Friday 25 April 2008

How to take your Drobo apart...



Ok,

First of all, you should only attempt this if you know what you are doing! This invalidates all your warranties; also be careful you don't injure yourself or cause damage to your Drobo - obviously taking apart anything and replacing parts can be dangerous...

I had to do because the noise of the fan was driving me mad!

Anyway, let's start. First power down your Drobo and disconnect the leads and remove the hard drives. Take off the front plate and you should have something that looks like this:



Now, turn the Drobo upside down:



Once you've done that, you will see the 4 feet and an additional screw, these can now all be removed:



You external metal casing will then slide off:



Once you've fully taken it off, it will look like this:



Now that you've done that, turn the Drobo back over on to it's base again. You will then need to remove the drive caddy. This can be accomplished by "popping out" the little plastic tabs indicated. There is one of each side and one at the top. Be careful at this point as you don't want to break these, just make them pop out of the mounting holes:



and the other side:



You can see me here using a screw driver to gently pop it out:



Once you've popped these, gently push in the last one on the top:



The drive caddy can now be gently pulled out:



Now at last, you can look inside the cute little unit:




The next step is to remove the back place. This is held together by four little tabs, look inside and you'll see two of them at the back of the unit at the top:



Reach in with your hand - careful though, as there are a few sharp edges in here - and gently push the tabs out. The other two tabs are located on the outside, at the back and the bottom of the unit, one on each side:



Here you can see it before it pops:



And after you've popped it (with a screwdriver):



The back plate now comes off easily, just pull:



Almost done! The last part now is to remove the top and back. This essentially just slides back although it can be a bit stiff, so a little encouragement is needed with the old screwdriver. Insert it into the gap and twist slowly, being careful not to bend the metal. Once you've done that, the back should start to slide back:



The top and back should now slide back as illustrated below:



Here's is the slide back in action:



Careful sliding this back and the fan is connected to the board inside the Drobo; but there should be enough give, just do it slowly. Then, low and behold, it's free:



At least, you can see Drobo's bottom :-) :



And you're done, the Drobo is now open and you can bask in it's naked glory:



Obviously, to put things back together again, just run the same process but in reverse. For those of you who are interested, I exchanged the fan with a Noctua NF-R8 (www.noctua.at) which is a reasonably high throughput quality low noise fan - I now have a silent Drobo!! Peace at last! Note though, the Drobo does not use a standard fan connector so you will need to re-use the old one - either by recrimping it with the appropriate tool, or some other creative mechanism. Will see how things go and keep you posted - oh another small tip, the fan in the Drobo is held on with these cool little clips, you just need to push them in from the inside out for the clip to pop out and free the fan. I didn't reuse these, I prefer some new rubber mounts, but you can reuse these just by popping them back in.

Update

For those of you who want to know, here is a picture of the stock fan I removed from the Drobo:

35 comments:

Boruce Lee said...

Dude!! Thanks so much! I googled around for like 20 minutes looking for this. I had to FORCE google to find this page by narrowing down my search to just titles in "advance search." I'm going to replace the freaking fan in my drobo now. Nice to know that it does make a difference. Thanks again!

Unknown said...

Just wanted to let you know - I dug up the fan's specs:

Y.S.Tech FD128025EB-N, 7.0~13.2V, 3.00W, 3700RPM, 48.7CFM, 39.5dB(A)

Pretty impressive throughput, especially since the Noctua is rated around 31CFM (too lazy for exact math) - but then again Drobo manages the fan and it is often off, so those nearly 50CFM may not be needed. Any experiences so far on that matter? Did it ever shut down because of heat issues?

Thanks for your post, I nearly started to disassemble my drobo but stopped at the "Warranty void if removed" sticker and recalculated if my Noiseblocker X1, silent as it is, is powerful enough - and now decided against it.

OddyOh said...

Thanks for this! My Drobo is still under warranty, but I've no doubt this will come in handy down the road. It's criminal that Drobo is shipped with such a loud fan! :( However, I wouldn't trade it for any other RAID, it's so easy to use.

Unknown said...

I just followed your excellent guide... twice!

My (Gen1) Drobo lives with my virtually silent HTPC in my living room and when I added my third hard drive, the sound was unbearable.

I first replaced the fan with an 80mm Noctua. I simply sacrificed the 3-pin to molex converter that comes with the fan and connected this to the chopped off fan connector of the old fan. But I was worried at how hot the drives felt to the touch.

