Installing a Fan on the Soundcraft Ui24R.

[@theoriginaljimmykicker]

Just did this myself. I used plastic zip ties to hold it on. Ran one through and then used the head of another one on the inside to make it pull tight. I could have used machine screws easily too. Till mine is out of warranty I wanted to avoid any tell tale scratches on the chassis that I had been inside it. 4 snips and it's gone. Thanks for the video. Very easy and useful mod. I bought two fans for $9. One went in my personal mixer and the other one is going in our band's mixer.

[@sonumwave]

Very smart of you to make sure you can remove it without tracks if Mackie service is required. Mine is 3 years old, since Jan 2019, I have replaced myself the power supply board and the filter and AC connector. My mixer has been in a tough environment, traveling and worked in US, Madrid and in Canary Islands in Spain. Is my “travel” Mixer, so I can’t ask for more reliability. Wish you the best!

[@theoriginaljimmykicker]

@@sonumwave thanks man! Mine stays in the rack and I’m a weekend warrior. It does probably 15-20 dates a year. We have one in my band too. Been great so far. Hoping for no problems! I sold my Ui16. Kinda wondering if I shouldn’t have kept it for a back up. I do have an old Phonic passive analog mixer that can get me by in a pinch. Thinking it’s going with me from here on out just to be safe. Probably always a good idea. Be safe man and keep on rocking out there.

[@sonumwave]

@@theoriginaljimmykicker Oh! My… if I tell you. I started around 2008 with the DL1608, at certain time sold it because the QSC TouchMix20 already had the router built in, but it was too delicate, did the sell, get the Soundcraft Ui12, sold it because the wi-fi lost connection issue, got the Ui16… same problem, got rid of it and got one Behringer X Air XR12 and the XR18… uf! Changed the 12 for the DL806… the decided to a radical change in 2017 when I bought the Soundcraft Ui24R. The need of a good small unit for the small bands made to buy the Mackie DLS. As you see, there are few models that I don’t try..

[@sonumwave]

Excellent! You see? Hope the fan last for many years, mine have so far 3 years since I put there, working perfect.

[@pmk351]

Extremely useful thanks for uploading

[@sonumwave]

Always a pleasure to help!

[@breernancy]

Great mixer - looking at recommending one for church use. It's over 30 deg C most times here. Pros and cons of fans --- great for removing heat BUT a fan would pull in dust and other contaminants on to the circuit board. The risk of corrosion and ultimate failure is higher. Its a common problem with amplifiers, for example. After fan installation, I suggest doing an annual dustout and circuit board cleaning once per year.

[@sonumwave]

Mine has 3 years there, no problem at all, maybe next year I will open the mixer to check, since it don't look dusty. You know why? because the mixer is not 24 hours on, it works for a few hours maximum 4 times a month... The band plays for 2 hours each performance, counting on the set up is like a top of 12 hours per month... but always is much less.

[@jonas-fr]

Make sure that the fan is pulling air from the inside to the outside and put small filters in other parts of the case where the air enters ; it will prevent the buildup of dust

[@sonumwave]

@@jonas-frstill today there is no dust inside at all!. The fan is almost 4 years working.

[@badtweed2087]

Very helpful, thanks for posting this.

[@sonumwave]

Always willing to help thanks

[@mmmax78]

If there will ever be this mixer, I will definitely do it!

[@sonumwave]

Better be prepared!

[@Fernanpoison]

I’ll try to do it, pero no encontré un ventilador en mi pueblo que cubriera las especificaciones, so I’ll lose the warranty? I only quite the bottom cover, but never installed something I I have about a week with ui24r, gracias por el tutorial y la explicación

[@sonumwave]

Encuentra el ventilador en eBay o Amazon, con las medidas que tiene el área de la rejilla donde lo vas a poner. Si aún tu mixer está en garantía, por supuesto que la vas a anular. Espera que se venza la garantía.

[@philbillie]

Link does not work. What is the operating voltage of this fan?

[@sonumwave]

Yep it don´t work anymore since it was an eBay one. That video was done a while ago. The voltage is 12V. The mixer has the J connector already to just plug and play.

