Anyone using Laptop coolers instead of the AC Infinity products?

[gaby95]

Hello all!
Just wondering how many of you are using laptop coolers instead of the great looking AC Infinity products.
I was about to buy the T9 and call it a day but I figured I would check what you guys are using as an alternative. I saw some with much bigger fans and coming from the computer world, bigger fans mean moving more air with less noise but who knows if they have some magic ingredient on the T9
My Denon is at the top of an open rack so that helps.

Thanks!

 

[NINaudio]

On medium or low you're not going to hear three 120mm fans from a typical viewing distance. Maybe on high with no content playing.

 

[ryanosaur]

Is your rack in the main room, or a side closet?

The nice thing about those aircom t-units is that they have the display, and can run other fans via usb. If you don't need that funciona;lity, there are other options that could be less expensive.
The t-9... is that the Top Vent option?

Options include:

Quiet USB fans

USB fans for receivers, DVRs, Xboxs, amplifiers,

www.acinfinity.com

and this:

MULTIFAN S2, Quiet USB Cooling Blower, 120mm

Your source to create smart growing systems with components including advance grow tents, inline fans, clip-on fans, LED grow lights, and UIS™ controllers.

www.acinfinity.com

 

[gaby95]

Yeah I kind of dig the looks of it and I am sucker for looks so guess I was trying to convince myself of just getting a laptop cooler LOL

 

[ryanosaur]

Yeah I kind of dig the looks of it and I am sucker for looks so guess I was trying to convince myself of just getting a laptop cooler LOL

fwiw, I totally dig my T-10. I used to be in a closed cabinet... plenty of space, but nowhere for the heat to go. When it vents forward, you can hear it if the room is quiet and the fans are running hard, but with a little tweaking, it's barely audible now. I want to replace it with a t-8 since my usage has changed and rear vent would be much preferred.

 

[lovinthehd]

I don't use a cooler even on my laptop....altho the laptop tray I use has fans, I just never use them. I don't use an AC Infinity unit on the avrs, rather just some simple fans that sit on top and vent to the rear from coolerguys.com

ps Where I use the fans the space is too tight for an AC Infinity unit....would possibly have gone that route if they were thin enough....

 

[Trell]

I’ve three Noctua 120 mm 5V PWM fans on top of my AVR, with Noctua fan controllers.

With 5V I can use USB on my TV and Oppo player to power the fans.

 

[lovinthehd]

I’ve three Noctua 120 mm 5V RPM fans on my AVR, with Noctua fan controllers. They are simply put on top of it.

With 5V I can use USB on my TV and Oppo player to power the fans.

One caution on using usb ports on avr or players to power fans, not just voltage but watch amperage....the fans I used that exceeded the ability of the avr's usb port (1 amp in my avr's case), I just use a wall wart for power instead plus that frees up the port for use with a thumb drive instead.

ps in my Denon avrs only one usb port is active at a time, so if you want to use a port for other than for a cooling fan (the change can be done from the remote fwiw)....

 

[gaby95]

The reason I thought about laptop coolers aside from the bigger fans is that it still looks decent depending on which one I get vs just fans on top of it

 

[Pandaman617]

One caution on using usb ports on avr or players to power fans, not just voltage but watch amperage....the fans I used that exceeded the ability of the avr's usb port (1 amp in my avr's case), I just use a wall wart for power instead plus that frees up the port for use with a thumb drive instead.

I had a very similar problem and just use the USB - AC adapter that came with my AC Infinity fans. Although plugged into the front USB they do function albeit at an extremely reduced rate.

 

[Trell]

One caution on using usb ports on avr or players to power fans, not just voltage but watch amperage....the fans I used that exceeded the ability of the avr's usb port (1 amp in my avr's case), I just use a wall wart for power instead plus that frees up the port for use with a thumb drive instead.

This is an important point, and I checked that when buying the fans. They draw 0.35A at full input power and they are running at a fairly low speed.

Two fans are connected to the TV and one to the Oppo player.

