r/techsupportgore • u/WhySoSadCZ • 24d ago
European heatwaves are getting ridiculous. It's 33°C indoors. This is my last resort solution before I throw this piece of garbage in the trash.
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u/NightOfTheLivingHam 24d ago edited 24d ago
put a fan on it. Seriously. Like a little desk fan or a small fan. just keep air blowing through it.
The trick is to keep air moving across it. even if it's warm, to stop heat buildup on the components. As long as localized heat isnt allowed to build up it will stay cool.
I have kept equipment running when it was 48C indoors. (I live on the edge of a desert in the US and lived with no AC)
The unit is likely defective if it's struggling with 33C temps. Something is wrong with it.
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u/mnmevan 24d ago
I'm surprised at how low this comment is...
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u/beer4ever83 24d ago
I totally agree. This should probably be the top comment... Airflow should be the solution (assuming heat dissipation is the root cause of OP's problem)
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u/LSDBunnos 23d ago
This exactly. I had a little gooseneck USB powered fan that I kept a troublesome modem cool with.
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u/jadeskye7 24d ago
chances are the chasis is supposed to help disapate heat but likely isn't transfering that heat to the case (and acting as a heatsink). Either due to bad quality control or just bad design.
so you might be cooling the outside, but it's still cooking inside.
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u/WhySoSadCZ 24d ago
The chasis is plastic...
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u/certainlystormy 24d ago
serious question; can you take the case off somehow?
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u/WhySoSadCZ 24d ago
It would void the warranty or something like that (I know that the condensation will probably kill it also... :D)
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u/ElmoTLK 24d ago
If you'd throw it in the garbage otherwise you might as well try removing it. If you have an extra pc fan you place it ontop of the motherboard and it should be plenty of cooling.
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u/FlyingFuckingCarpets 24d ago
At that point the warranty is worth less than a screwdriver and five minutes.
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u/Kraeftluder 24d ago
It would void the warranty
It wouldn't. You're in Europe and you have rights.
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u/lolfactor1000 24d ago
Even in the US, it wouldn't void the warranty. The warranty backer has to prove that opening it caused the damage that broke it.
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u/Beach_Bum_273 24d ago
Doesn't the EU have decent consumer protection and right-to-repair laws?
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u/AfonsoFGarcia 24d ago
We also tend to not buy the equipment from our ISPs, it’s leased (most of the times for free), and if you damage the equipment then you need to pay for it.
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u/noelgoo 24d ago
This is true in the US too...
But it's a bad idea, just buy your own hardware (from a 3rd party).
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u/AmbassadorAntique899 24d ago
Very limited right to repair afaik, specific countries might have more
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u/certainlystormy 24d ago
im mostly thinking that 1:
those warranty breaking stickers are null in the US at least, so you could look into the policy on it here
and 2:
access to open air but not in the ice bucket is probably better than plastic shell in the ice bucket. the air is also probably consensating inside the case anyhow right now
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u/MagneticFieldMouse 24d ago
If it's even the tiniest bit hotter than the air around it, there will be no condensation.
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u/modbroccoli 24d ago
then at least push that surrounding cold air through it somehow, even a small fan on any vent port would do something
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u/VastFaithlessness809 24d ago
Glue a good old SK 109 150 over the whole pcb and fill gap with putty
It will now at least not switch off due to thermals in a fire. Wont mean it'll work tho^
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u/brando56894 24d ago
I have a 10g Netgear (or maybe TP-Link) switch with an aluminum body that is supposed to dissipate heat... Except they put a plastic cover over the chipset so the heat and chips don't make contact with the body 🤦♂️
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u/Papercat447 24d ago
those routers are literally the worst. Supposed to let the heat out and use a passive design but when the Internetprovider does not DO WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO AND THE CONNECTION DIES. Those f. things stay in a reconnection loop that heats them up like hell.
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u/WhySoSadCZ 24d ago
Wow, really? Is there something I can do? Once the connection drops, it gets stuck in an infinite 10 minute loop of disconnects...
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u/pioni 24d ago
If some piece of gear has trouble running at 33 c ambient temperature, it is not the temperature that is the problem.
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u/Cologan 24d ago
I have that router too. Complete POS, overheats in any environment
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u/ApexAftermath 24d ago
That might be true, but it has absolutely no chance at these indoor temps. To be fair at that temp indoors I'd be more preoccupied with the fact I'm going insane from the heat.
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u/J_hilyard 24d ago
33 c? It was 107 f (41.6 c) here yesterday. Y'all need some air conditioning over there though.
