TB16 fan issues

My fan does not make that much noise but it might be important to know what you are running from the dock.  In fact, I don't notice it until I listen for it.  But I am not running any monitors.

I am not sure right now if my fan turns off when asleep but this may be related to the original noise during use.   You did a firmware upgrade for the dock on your 9365?

I don't know about the service tag but make sure you are reading all digits correctly.  I will check the sleep fan operation on my system.

I have checked and entered the service tag multiple times, and Dell's website will not recognize it.  I downloaded all the latest drivers/firmwares before I first connected the TB16.  I just checked for any new downloads I didn't already install, but I am completely up to date.

I'm running very little from the dock:

-1 1080p monitor

-Ethernet

-2 USB peripherals (mouse, keyboard)

I did some more testing and noticed this: if I connect the TB16 while the fan is off, and put the XPS to sleep while the dock's fan is still off, it will remain off indefinitely (as it should).  

However, if I wait a minute or two for the dock's fan to turn on, and then put the XPS to sleep, the dock's fan will remain on indefinitely (as it should *not*).

I can't imagine that this is intended behavior, as the above proves that there is no reason for the dock's fan to be on while the XPS is sleeping.

It's easy to test this:

1) Shut the XPS down while TB16 is connected -> Dock's fan turns off in 1-2 minutes

2) Put the XPS to sleep while TB16 is connected -> Dock's fan remains on indefinitely

3) Connect TB16 to XPS, and put XPS to sleep before dock's fan turns on -> Dock's fan remains off indefinitely

Clearly something is wrong here?

OK, I will test your configuration later this afternoon.

But the fan is for the dock.  If the dock is hot, the fan may stay on.  You might try unplugging the monitor to see if the behavior remains.

When these systems go to "sleep" it is not the same as you might have experienced before.  Basically, the display turning off puts the system in Modern Standby where parts actually stay in a ready state and can communicate.  How that situation might effect a Dock, I do not know.

Unplugging the monitor did not change the behavior.

Again, my testing methodology proves that the dock is perfectly capable of keeping the fan off while the connected XPS is sleeping.  

I understand why active cooling is necessary for electronics, but what I don't understand is:

1) The inconsistent behavior of this dock when the connected XPS is sleeping

2) Why a $300 dock was designed to require a fan in the first place, when there are entire PC's which are the same size as this dock for the same price which are entirely passive.  This is a dock, not a computer.  It has two vents (1 more than your typical laptop), is thicker than any laptop, yet any recent laptop has a quieter fan under normal operation than this dock.    

Hi,

the Fan of this Dock is indeed _very_ annoying. It spins up and down in second, hart to work in a quite environment near this Dock.

If i shutdown my XPS 13, the Dock Fan goes down after a short time.

I am not really happy with this device. I have lots of trouble with High Bandwith Video using 4K. Get lots of Blackouts with my XPS 13, but not with for example an Lenovo P50/P51.

Thanks for the info.  So it seems this issue may be limited to the XPS 13 9365, which leads me to believe Dell can fix this with some sort of BIOS/firmware/driver update.  Unless I just have a faulty dock.  

Yes, shutting down the XPS will also shut down the fan.  But putting the XPS to sleep does not stop the fan.  If you try the test I designed, you will see that the dock does not need the fan running while the XPS is asleep.  Clearly the dock does not get the "message" that the XPS is sleeping under a normal use case, and I hope that Dell will address this with a firmware update, or a replacement dock if necessary.

I really hope someone from Dell will respond to this thread regarding the erratic behavior of this dock.    

I've also noticed that my 9365 is still warm when "sleeping" with the TB16 connected.  When sleeping without the dock, it's not warm.

Clearly there is an issue with the 9365 properly going into sleep while the TB16 is connected.  

Clearly Dell does not want to acknowledge the problem.

How Dell charges $300 for a box the size of an NUC that isn't even a computer and doesn't function properly is beyond me.

Quite unimpressed with the "premium" line of Dell products, having come from Thinkpads where no such issues occur.  I hadn't even mentioned the unacceptable level of coil whine the 9365 makes when plugged in to its AC adapter.

If anyone wants to see a properly designed TB3 dock with passive cooling, take a look at.......every other dock from every other PC manufacturer.  They don't even have vents, let alone fans.  How do they do it?!  Is it magic?!

Quite unimpressed with the "premium" line of Dell products, having come from Thinkpads where no such issues occur.  Lesson learned.

No - I've got a Precision 5520 with TB16, and the fan is equally annoying. The fan spins up, and then varies it's pitch every few seconds as electric load is added or removed... It's really annoying in a quiet environment

: If anyone wants to see a properly designed TB3 dock with passive cooling, take a look at.......every other dock from every other PC manufacturer.  They don't even have vents, let alone fans.  How do they do it?!  Is it magic?!

Well, Dell's initial TB3 dock design was the TB15 sans the fan. But it didn't work ;( I understand some users hacked it using heatsinks.

Fan noise is just about the only TB16 issue I have not had.  In fact if one were to ask me I would have guessed that dock cooling was passive.

My problems are legion:

• External keyboard freezes requiring reboots
• I can not use my favorite Microsoft keyboard.  
• My XPS 13 9350 will not sleep when plugged into the dock
• I can not start the XPS from the dock the first time.  The computer needs to be started then plugged into the dock, then I can shutdown and restart the computer from the dock 

I am on my second dock, (no joy) and I have reinstalled windows too many times to count at the suggestion of Dell Tech support..

The second dock is going back tomorrow and the computer will probably follow as I really want to be able to connect to my external monitors and other peripherals.

Sad really as the XPS is a great looking piece of hardware.

Mine oscillates between 1600 and 1620 Hz or so.  Day 1, and I'm losing my mind already.

So I returned the 2nd dock and then the computer, and repurchased both.  EVERYTHING is working perfectly (though to be honest my wife has taken over my MS keyboard as her own so I have not included that in the equation, but I will).  

Oooh yes, I have the exact same issue with my P5520 and the TB16. I have two of them (TB16), and the exact same behavior on both.

And that is not the only issue, it can take almost a minute until the keyboard is responsive after wake from sleep, sometimes one of my screens starts to randomly turn off and on until I reboot and I'm pretty sure that the laptop throttles more aggressively when connected to the dock (although that may be because it's running external screens when docked).