Camera is super noisy - fan seems to be always at max.

Question

As soon as I connect the camera to a USB port, the fan starts working. It initially runs at a pretty acceptable pace, but at some point (a few second after it starts) it just ramps up to what seems to be maximum speed.

Is this normal? Is it perhaps just the introductory video, which runs by default? Anyone experiencing the same?

Answer 1

That's normal, mine does the same.  It gets even louder when it vibrates on a hard surface.  Mounting the case with the screw provisions on the base or even just setting it on the bubble wrap that it came in helps the vibration noise a lot.

Comments

Thanks. I wonder if there are any plans to add fan control. It would make sense that fan speed be regulated according to the CPU's temperature.

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It is so noisy that it makes the product a little unappealing to development, its like working with a server 

Please provide us with a quick fix on that, I don't mind ordering a replacement fan if you can recommend a good substitution = acceptable airflow with lower dB

In the meantime I would be tempted to rename  JeVois for J'entends....

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sorry guys, I know this is a problem for some but indeed the speed is fixed. We did have a MOSFET controlling the fan in one iteration of the PCB design but finally we removed it because that iteration ended up not working well and we rolled back a few design changes.

The fan we finally decided to use is 12000 rpm which gives no thermal throttling under full load. Previously, we had the 10000 rpm model which is much quieter (barely noticeable), but under the burn test we can just barely hit 75C and the CPU will then throttle down to 1.2GHz. So we opted for 12000 rpm for mass production.

We can indeed send you 10000 RPM fans, we still have a few of them. Two caveats:

- you have to open the case and solder 2 wires
- these fans do not have the JeVois logo and specs, etc on the sticker

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Thanks for the fast reply and for being honest = You earned my ''Thumbs-UP''

Yes I would be interested in getting this 10000 rpm fan , I will probably install a micro JST type connector assembly in order to substitute the fans depending on the workload. Please email me so we can arrange for shipping.

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Thanks for the honesty indeed. If you have some 10k RPM fans left you want to get rid of, I'll gladly take one (and pay for the delivery). Otherwise, if you could give me a part reference, that would already be great.

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Hi - just received my unit, it is also noisy, enough to be a real problem for our applications.

It actually seems like a lot more vibration than I would expect from a tiny fan. Is it possible that I have a physically faulty fan, or does the 12k rpm fan vibrate a lot ?

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@JeVois Do you have the ref of the 12k rpm fan ? What are you thought on changing it to a Peltier cooler ? (not for mass production, as DIY)