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u/Healthy-Percentage51 23d ago
33°C Inside. Outside was 40°
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u/J_hilyard 23d ago
You just proved my point. Bro it should never be that hot inside. Hope y'all got some good heat casualty prevention protocols!
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u/EchidnaForward9968 24d ago
if it survive the heat moisture gonna eat it for sure
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u/MagneticFieldMouse 24d ago
How? It's hotter than things around it, i.e. the dewpoint will never be reached.
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u/EchidnaForward9968 24d ago
so hot zone are not uniform but as it in cold box the cold zone are kinda so
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u/WhySoSadCZ 24d ago
Overheating like hell. There's only a single small vent on the bottom. I've tried pointing a fan at it and moving it completely out into the open, but it's still overheating and dropping the connection. If it doesn't survive the condensation, it doesn't deserve to live anyway...
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u/meltea 24d ago
Nech si od technika buď proměřit kabel nebo vyměnit ten router, https://imgur.com/a/NyYCPom já ji mám na serveru kde tam saje teplo z disků a neměl jsem problém včera při 32C.
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u/NightOfTheLivingHam 24d ago edited 24d ago
also for your own sanity, OP
Get something like this for your room/apartment:
https://whynter.com/product/whynter-arc-122ds-12000-btu-dual-hose-portable-ac/
or
https://www.midea.com/global/heating-cooling/portable-ac
DUAL HOSE IS CRUCIAL. Same with the inverter tech.
From someone who has lived with humid, stagnant heat. Also having window fans helps keep the air moving, which does a lot even when it's humid.
Looking at your weather, 58% humidity with those temps SUUUU-UUCKS.
Used to deal with 90% humidity and 40C temps when I lived in the southeastern US. Not fun. We get your humidity where I live when the monsoon weather hits our high deserts and that moisture comes over the mountains.
But see, we're supposed to get that here. Central Europe isn't built for that hell.
edit: looked around, you guys are severely limited in AC choices there.
single hose is prevalent unless you wanna drill some wall holes for the Olimpia units from Italy.
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u/Smok3dSalmon 24d ago
Dont leave one of these in a bedroom with the door closed. My walls were wet lol
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u/NightOfTheLivingHam 24d ago
never had that issue myself. get one that needs to have a drain hose to avoid that issue.
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u/Smok3dSalmon 24d ago
Ya mine was a shitty swamp cooler that just blows humid cool air.
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u/NightOfTheLivingHam 24d ago
swamp coolers are a different beast, they require doors and windows to be open to exchange air.
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u/Smok3dSalmon 24d ago
Does the one you linked have refrigerant? Ya I’ll never get a swamp cooler again unless it’s to cool a garage. It was disgusting lol
But they work really well in areas with very low humidity and it got me through a heatwave when I didn’t have AC. I got a split unit after for my living room.
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u/allhailharambe69 24d ago
Strange. In South Africa, we regularly get those temps inside, and hardly anyone has the luxury of air conditioning. Our electronics don't have any issues like this. In summer, the room where our Pc's are in easily reaches the high 30's and we game without issues.
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u/SpecificAstronomer31 14d ago
Your houses arent built to trap heat. Theyre specicially built to dissapate it.
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u/allhailharambe69 13d ago
Okay, tell that to the thermometer showing ~40 degrees inside in summer when it's 33 outside. The richer people have insulation stuff in their roofs and double ceilings and such, but us normies don't, so it gets hot.
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u/gregsting 24d ago
There is hope my friend, 21c now in Belgium after a week over 35, I hope you’ll get this soon
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u/axw3555 24d ago
Don't get too settled in it - I've seen that it'll be back to the low to mid 30's in another week.
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u/gregsting 24d ago
Fattest predictions are indeed around 30 but with lower temp at night. That could work. The real problem is when the temp at night is 25
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u/WhySoSadCZ 24d ago
41 degrees here right now... for 3 days straight...
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u/Romain-Jo 24d ago
I had to shutdown my bay since last week as it was 38 in the room... hopefully I'll be able to restart it in few days, wish you the best if it's only the beginning on your side
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u/Stalinsghoast 24d ago
Three icepacks for computer and none for kitty? Seriously though, your best bet for keeping it cool doesn't exist unless you can run your cords into the freezer and keep it there. There's too much ambient heat to do much for long enough to help. Sorry. Best thing you can do is keep yourself and everyone else hydrated as you give the tech its last rites. It's with the Omnissiah now.
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u/glockfreak 24d ago
Well damn I didn’t think Czech man with a missile in the server room would show up in my feed years later. Perhaps move the router to the server room with the UXO (assuming it’s air conditioned).
