Cooling Fan for Equipment Stack

[stiletto pat]

<font color='#000000'>I seem to recall seeing a post on a forum regarding a small, quiet cooling fan, especially useful when you have multiple power amps in an enclosed cabinet. &nbsp;Can anyone suggest a good, quiet product for this purpose?

Thanks,

Pat</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>You can get very inexpensive cooling fans from Radio Shack. Not sure if Parts Express has them, but look here:</font>

 

[stiletto pat]

<font color='#000000'>Thanks for the reply and the lead..... &nbsp;Looks like they have something that will work.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>

</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>Those of you running tube gear might want to look here.

</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>

Now that is funny!</font>

 

[stiletto pat]

<font color='#000000'>Rip,

Where the hell do you find this shzizit? &nbsp;Too dang funny...

Pat</font>

 

[Mudcat]

<font color='#000000'>Hopefully this is not too late, but you would want at least two 12 VDC 4 1/2 inch muffin fans.  Avoid the blowers, they are two noisy.  If your amp has a vented top, using double sticky sided foam weather stripping, tape the fan to the top of the amp, and cover any exposed open vents with about 1/4 inch thick filter foam so that you don't suck in the dust.  the two fans could be powered by a wall wart.  Do not use any AC fan, it will create a lot of noise, both electrical and acoustic.

I,m in the process of making several fan units for my rack, one for each amp (4) and one for my RX-V1400.  Overkill, yeah but I have the fans and the rack space and the housings for them.  I am also using a regulated 12 VDC  10 amp power supply, but I will be driving a lot of other stuff also, like a mixer, powered antenna, two slot car tracks.</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Chaeck this out. cool:</font>

 

[christian_00x]

The only 12V quite fans I can find are Vantec "Stealth" computer case fans (which are very quiet). They are rated at 21 dBA and 100mA. I hooked them up to a 1200mA wall wart, but they don't work. I think it is because the computer fans have 3 wires instead of just 2 - red, black and yellow. The red and black are obvious and I believe the yellow is for computer control. Does anyone know how to make it so I can use these fans in a audio cabinet situation - ouside of a computer case? Does the yellow wire just need to be connected to the ground?

Also, does anyone have a cheep solution for controlling these fans. Maybe a thermo-switch? Any link to such a switch would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Christian

 

[jaxvon]

Computer fans are designed to run on 12v, not normal 120v AC power. You'll need to find a transformer of some sort to use them. That, or you could try looking for 120v fans. BTW, the third wire is for the motherboard monitoring. It allows your computer to measure teh RPM your fans are spinning at.

 

[Bryce_H]

I just bought 3 120v fans from radio shack. I am using 1 as a dedicated exhaust for my ceiling mounted projector. the other 2 are for my component closet. The closet is in the back of the room with a door into the HT and also a door in the back (in the rec room) to access the back of the components. I will be installing both fans in the back door - 1 blowing cold air in (near the floor) and one blowing hot air out (near the top). All the fans will be powered by switched outlets either on my reciever or my Panamax 5510. That way they only run when needed.

 

[christian_00x]

My problem is that 120v fans are too noisy - that is why I'm interested in 12VDC fans Mudcat suggested earlier in this post. And especially the stealth computer fans because they are very quiet. Is there a way to get a computer fan to work with a 12VDC wall wart (1200mA transformer)?

How about an inexpensive small thermostat switch? Anyone have a lead for that?

 

[jaxvon]

Well, I would think you could use 120v rans with a rheostat switch. As long as you could find a way to hide a single-gange box in your rack, you could have an easy way to control all of your fans with one knob.

And yes, I think you could use a wall wart to power the fans. Just disregard the yellow wire. The red and black are the only ones you need. The yellow wire is used for speed monitoring when they're hooked up to a computer.

 

[mustang_steve]

Better yet, find a 12v fan that spins up at 5v, and run it off a 5v supply.

I run all case fans in my PC @5v and it's nice and quiet.

 

[mustang_steve]

oh by the way look at computer fan controllers for examples of speed control. Their auto-sensing units won't work most likely due to where the thermocouple has to go for ti to work right...but the knob-based units will work nicely for many of your apps...and those run off 12v/5v hybrid...just use an old AT power supply to run it...the 230w ATs tend to be very quiet...the 100-odd watt ones are super quiet.

 

[dvenardos]

I am working on the same problem, I think the 1200ma output may be too high. From what I have read (http://www.glitchbuster.com/wallwart.htm), the output of a standard transformer is unregulated so if you aren't using 1200ma (which you wouldn't be with the single fan) then the voltage is much higher than 12 volts. You are supposed to be able to add a voltage regulator IC, if I find out how I will post again. I believe the fan should run around 100 - 200 ma.

(Update: Looks like RadioShack has some converters with regulated output
http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog_name=ctlg&category_name=ctlg_009_001_001_002&page=1 )

I am looking at the the Antec 120mm SmartCool which is a variable speed fan with built in temperature sensor.
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=75012

Please post update if you solve the fan problem, it should work...

 

[Mort Corey]

After trying several different fans, I ended up using a SilenX 120mm 12volt fan in my cabinet. They move a lot of air and come in an 11db or 14db configuration. They can be run off of any cheap 12v transformer. The 120v fans I tried were in the 20-25db range and were pretty annoying...especially in an encolsed area.

Mort

 

[dvenardos]

... They can be run off of any cheap 12v transformer....

Mort

Mort how did you wire your fan? Any ideas why christian_00x cannot get his fan to run?

 

[mustang_steve]

My problem is that 120v fans are too noisy - that is why I'm interested in 12VDC fans Mudcat suggested earlier in this post. And especially the stealth computer fans because they are very quiet. Is there a way to get a computer fan to work with a 12VDC wall wart (1200mA transformer)?

How about an inexpensive small thermostat switch? Anyone have a lead for that?

Just wire up the red lead of the fan to the positive on your wall wart, and the black to the negative. The third wire, if there is one, can be ignored (the blue one), as it's just a speed monitoring lead which is used in PC motherboards so the machine knows if it's safe to stay powered on (most will shut off if they detect the CPU fan failed).

So remeber red (on some freak fans, yellow) = +, black = -. Watts = volts x amps, so a 2w 12v fan needs approx .16A of current (160mA)...this can easily be driven off a wall wart. Just remember to not exceed the current specs for your wall wart, and to wire fans in prarlell, not series. All but the most powerful computer fans can be powered off a 1000mA wall wart.

If you don't want to cut leads, buy a female socket made for that plug type of your wall wart (radioshack is good for this), and solder the fan leads to it, that way you can unplug the wall wart as needed.


For reference in terms of what a wall wart like that can do, I have an 80x80x40mm Vantec Tornado....possibly the mmost powerful DC 80mm fan ever made...84.1CFM...but at an ungodly noise level, as well as taking .76A of current....thats over 9 watts....and it can be ran off a 1000mA wall wart....if it can, so can your fans

edit: if you get 20-ish Db fans, it's advisable to not try to speed regulate them at first, since the airflow numbers from them are rather low. A 120mm vantec stealth puts out the kind of air a medium speed 80mm sunon can, although about 5-7Db quieter. So remeber a quiet fan is quiet for a reason...it moves less air. If you wish to move less air, get a 5v 1000mA wallwart and buy an AOC 120mm aluminum frame fan and run it at 5v. They run very very quiet and put out a good deal of air at that speed.