flex 6300 cpu/fpga (Fan to buy)

ik2clb

Hallo,
i need to buy the 50mm fpu and cpu fans, K2CB suggested me to ask here if anyone has any fans they bought in the past, and they don't need them anymore.
I have serious problems finding similar fans, I tried to replace them with commercial 50mm fans, but besides being too high (the grid closes badly) mostly don't work because I measured the voltage across the connector and read 5,25 Volts not 12 V. as stated on the original fan label.
Can someone help me? I have already tried to restore a fan with oil on the bearing but it is really damaged and does not work anymore.
my email address is ik2clb@gmail.com

fan are like these.
https://us.v-cdn.net/6032377/uploads/05KIFE46HVX8/img-20210124-203151582.jpg

best regards and thanks in advance, Marco Ik2clb

EA7JQA

Talk to Norbert, oficial EU Service Center. I had the same problem with the fans of my 6300.

Norbert Wrede

EU Service Center

Habyer Str. 22

24361 Gross Wittensee

Germany

norbert@flexradio.com

WX7Y

This MAY depend on the age of the 6300 of which Fans it uses and you may have to check with FLEX to see when they made the FAN change to the new type Fans and check your serial number of your radio and see where it falls.

My old 6700 takes the same fan as the 6300 does and I actually found them at Jameco Part no.: 2315535 back in 2021, But I'm not sure if there still available or not, here is the actual Fan's part number AP0512HX-J96.

https://www.jameco.com/z/AP0512HX-J96-ADDA-Corporation-Chip-Cooler-Fan-12-VDC-50x50x8mm-9-2-CFM-3-5-5-Wires-speed-sensor-_2315535.html

With these you can simply remove the 4 screws holding the Fan motor and Blades on the heat sink and put the Molex plug from the old fan on the NEW fan wires with solder and small heat shrink and use the same 4 **** to remount it to the heat sink and plug it in.

These below are similar but it doesn't look like they have the RPM wire so probably won't work at all !

https://www.jameco.com/z/AP0505MX-J90-4P-ADDA-Corporation-5-VDC-50-mm-x-8-mm-Chip-Cooler-Fan-7-1-CFM-with-3-5-Leads-with-Connector_2235284.html?CID=MERCH

You can also send it to a FLEX service center, they have a NEW style of fans that can be retrofitted to the older radios, DON'T try to retrofit these your self because the original fans are Glued to the FPU and require specialized technics to remove them with heat and YOU CAN ROUIN your Radio very easily.

Mike-VA3MW

And, you need to be careful with fans as not all fans are created equal.

FlexRadio engineering spent a LOT of time on Fans when picking which ones to use.

The firmware monitors the Fan RPM and relates it to a cooling curve. This ensures that the FPGAs are cooled correctly.

Feel free to check with us.

ik2clb

Thanks Bret for your kind reply, I will take your suggestions into consideration, right now I'm waiting for answers from FLEX Italy Andrea, a very kind person, is trying to solve my problem by contacting flex germany and also flex usa by opening a ticket.
the original fans are out of stock but the idea of replacing them with the 5V ones could be the solution because I measured the voltage connector's pins and it is 5.25V, not 12V as I thought, and the fans works only at 12 volts they don't even start. I hope to resolve the situation before the bouvet guys go home... :#

@WX7Y said:
> This MAY depend on the age of the 6300 of which Fans it uses and you may have to check with FLEX to see when they made the FAN change to the new type Fans and check your serial number of your radio and see where it falls.

73 Marco ik2clb

ik2clb

thanks Juan for answer.

I hope Andrea ( Flex ITALY) contacts Norbert, otherwise I'll do it if I can't resolve the situation

> @EA7JQA said:
> Talk to Norbert, oficial EU Service Center. I had the same problem with the fans of my 6300.
> Norbert Wrede
> EU Service Center
> Habyer Str. 22
> 24361 Gross Wittensee
> Germany
> norbert@flexradio.com

ik2clb

Thanks Mike for the reply,
I imagined that there was a fan speed control, because even though he unlocked the old one with oil, the flex got stuck every now and then even if the fan seemed to rotate.

