Just purchased the latest variant of the TR5M+ Black edition. Had to really as the space for a hot disk swap in my EX490 wasnt possible as I didnt have enough room to remove one from the pool in the event of a planned swap. So after years of good service from my EX490 and this forum I decided to get the enclosure.
Its a very nice piece of kit, simple and does the job but.... As some of you have mentioned... The fans! For me I have to have the device in the same room as my media playing devices and the noise was just too loud. The 120mm is a Comdell (Chinese) DF1202512ESN(?)
http://www.comdall.com/en/product/31/View/108.html which from the specs is a 12v 3400rpm fan, 103CFM flow and 46dB(A) !!!. It was quite loud compared to the EX490 but I would say it did a good job in cooling the disks.
In standard format and ambient room temperature of 20 the WD Reds were running at 28 to 30 degrees but the noise is too much for me. I have now removed the 120 fan in preparation for a replacement and the disks are now running at about 38, so not awful but still warm. I intend to replace the 120mm with a Noctua NF-S12B FLX Ultra Quiet 120mm. Although this only has about half the airflow it is rated at a very quiet 18dB(A) and I still think this will be adequate.
The next issue (sorry I seem to be very fussy) is the smaller 40mm PSU fan which has a very annoying high pitched tone and I have decided to replace this as well with another Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX 40mm x 10mm. whcih is only rated at 17.9dB(A).
The final issue is that the internal backplane doesn't use a standard 3 pin fan connector for the larger fan and there is a small splice for the fan 3 pin to the smaller Sans 2 pin connection... seems a bit of a kludge really.
I just wish the enclosure had slightly quieter fans or at least Sans Digital could offer a "Ultra quiet" version which I would be prepared to pay a little bit more for. Maybe even change the default fan to a lower rpm version?
Anyway just some observations and I will let you know how I get on.
Update 23rd Oct: Ok so the fans arrived, very professional with lots of connections and 3M quickloks for the 40mm fan.
40mm replacement: Disassembling the TRM is pretty straightforward and just a little fiddly to get the PSU at least hanginging out of the frame. You can't remove it totally as I couldn't see how to release it from the front switch. Also Just be aware of the hidden screw in the top part of the PSU clamshell cover under the part number label. I just peeled the tamper label back to stick back later
The next issue was releasing the old 40mm fan which was a fullwidth 20mm which just needs a little bending of the rear wall of the PSU and wiggling. You can decide whether to reuse the existing 2 pin connector or swap the red and black leads on the new Noctua fan as the gnd and 12v are reversed on the PSU board. After that just replace the fan, screw it in and replace the PSU in reverse.
120mm replacement: Now this was alot easier and as the new fan came with a Female/Male Molex to 2 pin connector I didnt even bother to try and reuse the tiny SANS 2 pin connector on the backplane. I did use the ULTRA low noise in line connector for even lower fan speeds
So the result, a big improvement and the high pitched whine has gone. I may even add in one of the other in line connectors to drop the fan speed even lower. Its still not as godly quiet as the EX490 but I am pleased with the result. Disks running about 32 degrees.
Cheers
Rip