S-Prihadi

Gang,

My weather is very hot at 34C and it can actually make the C4 goes offline to my laptop
C4 is inside the car, so no airflow and one side of its alu body rest on car leather seat, less cooling can happen.

Today I decided to tear open the unit to try to make cooling system.

For the itchy eyes, here come :



So I drilled holes of approx 12mm diameter, approx.







I make opening at the end side where there is no connector. That funny zigzag thing is the wifi antena.



BELOW : So the whole alu cocoon body , is not actually touching heat sink at one of the hotter PCB board, but it does help to cool the components....but poor.
When in use like 20 minutes, the alu cocoon body of C4 can hit 40C. That means the hot components would be 60ish Celsius plus.










Aboe. The right side image, that PCB board is the hotter one among the 2.



I am experimenting one side of the holes getting DIY filter membrane




Basically, I will later get a laptop vacuum/suction type cooling module like below :





So today I tested airflow potential. I use my charger fan and I practically kiss the end of C4 to the fan middle part, which means it is not at the best air suction flow of a fan.





Result is not bad... I am happy. Approx 20ish minutes the C4 is no more hot at the aluminum cocoon body and internal components is cooler by a lot.

Below is the non filtered holes. Internal components read as 36C ( the MAX ). Car interior ambient was 32C.




Where the fan opening is, below : So we are seeing PCB board stack.


Viewing angle, approx





2 PCB board stack, zoomed.






================================================== ================================================== =====================================


NOW, C4 10 minutes operational, no fan assist.








Where the fan opening is, below : So we are seeing PCB board stack.



PCB board stack, zoomed




PCB board stack, zoomed





Approx 10C hotter component level for a non-fan assist set up in just 10 minutes. Damn !!!

End of report.

S-Prihadi

The C4 went offline due to overheating yesterday when I was troubleshooting HVAC issue for a friend's AMG CLS63 5.5L M157.981 engine. 2011 built. W218.374
Let it cool down for 20 minutes and then run it again, all good.
I forgot to make it stand up, instead its bottom side ( no display side ) was flat on the seat, so less heat transfer possible by the aluminum cocoon body....yep, such simple placement matters.




This is at my regular indie workshop.
I told him, if he gets a tough HVAC problem on MB and I know the owner directly or indirectly, let me troubleshoot for practice sake., FOC.

CaliBenzDriver

Surya, sorry to read this happen to your new gear. This enclosure unit definitely need active venting with a ball-bearing fan. Normally cold air is forced in to prevent fan from harsher condition of pulling hot air out.


+ not real hot
O Needs a heatsink !?!
X Mild heat profile
V: already cooled
We see opportunities for improvement if heat-crash problem continues.

Keep in mind the die size under the chip epixy casing is super tinny.... like 4 Square millimeters or less !
​​​​​​Meaning the heatsink full coverage all the way to the edge is useless.
Only center spot has the hot silicon die.


Voltage regulator feeds nearby processor.... HOT!

Already we see that couple heatsinks are in use for what must be the main processors.

Next time around you can increase the heat dissipation of more chips.
​​​​​
In addition, you may want to inspect the two existing heatsinks... upgrade them to taller fins.

Also double check a common mistake: different chip heights under the long central heatsink unit... poor contact means poor dissipation. Check the thermal paste or a pad is in use under there!


sample heatsink styles
There are many sizes available to fit form & functions. Usually relies on self adhesive stickers to pass all the heat through.

Link to eBay sample listing.


Lastly whatever power supply unit is feeding that C4-Box may needs cooling to remain stable.

juanmor40

For thermal paste, I have used Artic MX-4 and MX-5 (last one) with lot of success. I repaste about 15 different laptops where the old paste was basically junk. The CPU immediately cooled down using their standard fans.


On the active cooling (with fans), I am with @CaliBenzDriver , but be careful not to increase the new fan flow too much either. There is a subtle balance between fin geometry/material used and the flow around it. Infinite flow is not the best and it becomes noisy at some point anyways.

Also, timing is an issue. The longer you wait (at least you already started), and the more you use it (enjoy I mean) the faster the long-term damage to the board and components.

S-Prihadi

Thank you gents......
The aluminum cocoon shell is already so tight space. So no more room to add taller heat sink.
The only way for now is to use that laptop vacuum style fan for forced suction and see how the temperatures are.

juanmor40

Surya, you can always wrap it around a cold plate

S-Prihadi

... or a Peltier cooler

CaliBenzDriver

OR MOVE TO ICELANDIC AREA

+++++
> Seriously...:
Where does the POWER SUPPLIED to this C4-Box come from...reliable?

---+++++
YUM YUM YUM GUINESS ...
it's said that factory is bigger than 10 city blocks - Big tourist attraction to taste the real IRISH GUINNESS STOUT.
👍


Here Surya: I've found what I was looking for

CIDER is an old British classic... Healthy hard drinkable



local favorite "hard Apple CIDER", low-sugar formula
From one of the Silicon Valley cities of San Jose California.

S-Prihadi

Aha............good u found the Cider.

S-Prihadi

1+ hour non stop use on a hot day today withe 32C ambient temp approx.
This unit is a blower type fan, like our HVAC blower. This kind of fan has very strong suction ( high static pressure ), but airflow volume 30% or less than simple axial PC fan which has very poor static pressure.


Xentry C4 clone on the W218 CLS63 AMG today, for HVAC fun work.




I am very happy and impressed with this fan. US$20 only. 13 speed level.


So I rigged a mounting system for fan to C4, crude but works well. Under the alu tape, lots of double side tape... LOL.
Cloth filter can stick due to its suction, awesome blower type fan indeed.






I keep bottom holes non-filtered and added 10mm HVAC foam pad on C4 under body, so now I can sit it flat on those 6 holes yet airflow still possible because of the gap.
No need filter is because the holes would be facing down, so dirt can't enter by fighting gravity. Although suction is strong it can't suck dirt from 10mm upwards.



Mission accomplished