How to silence the CubeStation
From SynologyWiki
Contents |
Introduction
The CS is a very nice thing, but out of the box it is not as silent as it could be. By modifying the box in the following way, the noise is reduced by more than the half.
Unwanted noises occur for two reasons. Firstly, there is direct noise from moving parts like spinning drive motors or fans. Secondly, spinning parts produce forces and transmit them to other parts, which will vibrate and make noise. So the most important and easiest thing in our mission is using components which are silent and have low vibrations.
Getting a silent system is an interaction of several points
Use silent drives
Avoid using old and noisy drives. For example, compare an 80-160 GB drive to a Samsung 500 GB drive (HD501LJ) and you will know what I mean. The Samsung drives are famous for their silent operation, although other manufacturers have silent drives too. My recommendation is using 500 GB or bigger drives with low power consumption. The less power they need, the less they heat up the system and the slower the fan can operate.
The right fan
The CS is well manufactured but the Sunon fan is not the best choice. Get a high quality fan with a ball or fluid bearing. Keep in mind that you need a fan with a speed signal (3 wire), otherwise the CS can't recognize that the fan is spinnig. The standard fan operates at 2300 - 2500 rpm which is far too much. The case has such low air capacity that there is no need to operate at such high speed. Use a fan control to adjust the fan speed. I am running my fan @ 600 rpm with 4x Samsung HD753LJ and the drive temperature is 32-35°C.
Breaking the noise
Noise produced by the drives will be transmitted to the metal case and become louder. To address this we will use as much noise-breaking material as possible on the surfaces inside the case.
Decouple moving parts
Put some smooth material between moving parts (fan, drives) to reduce vibrations.
Avoid vibrations from any parts
Make sure that any parts touching each other fit well and, if possible, put some smooth material between them.
Shopping list
- Silent fan, PAPST 8412 N/2GLE (12 db, 1500 rpm, 33 CFM) - must have speed signal, 3 wires required
- Rubber anti-vibe mat for 80 mm fans
- Adjustable fan control (5-12V)
- Textile adhesive tape
- Noise-breaking heavy foil (Silma KF-25, ~1 mm thickness)
If Silma heavy foil or a similar product is not availible you can also use black foam material from a motherbord package and double-sided adhesive tape.
Left to right: Silma foil top side, Silma foil underside, black foam from motherboard package
PAPST 8412 N/2GLE
Fan control, anti-vibe rubber mat
Step-by-step guide
- Dismount the top of case, drives and fan. Number the drives and wires avoid mistakes when reassembling the system.
- Cut a pice of 12,8 cm x 9,5 cm noise-breaking foil and put it inside the drive cage under the roof. (Picture from finished system)
- Cut two pieces of 17,5-18,5 cm x 9,5 cm noise-breaking foil and put them inside the metal case on the left and right. Keep 7 mm space to the borders on the left, right and lower edge for the mounting points from the main part.
- Cut a pice of paper 15 x 18,5 and glue it to middle part inside the metal case. We don't use the noise-breaking foil or foam for this because there is not enough space between drive cage and case when mounted.
- Put some textile adhesive tape inside the drive cage over all surfaces which have contact to the drives.
- Do the same for all case mounting points and where the case touches the main part.
- Mount the new fan and put the anti-vibe mat under it. Turn the screws slightly. Keep an eye on the flow direction: the fan should be blowing out of the box.
- Plug the fan control between the CS mainboard and the fan. Place the fan control on the left side of the drive cage and put some foam material around it.
- Put in the drives and turn the screws very slightly, not as hard as usual.
- Assemble the metal case and start the system. After one hour of operation check the drive temperatures and adjust the fan speed if needed.
Thats it! Now you have an ultra-silent CubeStation :)
Feel free to correct any misspellings as English is not my native language.
Supaman
