D6-320 modding fans

[volvoden]

Just my 2 cents: why to not keep the unit dissambled and to connect the fan that you want to an usb or power outlet?
The hardest part is already done if you have disassembled the das.
Please keep us informed.

[beeks]

I spent a day last weekend wiring up 2 Noctua 80MM 4 PIN fans into my D6-320. I used some Jst Xh 2.54 4 Pin Connector Plugs off of Amazon. Since I didn't have a crimp tool, but I did have some small breadboard style PCBs I made a little adapter board that the Noctua fans plug into, and then plug into the JWH connectors on the main PCB.

It took a while to get the pinout correct, but there were no crossovers needed as seen in some JWH-4pin adapters I've seen online.

Anyway, the net result of this experiment was that the Noctua fans were louder than the stock fans. Huge disappointment.

I ended up putting the stock fans back in, but I reconfigured them so they sucked cool air from the front of the D6-320 chassis, over the drives, and exhausted it out of the back. In the stock configuration where they pull air in from the rear of the unit and exhaust out the front, they were essentially using the hot air that was exhausted out from the rest of my hardware and using that to cool the drives. Didn't seem ideal.

This was a big let down. I thought that the D6-320 was supposed to "intelligently" adjust the fan speeds, throttling down when the drives were not under any load/producing excess heat. But before and after, they just seem to be pinned on high.

Edit: I found some old 3-pin fan limiting adapters in the closet, so I swapped the stock fans out and re-installed the Noctuas, with the custom adapter and the limiters. The unit is much quieter, but it looks like the airflow isn't quiet sufficient to keep my drives cool. With the stock fans and 4x4TB WD RED's in, they were running around 45-46c, and with the Noctua's they're around 51c... And slowly climbing

[Olli2024]

Thank you for sharing all the details.

I am disappointed too swapping in other fans does not help.

I really thought this could be a valid solution

[cutepolarbear]

A little late to this, but thinking similar fan replacement with the d9-320 usb enclosure. My unit by default the fan is sucking air from the front and pushing out through the back. I haven't taken the unit apart yet, but from what I am seeing, it came with 3 pin, but Noctua ones are 4pin? Can't I just get a few 4 pin to 3 pin adapter cables? Does it actually help with fan noise / temperature for you guys? Thank you.

[Gremlin]

Presuming D series systems follow the same philosophy as the F model nas, @TM don't use standard 3 or 4 pin fan connectors. Take a look at the mainboard connectors first before purchasing anything, read the threads on here about changing fans and be prepared to make connectors/adaptors for your needs. (Some F models actually have standard connectors on the motherboard, but they are not used!)

[cutepolarbear]

Presuming D series systems follow the same philosophy as the F model nas, @TM don't use standard 3 or 4 pin fan connectors. Take a look at the mainboard connectors first before purchasing anything, read the threads on here about changing fans and be prepared to make connectors/adaptors for your needs. (Some F models actually have standard connectors on the motherboard, but they are not used!)

Thanks. I'm not very handy so if I can't use standard 3 or 4 pin fan connectors, I likely not going to bother. I'll take a look at the mainboard and see how it's wired up.

[Phil]

A little late to this, but thinking similar fan replacement with the d9-320 usb enclosure. My unit by default the fan is sucking air from the front and pushing out through the back. I haven't taken the unit apart yet, but from what I am seeing, it came with 3 pin, but Noctua ones are 4pin? Can't I just get a few 4 pin to 3 pin adapter cables? Does it actually help with fan noise / temperature for you guys? Thank you.

Thank you for your feedback. The noise level of our D9-320 is already very low.If you find the noise level too high, the most likely cause is chassis resonance or the sound of the hard drive itself. If you want to replace the fan, simply replace it with a 4-pin fan. You can also observe whether the noise level improves after replacing the fan. The fan that comes with our product is an 80x80x25mm 4-pin fan.