[@philbillie]

@@sonumwave Muchas Gracias

[@jean-martinfierz2288]

Hey, thanks a lot for the help. Just bought a fan, but the 2 pin head didn't fit. Can you tell me, which Fan you used? Or how the 2-pin heads looks like? gracias!

[@sonumwave]

Don’t worry about the pins. If that happened to me I would resolve it anyway. Check this, just peel #14 or #12 cable and isolate one of the copper wires. Cut it about 1/2” and insert a couple of wires on the connector, cut the connector from the fan and carefully turn on the mixer, make sure the wires don’t contact each other. Feel the direction of the air and then you just make it to extract air from inside the mixer. After that test try to sold the wites with the peeled cables the most close tho the connector on the board. Then with a silicone gun just drop a little amount to fix everything, make it cover around the connector to be sure it won’t move.

[@jean-martinfierz2288]

@@sonumwave muchas gracias 🤗

[@sonumwave]

@@jean-martinfierz2288 always a good thing know that we can help.

[@TomSurace]

Thank you *very* much for sharing this. A two-pin header, looks like?

[@sonumwave]

That’s correct!

[@ezequielalarcon1969]

Qué tal! El ventilador lo pusiste en modo de expulsar aire caliente o en modo de ingresar aire frío? He visto algunos videos donde dicen que es mejor poner el ventilador para expulsar el aire y no para introducir aire. Pero porque??

[@sonumwave]

Siempre, siempre debe trabajar en modo extractor. Expulsando aire desde dentro de la unidad hacia afuera. Es ilógico usarlo introduciendo aire. Te explico. Nada se enfría. Físicamente la materia absorbe calor, cuando metes un vaso de agua en la nevera lo que hace es perder calor y la baja temperatura dentro de la misma lo absorbe. Explicado este principio físico, y ya específicos en esto, el poner el ventilador a sacar aire desde dentro de la unidad hace esto: los componentes electrónicos disipan calor y el ventilador hace que esta disipación acelere de manera bien significativa, es decir que es forzada. Esto hace que cualquier cantidad de aire frío dentro más el que entra por la otra rejilla van a ir absorbiendo ese calor que se esta mezclando con el aire frío produciéndose un fenómeno que se llama convexión, que es por ejemplo como opera el aire acondicionado. Por otra parte si forzas en la dirección opuesta el flujo de aire, es decir con el ventilador introduciéndolo, también vas a favorecer la entrada de polvo y suciedad, la cual es menor cuando este extrae.

[@archelo69]

Fantastic explanation! Great video!

[@stefanhagel8496]

Good tip! Which specs regarding Volts/Amps should the fan have?

[@sonumwave]

Any 12V computer fan works. The mixer can hold up to 500mA this one that I used is 100mA. Even the J connector is kind if standard so when I bought the fan the connector did fit perfect including the polarity.

[@TheZenithphoenix]

@@sonumwave thanks for the helpful video. Maybe you can share the model number for your fan ?

[@sonumwave]

@@TheZenithphoenix it says model 6010. 12V 60x60x10 mm fan.

[@ivanromero3713]

Saludos hermano.. nuevamente por aquí jejeje.. Vi en uno de sus vídeos.q tiene un pendrive para grabar de 128gb.. pero en la página leí que acepta hasta 32gb fat32.. hay algún truco para q acepte más de 32? Puede ser ntfs? O solo fat32? Atento por aquí en pzo Venezuela jeje

[@sonumwave]

Hola. No sé en qué página leíste… pero ese pen drive de 128GB tiene 6 años metido en ese mixer. Y puedes poner si quieres 256GB. No se puede confundir que hay que formatearla como FAT32, a que solo puedes usar memorias de máximo 32GB… creo que esa página no es de soundcraft real

[@b.r.keysmondragon1030]

is that a 4 pin cooling fan? or just 2 pin?…..is it running in 12V 500ma?

[@sonumwave]

Exactly, 2 pins, 12V 500mA.

[@b.r.keysmondragon1030]

thanks.. how about the plug type…is it A1 or B1?

