Coda56 modem getting hot after eight months (rough workaround).
Coda56 modem getting hot after eight months (rough workaround).
I have a Hitron Coda56 modem from December that lets me use faster upload speeds with Xfinity. It’s been performing well until last night. The status page lists all channels connected, but no data is passing through the modem. Resetting it would work briefly, turning it off for a few minutes restores function, and leaving it off longer brings it back online for about two hours. Clearly, something is overheating. I opened it up (the warranty only covers six months) and used a steel plate plus a 2 or 3 mm thermal pad for cooling. It looks like the pad failed. Since I didn’t have any pads nearby, I attached an old CPU cooler and it’s been running for four hours. I built a temporary fix with rubber squares to hold the old cooler in place, so once new pads arrive I’ll replace the plate. It’s been a bit of a trial—I don’t recall the original CPU model, but it might be a 386 or 486.
I also experienced issues with my old X360 power brick when using an Intel stock cooler.
my gpon box isn't a modem or router, it gets really warm. I'm using a fan to help maintain the right temperature.
It isn't holding very well over time. Eventually it might tilt and lose some functionality. I'm considering doing some FreeCAD work and printing a more durable holder. However, I think starting with the pad replacement would be better—it worked for a while with a cheap material that broke down quickly, so I'd prefer a higher-quality option.
My variety pack of thermal pads arrived. There's a 1 to 1.5 mm gap between the stock plate and the chip, didn't feel like good compression with a 1.5 mm pad so went with 2 mm. Been about 2 hours now and still working so hopefully it's fully back to normal now. Actually should be better than original, better pad and the first thing I tried was opening up bigger holes in the case for better air flow. Now there is a nice flow of warm air coming out of where I opened things up.
After roughly a week with the stock steel plate heat sink and the new thermal pad, I began receiving error messages similar to those from when it failed previously. The device kept malfunctioning, but I didn’t want to see those alerts. I opened it up and found the steel plate was extremely hot to the touch. Since then, I’ve switched back to the Pentium III cooler, which has been running smoothly for the past two weeks. I also added a third screw on the plastic case edge to help secure the heat sink.