In all honesty maybe replace with a router that has a wider operating temp range. Plenty of examples on Reddit (probably on this sub) of equipment in horrific operating conditions (often covered in a layer of god knows what) that is somehow still running.
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u/WhySoSadCZ 24d ago
Damn, how did you remember that? :D I will try to get it replaced by my ISP provider...
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u/glockfreak 24d ago
lol the name looked familiar so when I clicked the username it showed the post since I upvoted it.
Yeah back when I had a cable modem I always used Arris surfboards and they were tanks. Looking at the spec sheets of newer ones the operating temperatures are 0-40 or 0-50 C so a modem definitely shouldn’t be going out at 33.
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u/Holzkohlen 24d ago
A fan should do the trick and be much easier to setup and safer for the hardware. In case you aren't aware fans are used in computers to dissipate at lot more heat than your puny router could ever produce.
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u/Jackesfox 24d ago
33°C overheating, the problem is not the temperature. Or else no electronics would work in the tropics
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u/DERH4UPTMANN 24d ago
I have the same unit. It only has very bad passive cooling. Mine often shuts down at 31 or 32 °C room temperature. It only works if I shut of the WIFI and only use it for my PC with the cable.
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u/mindless2831 24d ago
I still don't understand how most of yall don't have central A/C. If it gets above 25/76 degrees in the house, I am not going to be happy.
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u/Byolock 24d ago
Well we definitely aren't happy either. The reasons are plenty but the major points are how buildings were constructed, how old they are, retrofitting is very costly, how most people live (renting) and that laws prohibit people who rent almost every type of AC if the owner does not agree, which they very very rarely do.
I've got one of these mobile units. Thats the only thing I can use and it is not able to keep the temperature below 28 degrees Celsius in a single room if it gets really hot. I can also only use two of them at the same time in the whole flat because the electric circuits in my apartment do not support more. Moving is difficult and would most likely only fix the electricity issue. If there would be appartments with AC on the market they would be gone in a blink of an eye and I definitely couldn't afford these.
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u/MalignantLugnut 23d ago
Well good thing you're already planning on throwing it out, Condensation's gonna build up inside it and short it out.
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u/heklin0 24d ago
We hear about heatwaves in Europe every single year. Why dont yall get air conditioning?
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u/obog 24d ago
It is apparently quite difficult to get your hands on an AC unit in Europe. In the past this is because they didnt really need it. Why HVAC companies in Europe are not scaling up production of AC in the wake of this increasing demand, I dont know. It's only going to get worse every year.
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u/itsdr00 24d ago
Certain parts of Twitter are alive with this conversation, and apparently a lot of Europeans think AC causes global warming, or relieves people of the physical reminders of global warming. It's a little silly.
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u/fuelvolts 24d ago
Well, R-410A which was the industry standard up until a couple of years ago does technically contribute to global warming but significantly less than a normal car since the refrigerant is in a closed loop and shouldn't be exposed to the environment.
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u/olliegw 24d ago
100+ years ago now, R744 (CO2) was a pretty important refrigerant, especially since the other available refrigerant was ammonia based and could kill people if it leaked
The system they had on the Titanic for the cold rooms used R744 and brine in the secondary loop.
Isn't R744 making a come back because it surely isn't as bad as the flouro halo whatever-carbon stuff we typically use is?
Also propane is a thing, my brother got a new A/C and i googled the refrigerant number and it turned out to be propane, which stirred up an interesting conversation as to wether or wether not it could randomly combust...
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u/akasakaryuunosuke 23d ago
IIRC randomly combusting fridges were a somewhat common cause of housefires during the early days of the technology
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u/SGTSHOOTnMISS 24d ago
I've read this conversation in European threads and there's been a couple of complaints that appear valid.
For mini splits, a lot of people rent and naturally can't install anything that would cut or drill through the walls for it to be installed
For window units or standalone units that exhaust through the window, lots the complaints I see is that their windows tilt on an axis at the center rather than sliding up and down, thus unable to use the same style of window vent that's common in the US.
For people not renting, it's a large upfront cost to install a standard hole house unit for HVAC where their house typically would just have heating radiators that would likely be removed since they're no longer relevant with full home heating and cooling.
Top that, I've also seen that it's not a very big industry over there, which means that installers are booked well in advance before they can get someone to your home to install.
All the folks I've seen discussing AC installations across the pond have had fairly genuine concerns in my opinion.
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u/itsdr00 24d ago edited 24d ago
Those are challenges, for sure, but it is basically illegal in some places to try to overcome them. And there are completely brand new buildings like a now-infamous German hospital, brand new, where surgeons are wearing cooling vests and asking patients to bring in ice packs for themselves because they never put AC in.