[@sonumwave]

@@b.r.keysmondragon1030 I don´t know that connector with that name, always "J" and this one's long name is JST XH (male and female) and you can see it in these pics: imgur.com/a/what-fan-connector-is-this-about-2-54mm-between-pins-npBItaw

[@Pinoysoundmachine74]

Where can I get that rack with cover for your soundcraft? that fan would significantly take out the heat from the device. Thank you for the info.

[@sonumwave]

Gator my friend, try the Shallow rack

[@Pinoysoundmachine74]

@@sonumwave 👍 is 4u 19 inch compatible with ui24r

[@sonumwave]

@@Pinoysoundmachine74 Yes! it can work perfect, but pay attention to the deep, because I got the 14.5" deep which is the best. In my case I have the 6U, because I put the power conditioner on it. Don't get the ones that have all that space in the back because you don't need it.. Here is the link for the one that I bought. www.gatorcases.com/products/racks-portable/molded-racks/grc-shallow-molded-racks/6u-audio-rack-shallow-gr-6s/

[@Pinoysoundmachine74]

@@sonumwave Thank you my friend. I really appreciate it!

[@sonumwave]

@@Pinoysoundmachine74 best!

[@danogden4291]

How many pins on the power connector?

[@sonumwave]

You can see there are only 2.

[@danogden4291]

@@sonumwave thanks. I actually couldn't see the number of pins in the video. Hopefully you won't get old man eyes, but there's a bunch of us out here that can (metaphorically) see there's forest, but can't make out the individual trees.

[@sonumwave]

@@danogden4291 Understand you, believe me, I put baby plastic corners protectors glued with silicone in our bed, because everyday I got bruises, scratches, open wounds when hitting the bed myself, found in baby safe products the best choice, although my legs are already full of scars...

[@alexdefrancisco3066]

Is the connection a three pin connection?

[@sonumwave]

Nope! Is a J connector with 2 pins. +B (12V) and Ground. Red and black cables. Simply

[@djmaxilv]

Hello. How many volts are you putting there?

[@sonumwave]

The mixer has a dedicated J connector which is for default 12V. When I projected to buy the fan, I first opened the mixer and even measure the pins from the J connector although it says in the circuit board the voltage supplied.

[@username78213]

soo I got the right fan but it came without connector and I cant find any connector in old computers that fit ... anyone has any tips ?

[@sonumwave]

Just cut and peel the cables, connect them if the fan moves the air inside invert their polarity and that's it.

[@username78213]

@@sonumwave theres a white plastic connector on the wires of the fan in the video going into the motherboard of UI24 with a click - that is what I am looking for ! theres is no way that the wires will be steadily connected otherwise

[@sonumwave]

@@username78213 But, nop, as a matter of fact that "plastic" connector is named "J connector" usually with a number after the J. If you see carefully, the connector is solded to the board, when we have a problem in which the female connector on the part does not fit the one on the board, we simply remove desoldering form the circuit board, then we cut the cables at the end of the connector of the part, then we do a soldering job. always the connector on the board is the "male". Today all the fan connectors have a universal J that fits many of the boards connector. But if not, that's the work to have to be done.

[@username78213]

@@sonumwave thank you, this is partly helpful - Is there any information on the nr. for the needed female J connector ? cos soldering is not an option for me

[@sonumwave]

@@username78213 uh, that is a problem. Look in eBay “computer fan J connector - adapter” maybe. The way it will be perfect and you never will have any problem is with no matching J connector, change to a soldering job.

[@stefanhagel8496]

Me again... what fan model exactly did you install?

[@sonumwave]

This is exactly the link of the purchase that I have found in my eBay account: www.ebay.es/itm/224715063827?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=1185-127638-7840-0&ssspo=o4nrXPCsQ6q&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=PFjH7xYkSqy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[@markkessels]

Will a 6020 or even a 6025 fan fit?

[@sonumwave]

Don’t know about those numbers. When I ordered just asked for a 10cm fan.

[@jordicardona8648]

El enlace no funciona, podrias volver a poner o decir que ventilador y donde encontrarlo? Muchas gracias

[@sonumwave]

Si el enlace no funciona es que lo han removido. Es un simple ventilador de 60mmX60mmX10mm De 12V Acabo de buscar y ya donde lo compre en Julio de 2021 no existe la tienda. Esas son las medidas y características.

