something...um....quieter.  Any thoughts? 

[JavaLawyer]

Has anyone had any success replacing the fans in their DNS-343?  One of mine has gone out, and I can't get a response from D-link as to whether they're serviceable and/or how.  Hopefully they can be replaced with something...um....quieter.  Any thoughts?  

I would assume the DNS-343 has a standard 40mm fan, which is universal to most PCs and related peripherals with cooling requirements.  You'll have to open the unit and measure the size for yourself. That fan size is available from countless manufacturers and resellers.

I haven't looked at the fan in the DNS-343, but based on experience I assume you'll have to unscrew the fan from the DNS-343 (4 screws) and simply pull-out the power connector from the motherboard.

[Stonehenge]

From the looks of it, it takes two 40mm fans (probably 5V).  Yes - very common on the market.  But I've never heard of anyone actually getting into the unit and replacing those fans - which leads me to believe that they can't easily be swapped out like most case fans.  Anyone have any experience with this?  Thanks.

[JavaLawyer]

From the looks of it, it takes two 40mm fans (probably 5V).  Yes - very common on the market.  But I've never heard of anyone actually getting into the unit and replacing those fans - which leads me to believe that they can't easily be swapped out like most case fans.  Anyone have any experience with this?  Thanks.

I don't see any reason why you can't swap out the fan. Once you remove one from the case, you should (I presume) find specs indicating the voltage on the fan itself, although the part should be standard off-the-shelf.

[Stonehenge]

I was informed today by D-Link tech support that fan replacement would require sending the unit to them for repair/replacement.  Bottom-line:  not intended or designed to be user serviceable.  Experimentation is in order now to see what can be modded, but I find it disappointing that D-Link expects customers to send the entire unit off for factory repair for nothing more than a 30 cent part.

[JavaLawyer]

I was informed today by D-Link tech support that fan replacement would require sending the unit to them for repair/replacement.  Bottom-line:  not intended or designed to be user serviceable.  Experimentation is in order now to see what can be modded, but I find it disappointing that D-Link expects customers to send the entire unit off for factory repair for nothing more than a 30 cent part.

D-Link's response is a generic answer applicable to all hardware modifications other than inserting and removing HDD and has no bearing on the ability for an end-user to perform the repairs independently. Keep in mind that D-Link is catering their responses to the least common denominator (i.e. end-users with limited technical knowledge). This doesn't mean that you can't make the change yourself - as long as you can access the part and obtain a replacement with compatible technical specifications.

The only caveat is that if your DNS-343 is under the original 1-year warranty, performing this change will invalidate that warranty.

[drick]

Has anyone had any success replacing the fans in their DNS-343?  One of mine has gone out, and I can't get a response from D-link as to whether they're serviceable and/or how.  Hopefully they can be replaced with something...um....quieter.  Any thoughts?  

interesting question, i had just had my second of three units fan go bad. as such i'm pulling it out of production and migrating that data set over to my Netgear RNDP6000.

let me know if you have any luck on this as i would like to get both of my bad units repaired and am well out of the warranty window.

[drick]

I was informed today by D-Link tech support that fan replacement would require sending the unit to them for repair/replacement.  Bottom-line:  not intended or designed to be user serviceable.  Experimentation is in order now to see what can be modded, but I find it disappointing that D-Link expects customers to send the entire unit off for factory repair for nothing more than a 30 cent part.

by chance did they provide you with the cost to do this? if so did it include:

1. packaging (i don't have the original anymore)
2. shipping costs (both ways)
3. time-frame (how long will it take)
4. warranty impact (i.e. does this start a new HW warranty if you do it, and if so what is it)

[drick]

Has anyone had any success replacing the fans in their DNS-343?  One of mine has gone out, and I can't get a response from D-link as to whether they're serviceable and/or how.  Hopefully they can be replaced with something...um....quieter.  Any thoughts? 

p.s. did yours actually die, or are you just getting the fan can't rotate error message?

[JavaLawyer]

interesting question, i had just had my second of three units fan go bad. as such i'm pulling it out of production and migrating that data set over to my Netgear RNDP6000.

let me know if you have any luck on this as i would like to get both of my bad units repaired and am well out of the warranty window.

Netgear has a great line of storage solutions, albeit well out of the price range of the DNS series. Their acquisition of Infrant in 2007 was a great move, and they've really developed the ReadyNAS line into a powerhouse since.

[JavaLawyer]

p.s. did yours actually die, or are you just getting the fan can't rotate error message?

That's a good question - hadn't thought of linking this issue to the erroneous FW v1.04 error message. And if the fan did fail, how did he know? (i.e. high temps? overheating? a valid fan failure message?)

[JavaLawyer]

by chance did they provide you with the cost to do this? if so did it include:

1. packaging (i don't have the original anymore)
2. shipping costs (both ways)
3. time-frame (how long will it take)
4. warranty impact (i.e. does this start a new HW warranty if you do it, and if so what is it)

The cost of D-Link touching an out-of-warranty device is in all likelihood not cost effective considering the value of a used unit versus the falling prices of newer NAS lines.  Although I can't speak for D-Link in particular, the warranty for such repairs is typically limited to the part that was fixed for a period of three months.

If you feel uncomfortable going inside the DNS-343 to replace the fan, I've seen (on the web) a DNS-343 mod a number of owners have performed to improve air circulation and reduce the fan noise level.  You can mount an 80mm fan on the external rear of the DNS-343, powered presumably by the rear USB  port.  I've wired USB cables to power low voltage devices such as fans and it's not a huge undertaking. The question is whether a DNS-343 will boot with a truly dead fan even if there is an adequate external cooling solution.

[drick]

Netgear has a great line of storage solutions, albeit well out of the price range of the DNS series. Their acquisition of Infrant in 2007 was a great move, and they've really developed the ReadyNAS line into a powerhouse since.

agreed, i see this as a major gap in the DNS line. i would have purchased another DNS if the made a DNS363 (i.e. 6 bays, RAID6, HS's, etc.). the closest thing i saw was their DSN-1100-10 which costs 2x more than the RNDP @ $1600 and offers way less.

[drick]

The cost of D-Link touching an out-of-warranty device is in all likelihood not cost effective considering the value of a used unit versus the falling prices of newer NAS lines.  Although I can't speak for D-Link in particular, the warranty for such repairs is typically limited to the part that was fixed for a period of three months.

If you feel uncomfortable going inside the DNS-343 to replace the fan, I've seen (on the web) a DNS-343 mod a number of owners have performed to improve air circulation and reduce the fan noise level.  You can mount an 80mm fan on the external rear of the DNS-343, powered presumably by the rear USB  port.  I've wired USB cables to power low voltage devices such as fans and it's not a huge undertaking. The question is whether a DNS-343 will boot with a truly dead fan even if there is an adequate external cooling solution.

agreed on OOW costs, i figured someone might have figured out a cheap and easy way to hack the fans. i see quite a few strings on the web about this, but none are quite as easy as i'd like to see.

[JavaLawyer]

agreed on OOW costs, i figured someone might have figured out a cheap and easy way to hack the fans. i see quite a few strings on the web about this, but none are quite as easy as i'd like to see.

I haven't had a reason to crack open the DNS-343 case (fingers crossed!). Is the fan power connector a standard plug or soldered to the board? If the power is a standard PC power connector and the fan is screwed in-place, there shouldn't be much of a challenge swapping in a fan with the same specs.

An alternative strategy to DIY, is to bring the DNS-343 to a PC repair shop. There shouldn't be any unfamiliar components in the DNS-343 for someone experienced in PC repair.