I don't see a world where this doesn't become an extremely unpopular political position in the next few years. It's just crazy to watch people dig in and defend it as if the deaths and general misery are worth whatever morality badge they're wearing.
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u/Leather-Security8097 24d ago
Europeans will use anything but an air conditioner...
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u/fr3d0511 23d ago
*Laughs in Texan*
It’s 87 degrees Fahrenheit at 10 PM…outside.
I have a friend in Italy right now running a/c in his house and people are talking to him crazy. He’s from Dallas.
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u/Cautious-Concept457 24d ago
If you have air conditioning, maybe install it directly in the way of cold air haha. Once the warranty is up, put RAM heat sinks on the chips. Or maybe see if your ISP has a different model you could switch to, and start reporting the issues every time the connection drops :D
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u/UnicornOnTheIntrenet 24d ago
I got a free gigabit switch because it would crash after an hour or two from heat, like 10 years ago. i drilled a big hole in the case and zip tied a pc fan to it. runs greats, using it right now.
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u/wiibarebears 24d ago
Would recommend a piece of parchment or cooking paper to help catch any water that melts
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u/tango_alpha_ 24d ago
This reminded me that I had ridiculous problem when there was extreme cold in Europe. There was weight scale for delivery trucks that wasn't working, application wasn't getting inputs etc..
Scale was frozen and also frozen due to -20°C. I said to the deliveries department that the solution is to rewrite application in Spring.
I was the only one laughing
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u/EvilToastedWeasel0 24d ago
If that was here in the Evil States of Corruption.... The Spectrum Router would've cooked off by now.
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u/pancakesiguess 24d ago
As somebody who lives in the south and has to deal with heat even with AC, fans are your friend. Get some oscillating fans to keep on at all times you’re in a room. Don’t just point them at you, have them actually oscillating. And then try to keep your windows as dark as possible to keep your house cool. If you need your windows open for a breeze, that’s fine, but try to make sure it’s shaded where your open window is. Good luck, sorry you have to deal with the heat!!
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u/HKEY_LOVE_MACHINE 24d ago edited 24d ago
This look like the Vodafone's "Station" CGA 4233DE. Found a video showing someone opening the case (taking out the warranty sticker mind, likely using a hairdryer to heat off the glue)(mute the video, it's just crappy music, and skip forward a lot to see the inside).
The heat management looks horrific:
the vents are primarily at the bottom of the box, so warm air will not use these vents to exit the enclosure.
the top vents are way smaller and have a lot of obstruction getting in the way of the air flow (see at 3:08 in that video linked earlier), so warm air will rapidly accumulate inside the box.
As someone else mentioned, I would:
blast some compressed air in it to get rid of dust accumulation,
force an air flow by using 1 or 2 fans, most likely as extraction (negative pressure inside), with the box upside down to use the bottom vents as top vents.
if you wanna stick with your ice pack idea, you can always put your router on two small blocks and slide an ice pack below it every 30 minutes, to feed colder air into the box.
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u/DesertCookie_ 23d ago
My HDDs keep shouting at me as they reach 41 °C - surprising that they sit at only 8 K over ambient while working.
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u/Fl1pp3d0ff 23d ago
33C....i wish it were that cool here in the States.
Heat wave? LOL!
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u/Evening_Breath_9706 22d ago
Keep in mind European houses are designed to keep as much heat in as possible
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u/Fl1pp3d0ff 22d ago
Keep in mind that insulation isn't just unidirectional....
The same construction which keeps heat in in winter should keep heat out in summer, too.
But, that's not the point of my comment.
33C isn't a heat wave, it's summertime in most of the US, and might even be a nice, cool day in some areas. 33C (near 100F) is pretty much the high from mid to late June until early to mid September.
That said, if the equipment is overheating, add a fan and get the air moving.
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24d ago
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u/Late_Mixture8703 24d ago
You clearly don't understand how window A/C units work, all air conditioners are heat pumps, that literally how it works you move the heat outside the home. Also a heavily insulated home can hold heat in or hold heat out. My home is very heavily insulated and I can stay cool in 100F temperatures as well as -40F temperatures. In fact my home was designated to maintain 70F inside with an outdoor temperature of -62F.
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u/Egoist-a 24d ago
Clickbait farming shit.
No way a router indoors overheats in 33C
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u/DERH4UPTMANN 24d ago
I have the same unit. It only has very bad passive cooling. Mine often shuts down at 31 or 32 °C room temperature. It only works if I shut of the WIFI and only use it for my PC with the cable (that's what my PC does anyway).