[@jordicardona8648]

@@sonumwave muchas gracias

[@ivanromero3713]

@@sonumwave Vi en un vídeo q el amperaje tenía que ser de 120 a 150 Mili amp.. están bien esos números?

[@sonumwave]

@@ivanromero3713 El mixer aguanta hasta 500mA, pero un ventilador de esa corriente es algo que sería un mini huracán... el que yo instale1 es de 100mA.

[@ivanromero3713]

@@sonumwave copiado Master.. a buscar uno con esas caracteristicas...

[@paddyeire96]

Hi. How is the machine going now? Are you still using it? Any problems since you've had it? Would you recommend?

[@sonumwave]

Hi! As per today, the mixer has been working perfect with zero issues since April 9, 2017. I have installed the fan exactly the day of the video. My wife works as the sound tech for one of the most popular dance clubs here in Madrid. Every other weekend I can say twice a month they feature a live Latin band, my part is go with her around 3pm to set up, they provide everything except the mixer, so we go with the Ui. Then she goes around 9:30pm to be ready flor the show that start at 10pm until 10:40 the most. They pay her 200€ thanks to the mixer, since October 2021, plus the shows that we do when the band is more than 5 piece’s band we use regularly the Soundcraft with zero issues.

[@paddyeire96]

@@sonumwave That's great my friend, thank you for the reply. I've recently purchased the ui24r I was looking for long term reviews so thank you again.

[@sonumwave]

@@paddyeire96 I have read so many comments in a FB group about issues, of all kind, and even through here people asking me for parts, but I never had an issue with my mixer. From the country where I was born, where was very popular between car owners the phrase: “what day of the week your car was manufactured?” Because some cars of the same brand had issues and others no. They used to say if your car was built in Monday or Friday it will have problems because on Monday’s the employees at the fabric are with still the hangover from the weekend, they are tired and make things bad. Also on Fridays the employees are tired of the week work and they are thinking only on the upcoming party weekend so they work bad as well. Then you can see a random person in a car dealer asking what day of the week was the car manufactured. Also the owners whose cars where working for years without problems use to say: “My car was built whether on Wednesday because is so good”

[@paddyeire96]

@@sonumwave haha, I know what you mean. Thanks again for your reply, take care.

[@sonumwave]

@@paddyeire96 so… in conclussion, my mixer was manufactured on a one Wednesday! Hope yours too! Blessings!

[@mjmeche]

What is fan voltage

[@sonumwave]

In this case the voltage in which the fan operates. This one works on 12V DC

[@mjmeche]

@@sonumwave yes

[@pluckstrummer]

A great solution. Thanks!

[@sonumwave]

My pleasure to be useful!

[@sfranz5773]

Do you have a link to the fan you used?

[@thelatinensemble4670]

Ebay! Just make sure they are 12V and have the measures! Mine weee purchased in Spain…

[@MegaJJ2013]

How many of you have this unit inside a 19" rack? Is it better not to place it in a rack? Mine arrives soon and I guess I won't be doing any mod as it is under warranty. I will likely only use it for, say a couple of hours daily, for a grand total of likely 10 hours a week so "overheating" may not be such a huge issue......don't know. Also, not many tracks being processed on this unit as of this writing too.

[@sonumwave]

Having in a rack case is personal of everyone. You are expecting the arrival of your mixer, I was in the same situation as you, in April 2017... Having it in a rack case does not mean you'll have the mixer trapped in a thermic cage, in my case this does not affect whether the mixer have or not a fan. The reason I did it is on the video. This very morning we were with a friend who received his new unit yesterday and we with my mixer, were trying to connect both in cascade, he noticed his new one after a couple of hours was warm while mine was not. But I told him installing a fan would void the warranty, although he was concerned about it. What I explained also, that fan on my Ui only have 3 years installed, before I did since 2017, the Ui worked more than 300 gigs with no issues at all.

[@MegaJJ2013]

@@sonumwave I really appreciate your response! I do have a fan that I could install on the outside of the unit, where the vents are. Perhaps it will help a bit. I am very careful with devices and have installed Noctua fans on other pieces of equipment as well (they are not audio devices though.....)!

