Dell Thunderbolt dock TB15 overheating?

So I had it for a month, and after installing ASmedia drivers (that at that time were not even published on Dell website) didn't really have any problems with it. Recently I noticed that one monitor that goes into DP port just gets a 'no signal' after some time. It doesn't come back if I restart the laptop immediately, but every morning it starts just fine. It works forever if Ethernet cable is unplugged , but when plugged after an hour goes away.

And then it hit me - all the reports of disconnects at random times, some (minority) have no problems, others have issues after minutes others after hours. So, something overheats and differences in production process and/or environment contribute to various time delays.



That's how the dock main board looks like. So I've put heatsinks on USB hub controller (USB5537B), MCU (PIC32MX) and both Synaptics chips (One is DP hub, I couldn't find any references to the other, so just in case). I didn't have anything small enough to put on ASmedia USB chip. My money is on USB hub controller as the culprit, every USB hub I have gets really hot, all the others are probably not needed. And I left the machine running for the last 12 hours and everything is still connected. Ethernet, two monitors, gaming keyboard (takes two USB ports) and mouse.

I'm just curious if somebody has second batch of TB15 docks, could open it and see if they put some heatsinks.

 

Perhaps you could post a pic with arrows since (at least in this pic) I have no idea what I'm looking for. I have had both the first batch TB15 and now the second - I did notice the first TB15 was much warmer to the touch than the second TB15 but the Ethernet connection instability with the first TB15 occurred immediately on startup so I doubt whether it was heat related.

 

Any issues with the second one? I doubt they changed the motherboard layout or used different chips in such a short period of time. I mean they announced the dock something like 6 months before releasing it. If they did and this reduced the thermals they should issue a recall of the first batch.

I'm not really sure what exactly is the cause, or what IC is causing it, it's just that all the symptoms point towards overheating. When I got it first the whole USB 3.0 controller would go into an endless loop of connecting/disconnecting as soon as I connected Ethernet cable. And since the Ethernet on the dock uses USB bus that would cycle also. But that was solved after installing ASmedia USB driver (from Asus at that time).

After putting the heatsinks the DP display died after 14 hours. But I'm pretty sure I'm on a right track. I removed the case completely now, there is no airflow at all inside of the case when it is closed, and will let it run for some time completely open. I still think it is the usb hub controller, it is rated only for 70C and it feels like the hottest component. If that holds for two days straight I'll get my Dremel tool to work. Or even install a fan, just need to figure out where to get the power from.

 

I have one from first batch and I have not noticed any over heating issue and I have used it for 12+ hours in a single day. After I updated the ASMedia USB driver along with other drivers and bios from Dell my XPS as well as TB15 has been working good.

As planetweckesser said initial issue with the dock started immediately after plugging in where I would see the ethernet and usb cycle which was fixed with updated ASMedia USB driver.

 

A week ago I'd have written exactly the same, I had no issues whatsoever. But I right now I can remove the question mark from the topic subject, the TB15 is overheating.

I had mine running for 24 hours, fully open and display stayed on. So I put the case back on it, partially at least, couldn't close it completely because of the USB-c cable. And after two hours DP display went blank. Without turning the dock or laptop off, I took the case off, put the heatsinks back on and started blowing air on them. Guess what - after couple of seconds the DP display came back on.

It is either the USB controller hub or the DP hub on the board. I'll do it again and this time I'll try to isolate a particular chip.

 

Ok. This doesn't sound good at all. Keep us updated. If that is the case then Dell may need to recall these or these may start failing in the near future.

 

I can replicate this every time now, I can turn the DP monitor on and off by just modulating air flow over the Synaptics VMM3220B chip. That's the DP hub.

 

had spurious stability problems, tried different solutions such as driver updates / downgrades, re-plugging etc. Newest thing that reliably works is putting the box into the fridge for 5 mins.

 

After several unsuccesful repair attempts, I had a phone call with Dell Support in Germany today. Apparently, sale of the TB15 is stopped until known bugs are fixed. I have the options of either getting my money back or enlist on a list to get a replacement when they come up with a solution.

 

Dell is using the Google model of pushing early beta junk on the public

 

So, although I'm late to the party, how did you open up that case?
From your picture, I'm quite confident that it's not the two "screw" thingies on the bottom. Did you just pry it open or is there any trick?

edit: It's pretty obvious actually. Just remove the rubber pad covering the complete bottom. Screws will be accessible.