Cabinet Cooling DIY

[Djizasse]

I want to implement a cooling solution for my cabinet.
The components inside it can be seen in the following pic:

top - Marantz SR6003
middle - Blu Ray Player (future buy)
bottom - Toshiba HD-A35
right - PS2
right back - future power strip

Regarding clearances, I've got 1.5" on left and 2" on top of the receiver.
On the right I've got 7.5".

The reason for this arrangement is to have the hottest component on top, where I think the fans will cause the greater air displacement. Moreover, it will not heat the cooler running players below.
On the right I have space for the PS2, and to access the power strip or the component's rear panels.

This is the left view:

Between the receiver and the first player it's just less than an inch, enough for the receiver's feet.
Bellow I've got 4,7", just enough space for 2 common sized players.

At the bottom, there's a thin board covering the middle. I left space at the bottom to get cables through.
On top there's a structure to hold 3x 120mm 12Vcomputer fans. They will be the silent kind and controlled with a fan controller to set the rpms of each fan.
The air will come from the front and exit at the top rear.

A look at the back:

I'm also thinking to make a fan duct for the middle one, to force it to only pull air from the top of receiver.

Do you think this is a good idea? Any improvements on this?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Looks like you put a lot of thought into it; it should work well.

I just kind of slapped a couple of fans in mine and it worked very well too.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53135&highlight=cooling&page=14

 

[mike c]

wouldn't that receiver crush those two HD DVD players? (or are they at least the same depth?)

 

[Djizasse]

I "forgot" to say that I'll build a support structure that won't impede airflow.
I haven't designed yet. First I want to be sure on the cooling solution.

 

[Haoleb]

For the most efficient cooling you're going to want the air intake to be at the front of the cabinet on the bottom and the fans on the rear at the top so that you are esentially drawing air across the entire space.

 

[Djizasse]

Yeah Dawg, I've seen your DIY. Maybe that enough for me too.

Haoleb, with 3 fans pulling air at the top I expect it to evacuate the top air layer, which is hotter and then the lower layers will be sucked up to fill the space at the top.

The cabinet at the front has a "lid" that I usually left open, but if I made a hole at the bottom it would supply cool air to the cabinet. Thinking about it, I guess you might be right, one or two fans there would "fill" the bottom with cool air.

 

[split0101]

The one thing I would add to any bottom feeding fan design is a filter. For example, my PC sits on the ground and has 2x80mm fans, and every month I had to use a air compressor to blow out a nice layer of dust. I put in some fine mesh filters in front of the fans and it is a lot less dusty inside the case now.

The biggest reason is that dust insulates, and will kill your electronics. A nice coat of dust on your amp heat sinks and that component is going to get really nice and hot.

 

[FNG212]

With respect to your airflow direction:

I experimented with my computer as to whether it would be more efficient to pull hot air away or push cool air towards the heat source. I found it much more effective to push cold air onto the CPU than try to suck the hot air away. This is just a suggestion for your air duct: build the duct but have the fan push cool air into it.

 

[s162216]

Having two fans, one drawing and one blowing air in/out in a push - pull configuration is much more effective. Think about it - only having fans pulling air in will result in cool air - but where does that air go after its warmed up?
Nowhere, it just raises the temperature unless it is 'sucked out.

 

[fredk]

Hook up a big blower to the back and be done with it. Just don't forget to put a grill in front to stop children and small pets from being sucked in.

 

[Gaigebacca]

I had to come up with a cooling solution for my father-in-law's setup... which was basically an Onkyo TX-SR8** series AVR, dish network HDDVR, and PS3 in a sealed wooden cabinet... was not a good combination... but I put in one 120mm Scythe fan in the top left side of the cabinet in the back (the very back of the cabinet is a wall...) and then just cut a notch out of the bottom of the cabinet door. About 10-12 inches long and about .5 deep along the inside bottom corner of the door. So that there is no visible hole in the cabinet door, but allows plenty of air flow in... now everything stays nice and cool.