> @Mike-VA3MW said:
> And, you need to be careful with fans as not all fans are created equal.
> FlexRadio engineering spent a LOT of time on Fans when picking which ones to use.
> The firmware monitors the Fan RPM and relates it to a cooling curve. This ensures that the FPGAs are cooled correctly.



> Feel free to check with us.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind ;)


73 de Marco ik2clb

Roger

Marco, I don't have a 6300 to measure, however I think you're going to find you do need a 12 volt fan. If memory serves me the FPGA fans are variable speed depending on the FPGA load / temperature. In many cases when you need a variable speed fan you drive it with a PWM signal. When you measure the voltage on the pin you want to use an oscilloscope set to 5 volts per division. This link: https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+a+PWM+signal+look+like&source=hp&ei=gLrVY4uKD_TNptQP74Sx-As&iflsig=AK50M_UAAAAAY9XIkObApe3SuCBLmVllrlbv_z5uzjuI&ved=0ahUKEwiLyp3ov-v8AhX0pokEHW9CDL8Q4dUDCAo&uact=5&oq=what+does+a+PWM+signal+look+like&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCGAzIFCAAQhgMyBQgAEIYDOgsIABCxAxCDARCRAjoOCC4QgAQQsQMQxwEQ0QM6BQguEIAEOggIABCABBCxAzoRCC4QgAQQsQMQgwEQxwEQ0QM6CAguELEDEIMBOgsILhCABBCxAxDUAjoFCAAQkQI6BAgAEEM6CAguEIAEELEDOggIABCxAxCDAToOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQ0QM6CAgAEIAEEMkDOgQIABADOgcIABCABBAKOgYIABAWEB46CAgAEBYQHhAKOggIABAWEB4QD1AAWLIxYMs3aABwAHgAgAHnAYgBxSSSAQYwLjMxLjGYAQCgAQE&sclient=gws-wiz#kpvalbx=_iLrVY9HeA5aYptQPuvu7mAI_39 has a good explanation of how PWM works and what the PWM signal looks like.

I hope that helps a bit.

ik2clb

> @Roger said:
> I hope that helps a bit.
HI Roger,
I would say more than a bit, I also thought that if the fan is 12 volt but also goes to 5 volts it is because the system regulates the speed by varying the voltage. So with a very hot heatsink I imagine that there will be a higher voltage on the pins.
The problem is, in fact, finding fans that can operate at 5v to 12v and that have a size that can be housed over heatsink and inside the RF cage.

At the moment I still have no news from flex italia, and the fan that I modified and installed myself has stopped working and the Flex is out of order again.

Thank you Roger
73 de ik2clb Marco

Roger

Hi Marco,

I believe the system varies the speed by varying the pulse width. The way I think the speed control works without having a 6300 to verify is that the voltage is always 12 volts and the pulse width is varied to very the speed. This is why you have to use a scope to check the voltage. A DC voltmeter just isn't going to read the correct voltage of a PWM signal.

You may want to try this fan: https://www.jameco.com/z/AP0512HX-J90-ADDA-Corporation-DC-Chip-Cooler-Fan-50x50x8mm-5-5-Wires_2100371.html?CID=MERCH as a substitute. I checked Octopart and it looks like this is also an obsolete fan and Jameco is the last place in the world that has any in stock.

I dug through what I could find for old spec sheets and it looks like this fan has the correct dimensions with thickness(height) being the most important. If you're lucky the mounting holes for the fan will be the same between this chip cooler and the one(s) that are on your 6300. Short of having a very sophisticated rework station you're not going to get the old chip cooler and fan of the FPGA in one piece.

73 and good DX,

de Roger, NK1I

WX7Y

The Fans Roger suggested do NOT have the Speed wire so though they will physically fit they won't work with out the Speed wire, This is what the J96 suffix is for.

As Mike said way up on this thread the fans need to be exact part number to consider for replacements and not just a fan that will fit.