MX Temperature

[SilencerPG]

Hi, are there any plans to add temperature as a stat in the dashboard for fanless MX and MS models?  My personal MX64 and MS210 devices run hot to touch - note that the MX is coming up 3 years with no issues so it's been going great.  Would be handy to understand the temperature and what is normal or not.

[Gumby]

MX64 - If you can't fry an egg on it, it isn't operating properly 😂

[MerakiDave · Accepted solution]

@SilencerPG I don't disagree, the fanless convection-cooled devices run pretty hot, and there's no "thermometer" reading in Dashboard.  However the products are designed to withstand that indefinitely, which is why they are covered by the lifetime product warranty.  Still, it can be unsettling, they can be very hot to the touch, and we all know electronics don't necessarily like very hot ambient (and internal) temperatures.  Like you, I've had stacks of MX64/65 appliances and MS220-8P switches running in my lab for years, stacked right on top of one another, in a poorly ventilated basement storage closet, no issues. 

That said, I have had customers with the same concern, such as premature failure due to constant hot operation for multiple years.  So I suggested, since they have  MX appliances, to use the USB port on the MX to run a low-cost USB powered personal fan like this https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Breeze-Mobile-Flexible-Portable/dp/B003XN24GY/   

I got one myself to test and the temperature (between my MS220-8P and pair of MX65 appliances) dropped by an impressive 25 to 30 degrees F.  Is was relatively quiet as well.  There was no other ventilation in my closet, just this personal USB fan plugged into one of the MX65 USB ports and bent in a loop to direct air across the 3 pieces of equipment.  Just a thought, in case you have a similar case with hot equipment and poor ventilation.

[SilencerPG]

Thanks @MerakiDave!  I had mounted 3x 120mm fans in the back of my cabinet (there's more than just a MX and MS in there 😀) which seemed to provide better airflow and a vague reduction in temp.

Will definitely try the USB fan - the cabinet has good ventilation the heat during the day (and sometimes night!) is the killer.

[ITMiltWhitOCSNC]

@SilencerPG @MerakiDave We just incorporated 7 MS 130 12 port switches into our environment over the last year or So and started seeing the High Temperature alert. We use both this device as well as MS 120 8 port switches for outside enclosure boxes which support temporary and permanent units in the K-12 environment, so they would issue PoE to Meraki AP's, PoE Security Cameras and sometimes data drops (Non-PoE). I was told both the 120 and 130 will handle the same temperature load but the 130's are the only devices with the temp alert causing some of them to constantly reboot. In the enclosures we don't really have the option to add fans but was looking at adding additional ventilation to try to help with this. We do have some locations with 2 120's stacked and they are working just fine. I have a current ticket open with Meraki and was told it was due to multiple PoE devices connected at one time which to me sort of defeats the purpose! I currently have a 130 on my desk for testing and I am going to try to recreate the temp alert (Inside) to test that theory because...in theory...if it's completely loaded with PoE devices, it should throw the temp alert? 

I saw this was posted 4 years ago, have you guys had any other issues with temperature alerts since? 

Your input would be helpful! 

Thanks!!

[cmr]

What is the ambient temperature where the MS130s are, we have an MS130-12X in an unventilated cupboard and the ambient rarely exceeds 27C.  It has 5-6 PoE devices connected and is fully populated.

[ITMiltWhitOCSNC]

@cmrWe don't really have a way to capture the ambient temps inside since we don't have sensors but using an infrared thermometer both inside and outside of the enclosures I was able to get between 75.5 - 90 F inside and 71.1 - 90 F outside depending on the time of day. The switch was always warm to touch and 7 of our devices all had the High Temp Alert in event logs but this specific one would reboot. I just recently pushed the 16.8 Firmware update out to these switches and have yet to receive an alert due to reboot but will keep an eye on this as this update was said to be a fix for the MS130R for powering more than 6 802.3bt PD devices at a time which must be a known issue with the MS130 Series. I am going to keep an eye on them through the next 24 hours so it might be a good idea to push it out if not already!

[cmr]

@ITMiltWhitOCSNC 90F/32C ambient in the enclosure is quite high, we set our sensors to alert at 25, 27 and 29 as I think anything over 29C is pretty toastie.  Might well be worth trying an MS130R there.