 

[Djizasse]

With respect to your airflow direction:

I experimented with my computer as to whether it would be more efficient to pull hot air away or push cool air towards the heat source. I found it much more effective to push cold air onto the CPU than try to suck the hot air away. This is just a suggestion for your air duct: build the duct but have the fan push cool air into it.

That depends a lot on your system. I had a mid tower with a hole and a duct to pull the air directly from the CPU to the outside of the case. It was a low power system. I had a cool internal temperature.

But with many systems is better to blow air onto the cpu, because it cools the cpu and the surroundings mosfets, power regulators, etc.. It's also hard to get cool air in a system with lot's of heat producing components as the GPU, northbridge, southbridge, raid controllers, etc.. No way to get cool air inside.
But your suggestion is valid. I could reverse the fans, but I would have to re-think the all thing.

Having two fans, one drawing and one blowing air in/out in a push - pull configuration is much more effective. Think about it - only having fans pulling air in will result in cool air - but where does that air go after its warmed up?
Nowhere, it just raises the temperature unless it is 'sucked out.

My design uses 3 fans to pull the air out I also prefer negative pressure setups. It lowers temperatures and decreases dust buildup.

 

[Djizasse]

I had to come up with a cooling solution for my father-in-law's setup... which was basically an Onkyo TX-SR8** series AVR, dish network HDDVR, and PS3 in a sealed wooden cabinet... was not a good combination... but I put in one 120mm Scythe fan in the top left side of the cabinet in the back (the very back of the cabinet is a wall...) and then just cut a notch out of the bottom of the cabinet door. About 10-12 inches long and about .5 deep along the inside bottom corner of the door. So that there is no visible hole in the cabinet door, but allows plenty of air flow in... now everything stays nice and cool.

I was thinking about that. But it would be visible.
But if you can cool all that with one Scythe, maybe I'm just overdoing it.
I should make a mockup to test if 3 fans at low rpm would create enough pressure to pull air in through the bottom of the door.

 

[FNG212]

What is your volume-air-in vs volume-air-out of the fans? I really wanted my system to work on a negative pressure design but I couldn't make it work. I gave up on it but still reckon the theory is valid.

How are you connecting the fans? Do they have the 4-pin connectors for computer PSUs? Are you just using a computer PSU to power the fans and control unit?


Now you've got me designing my own new cabinet. I hate this forum

 

[Warpdrv]

So what fans are you intending to use.... I am looking at adding in some 20mm fans to insure my setup stays cool, but I don't want any noise....

 

[Djizasse]

What is your volume-air-in vs volume-air-out of the fans? I really wanted my system to work on a negative pressure design but I couldn't make it work. I gave up on it but still reckon the theory is valid.

How are you connecting the fans? Do they have the 4-pin connectors for computer PSUs? Are you just using a computer PSU to power the fans and control unit?

No need for a PC PSU. A 12V ACDC converter (wall adapter), connected to the receiver's power outlet is just fine.
The 12V ACDC will power a fan controller like this. I'll just splice the converter cable and connect it to the fan controller.
Lastly, I'll connect the fans to the controller. I might have to solder new fan headers if the supplieds don't match the controller's.

Air in vs air out? I have no idea. I just try things until they work

So what fans are you intending to use.... I am looking at adding in some 20mm fans to insure my setup stays cool, but I don't want any noise....

I guess you mean 120mm. I have a few 120mm laying around, I'll just try to seem if what I have is good enough.
I don't intend to run the fans full speed, they will be slowed down by the controller.
These are some I've tried to slow down with good results (no noise):
Noctua
The Noiseblockers are also good. They have ones with rubber corners to reduce vibration. They're nice.
Rasurbos are low cost and run slow and quiet, no need for reducing it's speed.
They you also have Papst, SCYTHE, SILENX with very quiet offerings.
Some Akasa and Revoltec fans (the ones with Leds) can also be slowed down, but I prefer the above. Pricier but quieter.

