Thanks to a deal on ServeTheHome, I upgraded the core switch for the house from a D-Link DGS 1510-28X to a Brocade ICX 6450-48P. I wanted the 6450-24P instead but couldn’t find any good prices except for the 48P. I got very lucky in my purchase though because the switch came fully licensed.

Fans

When the switch has power, the fans start at 100% and they are very loud. Eventually FastIron starts and adjusts the fans to a lower speed. For me, even at the lower speed they are still rather loud so I’m documenting here what model they are to make it easier to find replacements in the future.

The model I saw was Nidec W40S12BGB5-52 but the closest model available are the W40S-A5. They are 40x40x28 mm, push 21.2 CFM at most, and the maximum noise is 51 dB.

I used a voltmeter to determine the fan starts at 11.9 V and then drops to 4.4 V on low. I next used a sound meter on the phone and measured around 50 dB a foot in front of the switch when the fans were on low. Even assuming inaccuracy from not using a proper meter, that was much too high and justified looking into replacements. Others on the STH thread had similar issues despite the switch supposedly being “silent” on low. Checking the fan status with show chassis indicated the fans had failed but they were still moving a lot of air.

I looked around a lot for a replacement fan and ended up picking the Sunon KDE1204PKVX. When replacing the fans, the wire arrangement of the original Nidec differed from what the Sunon used so the Sunon fans did not start with the switch. In the image below, the Nidec fan is on the left and the unmodified Sunon is on the right. Nidec fan pin layout on left versus Sunon pin layout on right

I succeeded in popping out the yellow and black wires using a heavy duty staple and then swapped them on each fan. I removed each Nidec fan, installed the Sunon fan in the appropriate orientation to keep the air blowing from front to back, and tidied the wires using the clips. The wires didn’t fully fit in the clip so none of them are latched but it is enough to keep the wires in place. Sunon fans installed and wires organized

The switch no longer thinks the fans have failed, instead reporting their speed as auto. I hoped the RPMs would be reported but no luck. After leaving the switch on for a few hours, the reported temps are in the low 40s Celsius. This is higher than before, when they were around 35 °C. The switch being near silent is worth the ten degree change plus the warning temp is at 69 °C, plenty of thermal room.