Temperature of a SheevaPlug in general use.

[GX Developer Team]

Hi i was just wondering, as the power consumption of the SheevaPlug is so low, what sort of temperature does the CPU/RAM reach. Has anyone tested or have technical specifications?

[peter a]

Using a IR temperature gun pointing at my Sheevaplug case top, which has been on for weeks
41.3 c – 106.3 f , So about the same as my hard drive .

[GX Developer Team]

Thanks for finding out for me. Really appreciate it . Doesnt get as warm as i thought it would in-use.

[peter a]

I`ve tried making Md5 hashes of 1.5 TB of data, which was about 10 hours of 100% workload and it didn`t get very must hotter.

[djrm]

Although normal running may not generate excessive heat many have cooked the plug power supply when used for driving external devices, so heat can be an issue.

hth David.

[ubogdan]

Mine (eSata black SheevaPlug) after 8-10 hours of 75-90% CPU load (I'm running motion on it ) it's about 40-45 Celsius.

[peter a]

after 52 days of constant use mine is running at 47 c , but I guess that is due to the higher room temperature now of this time of year.
I guess that the sheevaplug may run a little warm , but doesn`t run hot lick the guruplug.

[chivapiano]

I just received my brand new plug (plain white sheevaplug) and while playing around I noticed it had become noticeably warm, to say the least !
As per someone's advice, I tried to lay it on its side (ie : SD card reader on top), after a while, it was a little colder.

Tonight I decided to make a few temperature measurements (electronic thermometer with K type thermocouple), here are the result :

After 2 hours idling (no USB, no ethernet, no SD card, just the mini-usb connected to my netbook) , laying flat on its rubber feet

Ambient temp. : 26°C
Top (middle) : 38°C
Bottom (middle) : 57°C
Inside (through the SD port) : 68°C -->> that's pretty hot, I guess the components (CPU, memory) must be around 75°C

After one hour laying on the side

Ambient : 26°C
Top : 35°C
Bottom : 41°C
Inside : 62°C

If you look at this picture, you'll see that most of the vent slots of the top half of the enclosure have not been properly cut.



Opposite side, it's a tad better



No wonder that it gets warm !
First thing I'll do is to open the plug and finish the cutting of the slots, possibly make them a little wider.  

From the figures above, one can say that the heating comes more or less equally from the main board and from the PSU and both have problems évacuating the heat through the plastic enclosure. Given the small form factor, there is not much air inside nor an easy path for ambient air to come in and go out with the heat  

[NewIT_Marcus]

If you look at this picture, you'll see that most of the vent slots of the top half of the enclosure have not been properly cut.

Opposite side, it's a tad better

Well spotted. I've just taken a look at a few plugs and the pattern seems to be common to all. In fact, on one of the 4 that I've looked at, on the side opposite the SD card slot, on the top half of the plug, the slots appear to be as misshaped as on the side where you have highlighted the issue.

We'll bring it to the attention of Globalscale.

[chivapiano]

I know that sounds silly but would it be possible that a plug runs cooler depending on the file system and kernel ?
I have changed JFF2S for UBIFS with help of the installer - more to come on this later - and since it runs with UBIFS, I have the feeling that it's cooler.
Of course the ambient is down about 6°C from my previous post, but while the bottom (PSU) is more or less at the same temperature, the top (CPU, memory...) is noticeably cooler.
Just made a temperature measurement : laying on its feet several hours idling, the internal temperature is now 53°C from 68°C. Taking in account the 6°C from ambient, that's 9°C less.

[Brandt]

No wonder that it gets warm !
First thing I'll do is to open the plug and finish the cutting of the slots, possibly make them a little wider.  

Figure out a tool to use to cut the slots bigger? I tried a mini hobby flathead screwdriver but not much luck..

[chivapiano]

I used a narrow wood chisel + a small (9mm) snap-off knife. 

[taotek]

Do not understand, are you talking about new SheevaPlug? As far as I understand PSU should be external for Sheeva. Could you please clarify that. Want to order one, but 68C is too much for me.

[MatteoBP]

I noticied that all the slots of my eSata Sheeva plug are closed. Can I cutting them without losing the warranty?

Thanks
Matteo

[NewIT_Jason]

You can clear the ventalation slots without voiding the warranty.