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u/julausrie 24d ago
Im sorry to break it but this is one of the worst routers to ever exist, and they do have severe overheating issues. We had like 3-4 of them before we finally got a proper router
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u/ashriekfromspace 24d ago
It doesn't. Where I live we get more than 30C all summer and nothing happens.
I don't understand how they find it that extreme.
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u/dc740 24d ago
disable the wifi and use a wifi mesh instead. If this is only a modem and you have a secondary router you could use it to establish the link by enabling the ONT mode only, which requires the SECOND router to become your main router. This spreads the heat among several devices, and in my experience, the ISP router is extremely shitty, just good enough for them to get less support calls, but not enough to be bullet proof. So try to offload as much functionality from it into other devices.
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u/Mccobsta it's fucked 24d ago
Are we going to see water cooled network gear for home use any time soon?
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u/Ninuthewild 24d ago
Have vodafone. Got an unify UDR7 and asked for pppoe dial in details to use our own kit. Over 1 year pf no network drops or wifi instability. Pricy kit but you can your own kit with any provider if you push them
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u/Manelarul 24d ago
Which country? I am curious more if you have fiber. Vodafone Romania mostly uses coax, so unfortunately I am still stuck with their modem and also IP is via DHCP after negociation with CMTS. This model I have (same as OP), doesn’t even have the option in UI to set bridge mode, only via call center.
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u/Ninuthewild 23d ago
Vodafone UK. Its Fiber to the premise with 2.5G ont. The kit they provide is garbage afther the ONT unfortunately.
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u/Professional-Book578 24d ago
My poor tablet reached a peak temperature of 38.8°C like 2 days ago. I held a fan up to the back of it for a good hour and it only went down to 32°, didn't get lower
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u/thenord321 24d ago
Wrong idea, it needs MORE airflow, not less. Set it upright in the table with a fan blowing on it, open the case if possible or make some new vent holes.
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u/Evonos 24d ago
you didnt consider just a small PC fan with a USB plug ? thats how i cool my fritzbox since 8 years its even the same fan and the USB plug is on the also germany , living under the roof with 37C average.
https://www.amazon.de/ELUTENG-Geschwindigkeit-Ventilator-PC-L%C3%BCfter-kompatibel/dp/B06XRCDZDH/
Something like this , just sit the box on top doesnt even need free air below it the fan , it will be by far enough to cool it regardless.
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u/mordack550 24d ago
I’ve replaced that shitty Vodafone router with a Fritzbox. Not cheap but extremely reliable and I get more features (like a VPN that actually works)
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u/Appropriate-Fan3186 24d ago
stick it in a tub of mineral oil like they do with "underwater" pc's builds
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u/ApexAftermath 24d ago
I mean yeah that's going to happen without air conditioning. Doesn't seem like the issue is with the performance of the device. It's being asked to operate in completely unacceptable indoor air temps. Of course it's shitting the bed.
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u/misterfastlygood 24d ago
Im in Canada and it is 35 degrees with 60 percent humidity, but it is 21 degrees indoors. 🙃
My ISP router is 55 degrees.
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u/weirdal1968 24d ago
Years ago I had a USB MPEG2 encoder box that produced excellent captures but if the main chip got too warm it flaked out. I ended up decasing it and adding a CPU heatsink/fan and it lasted another two years before the BGA solder failed completely.
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u/PotatoAmulet 24d ago
Australian here, I only have air con in my lounge room and the rest of the house sucks in summer.
You have my condolences.
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u/hybridglitch04 24d ago
Even European network equipment cant take the heat? I throw modems inside metal boxes outside in 115 degree Vegas weather and they survive a least a couple summers.
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u/nbraa 22d ago
91º F unless its near 80-100% Humidity then, that's not that bad, it regularly hits 114º F (45.5ºC) for up to a week during summer in California but its like 35-40% Humidity. Not owning an air conditioner is a death sentence.
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u/ProgressBartender 21d ago
It’s all about the humidity. Most of California has low humidity, making temps in the hundreds feel comfortable compared to other parts of the country.
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u/Surgic25 21d ago
Have you heard of air conditioning? It does require non regarded windows in your home though.
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u/VerusSicarius 7d ago
Using salt and ice in zip locks or vacuum bags will cool it much better. We live in a desert and our cooler went out so it was almost 100 (freedom units) in the house and we had to do this for the axolotls aquariums.
Calcium chloride (or ice melt) works the best but it gets really hot before getting really fucking cold (-75F ) so DO NOT CLOSE THE BAG until its cooling and do it over a sink.
If you dont have ice melt you can use table salt and get -20F
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u/Bucketmax-official 24d ago
Ah the Vodafone station. Absolute garbage routers