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TheIBM
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SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:01 am

Having had some serious overheating issues with a Mikrotik 10G S+RJ10. From research I find this is not a new issue with lots of comments and a few solutions presented.

I found my device was running insanely hot at around 95 degrees C despite being in a ventilated outdoor cabinet and it started shutting down at 97 degrees C on a hot day, the maximum temperature I recorded was 99 degrees C.

The SPF is mounted in a RB4011 which was running at least 20-30 degrees cooler. After installing some forced air cooling I managed to get the SPF temperature down by some 20 - 30 degrees. Today being cooler weather the 4011 is sitting at 19 degrees and the SPF at 49 degrees. Now on a hot day the 4011 reaches 50~ degrees and the SPF 70~ degrees which is much cooler but still appears to be at the upper range. That in my mind is incredibly hot and I am concerned for the devices longevity especially in a critical service environment.

I ordered a Ubiquiti UF-RJ45-10G as they apparently don't run as hot however I discover there appears that temperature monitoring is not active in the UI. Has anyone had similar experience? What are your thoughts about using Ubiquiti SPF modules without proper temperature reporting.
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:50 am

SFP 10Gb/s copper modules are insanely hot regardless of the brand - I tested many and all have smaller or bigger problems with that. It seems to be an inherent characteristic of copper-based 10Gb modules. With the prices of fiber we moved mostly to it instead where possible.

As for 4011 being 50°C it's perfectly normal. These are passively cooled devices with the case being a huge heatsink. Your temps of SFP and RB with extra cooling aren't concerning. The longevity shouldn't be an issue here. MT officials said many times here that RB4011 was designed to run hot to avoid active cooling and it may even be burning to touch as its outside case is directly a heatsink ;)
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:35 pm

Unfortunately moving to fibre is not possible in this particular location due to the constants of the upstream provider.

After several tests it was found the Ubquiti SPF 10G module will not report temperature to the 4011 (or other MK routers that I tested it in) so I elected to re-use the MK SPF and build a permanent active cooling solution rather than just a fan sitting alongside.

I constructed an 80mm deep aluminium box without a lid the same size of the 4011. I inserted a 12 volt 70mm fan in one end and a strip of door seal foam round the top edge which was folded over by 10 mm. The 4011 now has forced air running through the cooling fins and the whole assembly is running much cooler, there remains about a 30 Degrees difference between the 4011 and the MK SPF which max's out at about 70 degrees on a hot day so more or less within published specifications.
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:44 pm

My 4011 is placed vertically and on warm days I use a small fan that I can speed up or down with a regulator. The top of the 4011 is heatsink, and blowing some air through the fins helps but the van sits also above the top and cools also directly the heatsink.

viewtopic.php?p=799879#p799879
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:04 am

If I remember correctly, the S+RJ10 SPECs says it should be installed only in devices with active cooling. As said above, all SFP+ cooper adapters run quite hot, this is not a Mikrotik "feature". Even PC NICs have a huge heatsink, if I'm not mistaken. They can burn about 5W of power.
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:55 pm

From the MK specs: "S+RJ10 module is supported also on devices with passive cooling, but may require an extra cooling."

My vendors who also supplied the 4011 never mentioned the overheat issue until I called support at which time they reported they had received multiple calls about the problem. I don't have a problem putting in the necessary associated infrastructure - in this case a cooling system. I would just like to know about it first so it can be factored into the build rather than retrofitting afterwards when the system is live.
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Mon Jul 25, 2022 7:34 pm

I just installed the S+RJ10 in my RB5009 in order to free up a fixed port on the box.
Not doing much traffic now (max 100Mbps PPPoE) and temperature stabilized around 68-70 °C
Still quite hot, but still well within operational range. As per default-config, port will shut off if 95°C is reached.
 
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:28 pm

Thanks for the references, I'll look for something, alto ugh I'm not really sure its really needed if the SFP+ remains at approx 70°C .
It's the only SFP+ I have.
 
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Re: SPF modules overheating & vendor support

Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:23 pm

in current state of the art all 10g over twisted pair solutions are very power hungry no matter the vendor

even 5.0g and 2.5g speed ports still consume several wats this is no surprise because they are the same 10g but with reduced clock rate

because of that this kind of interface confined in sfp module are a guaranty for reaching very high temperatures

so i suggest to improve cooling as the only available solution if you dont have another option than using 10g over twisted pair

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