Fan Replacement - FG-100F

Quietening the Beast

Summary

I recently replaced the fans in my personal FortiGate-100F and figured I would document the process and the results for anyone else who may be interested.

Running this device at home, the stock fans (in my unit at least) were very loud. I could hear it from my bedroom whilst it was in the garage. This motivated me to swap the stock fans with a quieter pair, and I have been extremely pleased with the results thus far. The firewall has gone from being way too loud, to nearly completely silent, with a notable, but not worrying increase in operating temperatures.

I will preface this with saying, you will more than likely void your warranty, as opening the FortiGate includes putting a screwdriver through the "security sticker".

Fan Details

Stock Fans

The stock fans supplied with my FG-100F were as follows.

• Make: Delta Fan

• Model: FFB0412VHN-F00

• Size: 40x40x28mm

• Airflow: 15.79CFM (0.447 m3/min)

• Static Pressure: 0.509 inchH2O (12.94 mmH2O)

• Noise Rating: 45.0 dB(A)

• Power (Watts): 1.92 W

• Maximum RPM: 9500 RPM

• Current Rating: 0.16 A

• Voltage Rating: 4.5 - 13.2 VDC

• Product Reference: Here

• Product Datasheet:

654KB

FFB0412VHN-F00.pdf

pdf

• Product Image:

Stock Fan Image

Replacement Fans

My chosen replacement fans were as follows.

• Make: Noctua

• Model: NF-A4x20 PWM

• Size: 40x40x20 mm

• Airflow: 9.4 m³/h

• Static Pressure: 2.26 mm H₂O

• Noise Rating: 14.9 dB(A)

• Power (Watts): 0.46 W

• Maximum RPM: 5000 RPM

• Current Rating: 0.04 A

• Voltage Rating: 4.5 - 13.2 VDC

• Product Reference: Here

• Product Image:

Replacement Fan Image

Process

The process for replacing the fans was remarkably simple.

1. Open up the firewall by removing the chassis screws.

2. Remove the top panel, exposing the inside of the firewall.

IMPORTANT: Be careful working around the exposed power supply components, even when disconnected.

Top Cover Removed

Stock Fans

3. Cut the zip tie, unplug the fans and slide upward to remove.

Stock Fans Removed

3. Unscrew the screws from the stock fans, remove the rubber mounting grommets.

4. Place the rubber grommets on the supplied Noctua screws and lightly tighten.

Rubber Grommets on Noctua Fan

3. Slide the fans back in place, zip tie the cables back in place. Note that fans will generally exhaust toward the label.

Noctua Fans Installed

Overview

3. Replace the top cover.

4. Job done!

Results

• Ambient temperature at time of measurement is approximately 22°C.

• Device has been running for around 4 hours with standard load on it.

• Device is not in an air-conditioned room, and has no real external airflow otherwise.

Before Replacement

fwl-01 # exec sensor list
[HW monitor sensors]
  1 PSU [1] .......................  OK
  2 PSU [2] .......................  OK
  3 SYS Fan1 Speed ................  7803 RPM
  4 SYS Fan2 Speed ................  7895 RPM
  5 TMP1 External Temperature .....  49.1 C
  6 TMP4 ON-DIE Temperature .......  39.0 C
  7 CPU ON-DIE Temperature ........  49.6 C
  8 BCM Switch Temperature ........  64.6 C
  9 B50185 Temperature ............  66.5 C
 10 B50210_1 Temperature ..........  46.3 C
 11 B50210_2 Temperature ..........  46.3 C

After Replacement

fwl-01 # execute sensor list
[HW monitor sensors]
  1 PSU [1] .......................  OK
  2 PSU [2] .......................  OK
  3 SYS Fan1 Speed ................  4341 RPM
  4 SYS Fan2 Speed ................  4369 RPM
  5 TMP1 External Temperature .....  55.2 C
  6 TMP4 ON-DIE Temperature .......  44.0 C
  7 CPU ON-DIE Temperature ........  55.9 C
  8 BCM Switch Temperature ........  73.5 C
  9 B50185 Temperature ............  66.5 C
 10 B50210_1 Temperature ..........  49.6 C
 11 B50210_2 Temperature ..........  51.3 C

Comparison

Sensor	Stock	Noctua	Delta	Delta (%)
SYS Fan1 Speed (RPM)	7803	4341	-3462	56%
SYS Fan2 Speed (RPM)	7895	4369	-3526	55%
TMP1 External (°C)	49.1	55.2	+6.1	112%
TMP4 ON-DIE (°C)	39.0	44.0	+5.0	113%
CPU ON-DIE (°C)	49.6	55.9	+6.3	113%
BCM Switch (°C)	64.6	73.5	+8.9	114%
B50185 (°C)	66.5	66.5	+0.0	100%
B50210_1 (°C)	46.3	49.6	+3.3	107%
B50210_2 (°C)	46.3	51.3	+5.0	111%

Critical Values

All values post-replacement are well under their critical and alarm thresholds as shown here.

fwl-01 # execute sensor detail
[HW monitor sensors]
  1 PSU [1] .......................  OK
    Type                  : PSU status (10/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Value                 : 1.00
  2 PSU [2] .......................  OK
    Type                  : PSU status (10/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Value                 : 1.00
  3 SYS Fan1 Speed ................  4397 RPM
    Type                  : Fan speed (4/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Lower critical        : 200
    Upper critical        : 14600
  4 SYS Fan2 Speed ................  4369 RPM
    Type                  : Fan speed (4/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Lower critical        : 200
    Upper critical        : 14600
  5 TMP1 External Temperature .....  55.2 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
  6 TMP4 ON-DIE Temperature .......  43.0 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Upper non-critical    : 98.9
    Upper critical        : 113.0
  7 CPU ON-DIE Temperature ........  56.2 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Upper non-critical    : 96.2
    Upper critical        : 110.0
  8 BCM Switch Temperature ........  72.9 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Upper non-critical    : 87.5
    Upper critical        : 100.0
  9 B50185 Temperature ............  66.5 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Upper non-critical    : 87.5
    Upper critical        : 100.0
 10 B50210_1 Temperature ..........  49.1 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Upper non-critical    : 87.5
    Upper critical        : 100.0
 11 B50210_2 Temperature ..........  50.2 C
    Type                  : Temperature (1/0)
    Sensor status         : Normal
    Alarm                 : No
    Upper non-critical    : 87.5
    Upper critical        : 100.0

Monitoring and Alerting

• Temperature values can be polled via SNMP.

• Temperature alerts can be trapped via SNMP.

  • fnTrapTempHigh - 1.3.6.1.4.1.12356.100.1.3.0.104

• Automation stitches can be created to alert on the following log message.

  • 22109 - LOG_ID_TEMP_TOO_HIGH