[@sonumwave]

@@MegaJJ2013 that’s an excellent idea and it will do the job perfectly! Remember the mixer’s cooling is by convection, where the hot air looses heat combined with the fresh air, in a as we can name “natural cooling process”. When we install a fan it forces the fresh air inside the device with a different process, taking outside the hot air with no convection, process that is faster and effective to cool the circuit board components that raise the temperature. When you put a fan outside in a way that works not as efficient as the fan installed inside, but that works much better.

[@MegaJJ2013]

@@sonumwave In regards to UI24R getting warm, I wonder if there are other ways to minimize heating up? In my application, I don't have a large number of external hardware plugged into it. That said, is there a way to completely DEACTIVATE channels that are NOT needed? If that is feasible, would that reduce hear build-up?

[@sonumwave]

@@MegaJJ2013 each channel has an amplifier, called “PreAmp”, if you don’t connect anything, and the channel is reset, there is no way to have functioning there. The more the processor have activities the more energy demands. Adding compressor, gate, EQ, Reverb, etc will add more work as well. Remember, by Ohms Law, if nothing is connected to a channel the impedance is infinite, so the current and voltage are zero, no energy is lost. Even if the channel already had something connected before, the effects, EQ, compressor, etc will no drain any energy, unless you make the connexion back to the channel.

[@brancodicastro6371]

If you change the chip's thermal paste for a better quality one, you will have a more efficient cooling gain.

[@sonumwave]

No matter... if the chasis comes with that space, holes, and even a J connector is for a reason...

[@jobaecker9752]

You would think this inexpensive fix would be original equipment on this unit!

[@thelatinensemble4670]

Maybe, many times the fans are exactly the same brands the original that suppose to come from manufacturer. This unit not only have the space to put the hardware. It has the connector type J which the right voltage and polarity. They did not put the fan because although the engineers’ design is with that part, the final revision on their plant did not put importance on it, my unit was 3 years working perfect without it. My decision was based in a problem occurred with another mixer…

[@djmario27ful]

candela el ingles asere

[@sonumwave]

Gracias pero no estoy dando clases de Inglés... Con ese Inglés candela, por cierto, me gradué en la Universidad en Florida con un Bachelor's degree in Business, además de un Master. Con ese Inglés revalidé mi tItulo de Radiólogo que traje de Venezuela y trabajé en el Union Hospital de New Jersey, en el Jackson de Miami, y en el Tenet de North Miami, hasta graduarme y tener mi propia empresa con la que viajo constantemente entre US y España, y ya hemos hecho shows en Paris, Portugal y Palermo... ahora cuéntame qué has hecho...tú con el Inglés tuyo que no es candela como el mío...

[@martinsajda]

Bullshit. Power supply buildin on UI24 unit is to weak for powering installed fan.

[@sonumwave]

This is the problem: people who does not know anything, making opinions… how it is the fact that fan has 3 years installed in my Ui24R and more than 300 gigs?…just yesterday we sound the full orchestra (all 20 channels plus the 2 line) and even the power dropped 3 times until the promoters and producers decided to stop the event. And on top of that, because is evident you have no base about your statement the circuit board has the J connector ready with 12V 500mA to be used, and what a coincidence the plug that comes as standard for any computer fan fits the mixer connection, with the correct polarity to work extracting the air inside.

[@martinsajda]

​@@sonumwave OK. I've very diferent experience. 12V Cooler fan plugged direct onto UI board causes unexpected crashes. I've 230V system. You've 110V? When the fan is plugged in, do you also use flash drives plugged into the USB ports?

[@sonumwave]

@@martinsajda I am in Spain. 240V. The fan is 12V exactly. And I have occupied the HDMI using a mini screen, the two USB ports at the front ALL time with 2 flash drives (one with all the music and the other for multitrack recording) and one at the back for a mouse… everything have there no less than four years. The mixer was used since the adquisicion in April 2017 in Florida, US with 110V, then we moved to Spain and since 2020 have been worked flawlessly, we even made shows in France and Portugal with it.