Latitude

[jonbeard]

Our current corporate builds come with Dell WD19 docking stations. We upgraded to these from WD15's last year.

I had a "VIP" user complain about the noise of his docking station. Initially I thought he must be mistaken and talking about his laptop fans running loud, but no sure enough these WD19 docks come with fans that can move papers off desks, and likely take flight of its own. There is something dead wrong with the firmware on these. 

This particular user is using a Precision 3541, however I have also tested with my Precision 3541 as well as a Latitude 7490. I performed a firmware upgrade:

WD19 Firmware upgrades seem to make zero improvements. I have seen a few other threads longer than 6 pages about this same issue on here, with some back and forth responses but no definite answer. I will NOT be modifying cooling settings and sabotaging performance for a Docking station issue. 

This seems to be a firmware issue, and nothing about ambient temperature or the unit actually trying to cool itself. I brought the dock back to my workbench to record a video of it, which can be located here: https://gofile.io/d/RbOWrw

The reason I suspect this is a firmware issue is that the fan will go from 0 to 100 immediately back to 20 to 100 to 0 to 50 to 0 to 100 in a matter of 15 seconds. This cycle repeats approximately every 5-10 mins.

Curious to know if anyone else is having similar issues.... can't chat with Dell support like I normally do for laptops, and refuse to talk to their phone "customer service" reps

[Aerowave]

Lucky you! I'm about 20 messages in and have gone round in circles with @DELL-Cares  telling me that's "normal" and will refuse to replace it.

I have referred them to this post in the hope of some progress.

[jonbeard]

Yes - Dell Cares ended up replacing the dock for me. Feel free to PM that account. Took about 6 or so replies back and forth but they replaced it and it fixed the problem.

[Aerowave]

Hi, did you manage to get the loud dock replaced in the end?

I believe mine has the same issue. It's either silent or hairdryer level.

[jonbeard]

Hello, This information has already been provided to you in our PM conversations, please review.

[DELL-Cares]

Hi, can you please help me with your contact and address details. I will setup a replacement for the dock.

[jonbeard]

I've been going back and forth with Dell Cares, but doesn't seem like they have a grasp on this quite yet. Asking for this WD19 to be replaced. 

To be clear, I believe this is a defect but does not affect all WD19's - We have hundreds of WD19's deployed, and this is the only one with this particular issue. Probably a bad batch. Still waiting on a warranty swap  

[Aerowave]

I have the same issue with my WD19TB I bought. The fan seems to only be at 0 or 100 and there's no ramping in between. It's really loud and really really annoying. Especially considering how expensive these are.

[DELL-Cares]

Thank you! We have received the required details. We will work towards a resolution via private messages to ensure the security of your information. In the meanwhile, you may receive assistance or suggestions from the community members as well.