Cabinet Cooling

[jake5717]

I just went to my local electrical shop and found some of these AC cooling fans along with the plug I got out of there for $19.

http://www.orionfans.com/html/oa80.html


I don’t know what you guys conceder loud or enough air movement but I bought the fan that runs at 29db and it seems to be very quiet and moved a TON of air. The guy there told me that I could run 2 of them in series and they would move the same amount of air and be about half as loud.

Anyway just though id share with you guys what I thought was a good find.

 

[Warpdrv]

If you want even more air movement, and less noise, shoot for a 120mm fan..

But its always nice to have a good cooling solution...

Warp

 

[jake5717]

yeah their 120's are pretty quiet too

http://www.orionfans.com/html/oa125.html

my cabinet is only about 2sq feet so I dont require TOO much air movement.

 

[darien87]

I just bought an entertaiment center last night that has closed cabinets. How does one wire up one of these fans?

 

[j_garcia]

If they are 120v, then you make a cable and plug them into the receiver so they come on when it does. So you bought it? I guess I'll see it tonight....

 

[darien87]

If they are 120v, then you make a cable and plug them into the receiver so they come on when it does. So you bought it? I guess I'll see it tonight....

I bought it, but I don't pick it up until Saturday. I gotta rent a truck, the thing's pretty big.

 

[Pwner_2130]

Wiring Fans from receiver

Hey J garcia, where do i splice the 120v fans wires into the receiver?

 

[darien87]

Hey J garcia, where do i splice the 120v fans wires into the receiver?

I would assume you would just plug them into the 120v outs on the back of the receiver. But doesn't that mean you'd have to make a plug? Can you buy plugs with bare wire that you hook up to the fan?

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah, just get some cheap power cords from somewhere like Home Depot or Radio Shack (or an old extension cord) and splice into those, then plug into the receiver. You can also buy bare plugs (like lamp repair plugs) that you can just attach to the wires for the fan if they are long enough. Almost all receivers have a switched outlet on the back that is energized when the receiver is turned on, or you can get fancy and use a switch. I haven't done this, but it should work; my audio rack has plenty of ventilation.

 

[emorphien]

I'd probably go the route of a simple thermally controlled set of 120mm fans a-la computer cooling. I have no need though since my rack is open air, but if faced with the situation that's how I'd solve it.

 

[AUtiger]

Does this make sense? Sealed cabinet - to install 1 fan pulling air in and 1 fan pushing air out or should they both face the same way?

 

[emorphien]

Unless you have a particular area you need air directed to at the front of your cabinet, I'd just put some kind of vent/grille in the front of the cabinet to let air in and put two exhaust fans in the back rather than having fans one in the front and one in the back. That keeps the noise and sight of the fans away from the front of the cabinet.

If you need specific exhaust somewhere make a duct or put the fan over it. Solving these kinds of problems are usually fun little challenges to me. If you were feeling really fancy you could put a simple filter in the front vent to prevent some dust from entering.

 

[darien87]

Unless you have a particular area you need air directed to at the front of your cabinet, I'd just put some kind of vent/grille in the front of the cabinet to let air in and put two exhaust fans in the back rather than having fans one in the front and one in the back. That keeps the noise and sight of the fans away from the front of the cabinet.

If you need specific exhaust somewhere make a duct or put the fan over it. Solving these kinds of problems are usually fun little challenges to me. If you were feeling really fancy you could put a simple filter in the front vent to prevent some dust from entering.

My cabinet has a glass door in front, so there's no real way of having a grill on the front. I was thinking of using 2 fans on the back, (1 at the bottom of the cabinet, pulling air in, and 1 at the top pushing hot air out). Sound like a good idea?

 

[jake5717]

I was told that forcing the air in is more effective than having an exhaust fan. The cool air that is forced in will agitate the rest of the air in the cabinet and bring the overall temp down.

 

[emorphien]

Don't know, I guess it depends on the air flow/layout/restrictions. My experience with computers is that exhaust fans are more effective at setting up airflow that isn't turbulent and that can cross every component you want cooled. A closed audio rack seems to be the same to me, just bigger. I'd experiment with it personally and use a temperature probe to see what works best.

 

[Sounds Good]

can anyone recomend someting for me? i am thinking two fans, big(not sure of the measurments, but about the size of a fist or maybe larger) both pushing air in, both dirctly behind the reciever....

 

[Sounds Good]

i found this at radio shack.com are all these pc fans 120v? and how would i wire 2,3,or 4 together... dont want to burn the house down you know... lol

would i just go, + to + and - to -, and continue down the line, i think the most i am going to use is 2

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&summary=summary&cp=2032061.2063031&productId=2211705&accessories=accessories&kw=fan&kwCatId=2032061&techSpecs=techSpecs&currentTab=features&custRatings=custRatings&f=Taxonomy/RSK/2063031&features=features&categoryId=2063031&support=support&tab=summary

 

[jake5717]

No they're 12v DC.

Update: this fan is a little louder then I had first though but it moves a TON of air and keeps my cabinet probably 20 degrees cooler.

Question: My DVR is always on and creates the most heat should that go above or below the DVD player?

 

[MDS]

Heat rises so I try to put the heat generating devices at the top of the rack. If you have adequate ventilation and/or fans it's not really going to matter much.

 

[Sheep]

Rules for fan installation. Suck from the bottom, blow from the top.

PC fans will need modification to work in a receiver, and take it from me, Thermaltake knows how to make a nice, loud fan. My 80mm CPU fan pusies 72CFM and a whopping 48dB.

SheepStar