After two days I took it apart and used a Dremel with a cutoff disc (it took 2 actually) to cut a large hole in the back of the metal grate. I dropped the 120mm Noctua into the back and connected this with a couple screws and washers to it. I left the constrictive back plastic cover off when I reassembled. Now the drives are cooler than they ever were stock and I can never hear the fan.

Anonymous said...

The case fits a 9.2mm. So go for the Noctua NF-B9 instead.

OddyOh said...

So...It's been about a year, I'm ready to crack open my first gen Drobo and replace that horrible fan.

Is the "Noctua NF-R8" still the best one to get? And it's 80mm, that's the correct size for Drobo...just want to make sure before I order one.

I've since bought a 2nd Gen Drobo, and while the fan is much quieter, I could see replacing it once my warranty is up. Weird thing is the fan comes on when I don't even have Drobo plugged in, seems like it comes on once every couple hours or so for about 15 minutes. Pretty strange.

Unknown said...

I just bought a Drobo FS and the fan is pretty annoyingly loud 120mm adda fan. I opened it up and replaced with a Nexus D12SL-12 fan and it's completely silent! Awesome

Dylan said...

Thanks so much for your detailed disassembly instructions + photos. Just swapped out the fan in my 1st gen DROBO with a Noctura NF-R8 and am stunned how quiet the room is now. All I hear is hard drives whirring.

FWIW the fan I pulled has the following info on it:
SUNON PMD1208PTB3-A 3.1W
It sounded like a little jet engine when at full speed.

BlogLars said...

Has anyone done this on a Drobo-FS and care to share how too?
I´m going nuts over the fan.

Bart said...

Fantastic tutorial. I followed the steps and, apart from the last tab - which was very stubborn, since it doesn't really bend - I was able to disassemble the drobo II and replace the fan with the 80mm Noctua. My old fan was on its last legs, which was made clear when I removed it and gave it a whirr with my fingers. It had a very 'gritty' rotation, which made me come to the conclusion that the bearings were worn out.
Now my drobo is nearly silent!

btw. I cut the leads from the large connector, included with the new fan, and, using some plastic splicers, connected that to the cut off connector from the original fan. Thus making an interface that can be reused, should this fan die on me in a couple of years.
Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

More thanks for this. Having confirmation that it's the fan being noisy and knowing what replacement to order spurred me into replacing mine. It's so much more peaceful, now.

dgregory said...

I have a DROBO-FS DRDS2-A. Use all the same procedures, except there is 1 screw on each side, (remove the bottom screw on each side). Then the back will slide out. Before taking it completely apart, release the power and fan pin connectors so you do not break the wires.
Great post for a very specific problem.

dgregory said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aldo said...

hi,

thanks guys for all this. i'm too thinking of replacing the loud fan on my 2nd gen drobo.

one question though.....i can seem to find the exact size of the fan! what size should i buy for a 2nd gen drobo a 120mm, 92mm or an 80mm fan?

thanks for your support

regards

aldo

Adrian Mimbler said...

you know tha mimbler family from \Romania ?

GelOhPig said...

I ordered a Noctua NF-B9 Bevelled Blade Tips SSO Bearing Fan with VCN - Retail from Amazon. I cut the ol wire to marry to the new wire with a yellow left to dangle. I have a Drobo 2nd Gen with a DroboShare. I put it all back together with no issues. I just have not heard or felt the fan kick in. Bad fan? Bad Wire?

GelOhPig said...

Fan never came on. Drives were hot as hell. I had to shut the drobo down. After about 2 more breakdowns, I decided to check to see if the fan worked. I connected to a molex connector and test. the fan worked. I then looked at the connector with the blue cap. I noticed a "bump in the red wire. I decided to cut and not use the "bump in the line" and reconnected the black to black and red to red. BOOM! we got air. I guess the "BUMP" was some capacitor? I got it to work, with a sligt hack to connect future fans. Thanks for the pictures. I filmed my breakdown and may post on youtube. I will be sure to give props!

GelOhPig said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
GelOhPig said...



Fan stopped working. Drives got hot again! So I just ordered the AD0912UB-A71GL from jameco.com

https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&productId=2138994

Same connection, so it should plug right in. Looks to be a faster plug as well. I ordered 3 of them and used 2 day air.

Unknown said...

My Drobo Gen 2 fan was dying.

