Korg Kronos: “Fan Cooling” message? How to fix high temperature!

Some days ago, I saw a red alert on the screen of my Korg Kronos: “Fan Cooling”. I have immediately checked the cpu temperature and it was 89 degrees. Definitely too much!

Since my Kronos is out of warranty (I have the first series) I decided to open the workstation because I was convinced that the problem was the dust.

Honestly, when I opened the Kronos, I was quite disappointed about the heat dissipation: No fan on the cpu (on an Intel Atom dual core CPU, really?), only a very small (and noisy!) fan near the power supply and that’s it. Now I understand why the temperature is always so high and this is not a good thing.

So… ready to start? 😀

What you need:

  • Artic F8 Pro Fan (12 Volt): Amazon
  • Small Fan 5V for the CPU: Amazon
  • Passive Heatsink: Amazon
  • Four small rubber pads
  • Super Attack Glue: Amazon

1: Put the kronos upside down and remove all the screws. Pay attention to the joystick.

2: On the left side, unplug the cable of the fan:

3: In the center, find the fan and remove the 2 screws:

4: Remove the old fan:

5: Put the rubber pads on the 4 corners, add the Artic Fan in the slot and use the glue to attack it to the rubbers. Connect the cable to the power:

6: Time to add a small fan on the cpu:

8: Last Step! Let’s add the passive heatsink on the northbridge:

Done! Time to close your Kronos 🙂

Improvements:

Temperature after 30 minutes is 28 (!) degrees cooler.

Noise has been reduced.

Enjoy!

Share:

There are 5 comments on Korg Kronos: “Fan Cooling” message? How to fix high temperature!

  • Hi
    Thanks for the explanation for cooling the Korg Kronus.
    Unfortunately, there’s no articles from Korg on how to better cope with high temperatures in this particular keyboard. I find this unacceptable, as it’s inevitable that something overheats and fails with such high temperatures. My power supply failed, and cost £190 for a replacement unit, which I took about 2 hours to install. Korg UK would have charged £300+ for this repair, plus P/P in both directions £35. Not to mention the high risk of more damage in transit.
    Regards
    Ross

    • Yes I totally agree with you. Hope this home-made solution will work. I have solved my over heating issue with mine 🙂

      Best,
      Paolo

  • Hi Paolo

    I’m about to order a couple of new fans for my Kronus, and noticed that your replacement for the original fan has 3(three) pins/cables, whilst the extra fan on your CPU has only 2(two) pins/cables. Will that also mean the extra fan’s speed won’t be regulated by the Motherboard?
    Also, do you think the extra CPU fan (12 volt?) will put any extra load on the Motherboard?
    Do you have a recommendation for a specific glue to attach the heat sink to the Northbridge, for best conduction?
    Would you care to comment please?

    Thanks in advance
    Ross

    • Hi Ross!

      I’ll try to reply:
      1) yes exactly, the extra fan’s speed is not regulated by the motherboard. Anyway, in my view, it is not an issue, since it is very silent and helps the cpu.
      2) I don’t think an extra cpu fan is a problem, it is a normal intel atom motherboard for computers.
      3) Nope, I have used a normal adhesive heatsink but it is not mandatory.

      Hope it can helps!
      Paolo

  • Thanks for your advice Paolo.
    Ross

Leave a Reply

2021 © Paolo Campitelli. All rights reserved.