So I just replaced my Gen 3 XR30 Pro’s with Gen 5 Blues and while I love these lights the fans were driving me nuts. They are way louder and harsher than the fans on the Gen 3 lights, which were all but inaudible most of the time.
As I was doing a bit of research to see if anyone else had issues with the fan noise I found a few people who had even put small computer fans on the lights to give them airflow without needing the loud internal fan to come on. I also thought about how the fans in the Gen 3 Radions never shut off.
What I finally realized is that the Fan shutdown option is really causing them to make extra noise. When this option is enabled it will turn the fan in the light off, until the heatsink reaches a certain temperature threshold, at which point it will turn the fan on (at a reasonably high and noisy speed) to cool the light. Once it is sufficiently cool it will turn the fan off again.
If you disable the fan shutdown option then the fans will run all the time, but because they are running all the time the light will stay cooler, so the fans will run at a lower speed and run more quietly. Unfortunately, even at the lower speed the fans are still louder than my Gen 3 lights, but three Gen 5 lights running at low speed is quieter than one Gen 5 light running at a higher speed.
Also note that when you initially disable this option, if you do it in the middle of the day when the lights are warm, then the fans may come on at a high and noisy speed. But let them run for 15 or 20 minutes to cool down the light and eventually they will lower their speed.
I suspect that this is probably better for the long term health of the light as well, given that it allows the light to run cooler.
Let me know if this works for you.
As I was doing a bit of research to see if anyone else had issues with the fan noise I found a few people who had even put small computer fans on the lights to give them airflow without needing the loud internal fan to come on. I also thought about how the fans in the Gen 3 Radions never shut off.
What I finally realized is that the Fan shutdown option is really causing them to make extra noise. When this option is enabled it will turn the fan in the light off, until the heatsink reaches a certain temperature threshold, at which point it will turn the fan on (at a reasonably high and noisy speed) to cool the light. Once it is sufficiently cool it will turn the fan off again.
If you disable the fan shutdown option then the fans will run all the time, but because they are running all the time the light will stay cooler, so the fans will run at a lower speed and run more quietly. Unfortunately, even at the lower speed the fans are still louder than my Gen 3 lights, but three Gen 5 lights running at low speed is quieter than one Gen 5 light running at a higher speed.
Also note that when you initially disable this option, if you do it in the middle of the day when the lights are warm, then the fans may come on at a high and noisy speed. But let them run for 15 or 20 minutes to cool down the light and eventually they will lower their speed.
I suspect that this is probably better for the long term health of the light as well, given that it allows the light to run cooler.
Let me know if this works for you.