I have a Raspberry Pi CanaKit fan issue after only a couple of weeks, the fan was making a terrible noise. It was really annoying being in the same room with me and a closet wasn’t much better. I read that slowing it down using the 3.3V power may help but it was still having issues. I had to make a modification. The choice was a new fan or a new fanless case.
Going with a new case that was fanless would be a solution. This setup shouldn’t cause overheating as I’m not overclocked or doing anything particular intensive. That said, I don’t want to spend money on a new case where the case itself was a heatsink. If I did, I would need to take off the heatsinks that came with the Canakit. Note, dental floss may help with removing heat sinks.
Alternative Cases to Resolve CanaKit Fan Issue
Several kits show promise. The Flirc case is cheap at around $15, and offers the case as a heatsink. Performance tests show it would easily do the job and keep the case cool. There is also the Akasa Gem Pro, which does the same thing, with respect to case as a heatsink. Its double the price but has a better appearance if I want to keep it out on my desk. The problem is I have a perfectly good case and I don’t want to mess with removing existing heatsinks. I just need to make it quiet.
Resolution
For the time being, I have replaced the Canakit fan with the MakerFocus fan and hooked it up to 3.3V power. In appearance, it may very well be the same fan. At the moment its running and basically silent and my CanaKit fan issue is resolved. At $6 for two, its a cheaper fix and doesn’t waste the CanaKit case.
MakerFocus 2pcs Raspberry Pi Fan 30x 30mm DC Brushless Cooling Fan Heatsink Cooler Radiator One-to-Two Interface 3.3V 5V