I find the PiKVM v4 plus fan to be loud even at lowest speed.
Has anyone run it without the fan on? I am interested to hear what you tried and whether the temperature stayed acceptable.
If I get no other ideas, I might try unplugging the fan and running with the case open.
I haven’t noticed the fan to be particularly loud and I’ve run quite a few v4 plus systems together at the same time. It could be that it was slightly misaligned from the factory or the clip that holds it is slightly loose allowing it to vibrate a bit and make some noise. Can you try using a dB meter app and recording how loud it is?
I may be able to try using a dB meter app. Can you inform of a dB meter app?
Regardless, I am interested to know whether anyone has tried running without the fan on.
You could run without the fan, but you’ll likely want to set up some monitoring for the internal temps (you can see it from System> About) and recognize that higher temps for any electrical device increases the resistance and shortens the lifespan.
Replacing the fan is typically covered by the warranty, and even if it has been more than a year it might be worth an email to support@pishop.us or support@pishop.ca (wherever you got your device) with your order number and device serial number to see if it is covered for a replacement.
Regarding your recommendation about monitoring and comments about shortening the lifespan: This is part of why I am interested to hear someone’s experience from running without the fan. The other part is that I assume it doesn’t work just to unplug the fan, so like I am interested to know what else people modified, like if there is a better heatsink I can buy rather than make something custom.
Regarding replacement fan: Do you believe my fan requires a replacement?
It would work to unplug the fan but PiKVM monitors and controls it via PWM so you would need to make some configuration changes to not have it yelling at you in the web portal.
If it is noisy enough to bother you when it is located in the same room or a few feet away on a desk, that sounds like maybe a bad fan bearing or sleeve. So it would be worth requesting a fan replacement.