It had a ADDA Model AD0912UB-A70GL.

Just a note. It has a rating of 60 cu ft/min, so I wouldn't put in a fan that's slower than that. You don't want your Drobo 2 burning up.

Danilo said...

For Drobo 2nd gen, what is the best silent fan ?
What are the best CFM and RPM for it ?
Thanks

MikesMultiMedia said...

My Drobo-S is stuck in a constant reboot. I've been researching youtube for videos of same problem (which there are) and I came across somebody saying they replaced the internal battery (coin battery). You know, its funny how they make you violate a warranty to replace that battery? So the warranty is only as good as that battery costing ??? vs. the unit cost of ??. Okay, back on track. So I have now contemplated taking the unit apart, and I can see in part of you photos in the front end exposed, there is the battery (inside) the F'ing unit? WTF?

So, I've noted the link to your tutorial, and will continue to work on fixing my Drobo S - Reboot Loop problem.

I'll prepare a how I fixed it journal which will include a link to this page, b/c it was helpful and part of the problem.

Note, drobo's generic information, and ultimate 1) Its out of warranty; or 2) Send us the unit for replacement - options are looming in the background. they are currently giving me the help desk 101 with - 1) Are the lights red / yellow - constantly on or blinking?

When in fact, the reboot loop issue is very prevalent in their products, and they should replace each and every one of them, but, make you squander for a while in desperation to see what you would do like a 'rate in a maze." Meanwhile, you've either bought a replacement unit (from them) perhaps, or other.

My other, will be to hopefully research this problem, and report on how bad/good the solutions were by myself or by drobo or other.

Thanks.

me said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
me said...

Thanks very much for taking the time to put this post together. I just replaced the fan on my Drobo, silent now. With your guide a complete replacement and deep clean took just under an hour. Fantastic!

I used the Noctua NF-R8-1800 80mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin with the rubber mounts.

me said...

Yeah I forgot to mention, you should remove the resistor on the red wire of the new fan, before making the connection. Otherwise it won't turn on and the system with overheat and shut down (one red light). Don't worry it this happens to you, just open it up and remove it and it will all power back on fine.

tarasis said...

I know this article is basically dead, but in the hopes that someone might be monitoring. Would I want the 3 pin or 4 pin variant of the Noctua NF-R8 1800 Redux?

(To replace fan in 2nd Gen Drobo)

IAS said...

I disassembled my 2nd generation Drobo (2010, model DRO4D-D) and found the following fan:
Brand: ADDA
Model: AD0912UB-A70GL
12V, 0.30A (3.6W), 92x92x25mm,1.698m³/min, 39.4dBA
http://pt.farnell.com/adda/ad0912ub-a70gl/axial-fan-92mm-12vdc-290ma/dp/1735715

Unknown said...

I want to replace the (very) noisy fan of my drobo (2ndG.). I also think abaout replace the hole drobo to a newer one, but don´t know the migration-afford of 4 harddisk (4 x 3 TB). what is the better way?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the great post! I have been listening to my Drobos rattling fan too long!

Unknown said...

Is this an exhaust fan? Or is it supposed to blow inside? I couldn't tell when I held my hand behind it before I took it apart... Just want to make sure I install the fan blowing in the right direction. Thanks

IAS said...

Brian, its and exhaust fan.

geeji said...

Thanks for this great post !
Just used it to change my Drobo Gen2 fan (for a Noctua NF-A9 FLX). Less than 1 hour, going very slowly to avoid any error.
The original fan was also an ADDA AD0912UB-A70GL, slightly more powerful than the Noctua (101m3/h instead of 65) but MUCH noisier.

Brendan said...

Thank you so much for this great guide. I followed along and within no time at all I had a nice virtually quiet Gen 2 Drobo to replace the previous deafening version that was driving me a little crazy.

For the record, the fan I used in my Gen 2 4 Bay Drobo was the Noctua NF-A9 FLX, Premium Quiet Fan, 3-Pin (92mm, Brown) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NEMG9B0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

JDCartee said...

Thanks for this. My Drobo has been in the closet and I'm excited about giving it new life!
I've ordered the Noctua NF-A9 FLX as well.

Tom said...

Thank you so much for this. This was a tremendous help. Didnt take me that long at all and now the thing is so quiet. I will also add that I replaced my fan with a NOCTUA NF-B9 redux-1600 fan. Works like a champ. Thanks again for this.