All these brands also offer versions already slowed down, but I prefer to control the exact amount of speed reduction.

Depending on your exact setup, where the fans will be and the amount of air they have to pull out you can choose quieter/noisier, pricier/cheaper fans. It's not an exact science, but in my case I don't need to move too much air, it's more to extract some heat. And they'll be at the rear of the cabinet. I don't think I'll hear them spinning slowly.
Sometimes the noise you hear is not even the fans, but the air bumping around through tight spaces.

On an end note, don't forget that bigger fans offer a better air/noise ratio. They have to spin slower to move the same amount of air than a smaller fan.
If you can use a 220mm fan, consider it.

 

[Gaigebacca]

I just used a Scythe 120mm fan with a AC/DC adapter from Radio Shack and a connector, the whole thing for under $50. I have the fan running at maybe 28-30dB... you cant hear it from more than a foot away, and it it keeps the cabinet maybe just 1-2 F higher than the ambient room temp. Before, the cabinet would get to over 140F (components would shut down from temp safeguards), but now it is half that... All from just one fan in a negative pressure setup.

I drew up a quick sketch of what I did... I know it is rough... so just go with me, you get the general idea...

 

[Gaigebacca]

No need for a PC PSU. A 12V ACDC converter (wall adapter), connected to the receiver's power outlet is just fine.
The 12V ACDC will power a fan controller like this. I'll just splice the converter cable and connect it to the fan controller.
Lastly, I'll connect the fans to the controller. I might have to solder new fan headers if the supplieds don't match the controller's.

Air in vs air out? I have no idea. I just try things until they work


I guess you mean 120mm. I have a few 120mm laying around, I'll just try to seem if what I have is good enough.
I don't intend to run the fans full speed, they will be slowed down by the controller.
These are some I've tried to slow down with good results (no noise):
Noctua
The Noiseblockers are also good. They have ones with rubber corners to reduce vibration. They're nice.
Rasurbos are low cost and run slow and quiet, no need for reducing it's speed.
They you also have Papst, SCYTHE, SILENX with very quiet offerings.
Some Akasa and Revoltec fans (the ones with Leds) can also be slowed down, but I prefer the above. Pricier but quieter.

All these brands also offer versions already slowed down, but I prefer to control the exact amount of speed reduction.

Depending on your exact setup, where the fans will be and the amount of air they have to pull out you can choose quieter/noisier, pricier/cheaper fans. It's not an exact science, but in my case I don't need to move too much air, it's more to extract some heat. And they'll be at the rear of the cabinet. I don't think I'll hear them spinning slowly.
Sometimes the noise you hear is not even the fans, but the air bumping around through tight spaces.

On an end note, don't forget that bigger fans offer a better air/noise ratio. They have to spin slower to move the same amount of air than a smaller fan.
If you can use a 220mm fan, consider it.

I agree with the 220mm fan tho, when I can find one, I will prolly upgrade the fan in this cabinet with a 220mm... just to be on the safe side, even tho the 120 has been fine so far.

 

[Djizasse]

220mm fans are sold on computer stores (B&M and online).
You could reduce the speed on your fan. It's doing more than enough.

 

[Gaigebacca]

220mm fans are sold on computer stores (B&M and online).
You could reduce the speed on your fan. It's doing more than enough.

I have already reduced the fan speed by 20% or so... the only problem is, the media room itself, doesnt have the best cooling (which they are working on) but it can get pretty warm in there when the projector is going and so forth, so I would rather put in a 220mm where it can run at 100% if needed, provide extra cooling, even when the ambient temp is higher, and still not be audible... because that last 20% on the Scythe, it does become audible. Also, I appreciate your advice, but I know where to get them (I am an IT Director for some companies in Dallas). No B&M stores that are local have 220mm in stock, and just havent gotten around to buying one online.