NF-A12x25 5V PWM

The NF-A12x25 5V PWM is a PWM-enabled 5V variant of Noctua’s award-winning, premium-quality NF-A12x25 120mm fan. Featuring an AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation) standard frame and sophisticated aerodynamic design measures such as Flow Acceleration Channels, the NF-A12x25 is renowned for its...

noctua.at

 

[ryanosaur]

Ever since TLS cautioned about powering long HDMIs from the AVR or AVP, I've always been cautious about how much power any machine can pass through any port. (He used a voltage inserter for his long hybrid cable, iirc.)
Almost no different than the old Mac keyboards that were designed to just plug the mouse into... Apple always cautioned not to use the Keyboard USB to charge an iPod... even the little Shuffle. In fact, they even recommended to not charge from the computer... to just sync, but charge through appropriate power brick.

 

[Trell]

Sure @ryanosaur, but an USB 2 port should be able to supply 0.5A, so for efficient fans that should be enough.

You could use a couple of these with no problem.

NF-A20 5V PWM

The NF-A20 5V PWM is a PWM-enabled 5V variant of Noctua’s award-winning, premium-quality NF-A20 200mm fan. Featuring an AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation) standard frame and sophisticated aerodynamic design measures such as Flow Acceleration Channels, the NF-A20 is renowned for its superior...

noctua.at

 

[Verdinut]

I’ve three Noctua 120 mm 5V RPM fans on top of my AVR, with Noctua fan controllers.

With 5V I can use USB on my TV and Oppo player to power the fans.

Noctua fans are about the quietest ones on the market. I am using one of their products on my desktop computer. I never hear it run.

 

[gaby95]

I think I am going for the T9..knowing myself, I will end up getting a laptop cooler...then shortly after, I will end up selling it and losing money because I couldnt get the T9 out of my head

 

[Trell]

The reason I thought about laptop coolers aside from the bigger fans is that it still looks decent depending on which one I get vs just fans on top of it

Yeah, the Noctua fans in standard colors are not what I would call pretty. But they are hardly seen as my AVR is on the bottom shelf in the AV rack.

 

[ryanosaur]

I think I am going for the T9..knowing myself, I will end up getting a laptop cooler...then shortly after, I will end up selling it and losing money because I couldnt get the T9 out of my head

do it

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello all!
Just wondering how many of you are using laptop coolers instead of the great looking AC Infinity products.
I was about to buy the T9 and call it a day but I figured I would check what you guys are using as an alternative. I saw some with much bigger fans and coming from the computer world, bigger fans mean moving more air with less noise but who knows if they have some magic ingredient on the T9
My Denon is at the top of an open rack so that helps.

Thanks!

I have the AC units in our two of our systems, and they have never generated enough heat to start the fans.

In the main AV room, I have an attic fan with variable speed, that extracts air gently above the 3200 audio watt bank of power amps. That fan starts from the relay that starts the three dual channel power amps that drive the front and left main speakers. That works fine.

 

[gaby95]

Yeah, the Noctua fans in standard colors are not what I would call pretty. But they are hardly seen as my AVR is on the bottom shelf in the AV rack.

Oh yes Noctua fans always have been very unique for sure (I used to have one of their monster coolers back in the day lol)

 

[mtrot]

One caution on using usb ports on avr or players to power fans, not just voltage but watch amperage....the fans I used that exceeded the ability of the avr's usb port (1 amp in my avr's case), I just use a wall wart for power instead plus that frees up the port for use with a thumb drive instead.

ps in my Denon avrs only one usb port is active at a time, so if you want to use a port for other than for a cooling fan (the change can be done from the remote fwiw)....

Hmm, I started using the AC Infinity fans on top of my Denon AVR-X5200 a few years ago, plugging them into the front USB input of the 5200, and it was some time after that that I lost the left front channel of the 5200. The 5200 had been working perfectly for many years before that. I wonder if running the cooling fans off of the USB input could have caused the problem.