HT Cabinet Setup. Wire routeing, Power and Cooling.

[dabusabus1]

Hi All,

I have a cabinet in my family room that I would like to store my A/V components in. As of right now there is no cooling, no wiring, and no power. I am looking for some recommendations on how I should cool the cabinet and run the wiring. My basement is unfinished so I plan to run the wires as needed through the basement. Beneath the bottom shelf is the sub floor so I will have to drill through that for any air flow, I assume. I can't vent out the back of the cabinet because the back faces the kitchen area.I have attached pictures of the cabinet and the mock up of A/V components I'll store there as best I could. If you need any more details please feel free to ask.

 

[mike c]

fans blowing out of louvered doors?

 

[dabusabus1]

fans blowing out of louvered doors?

Mike thanks for the response. When you say blowing out of the doors, do you mean having the fans cut into the doors themselves?

 

[Hookedonc4]

I would think you could find some type of fan that you could cut into the side.

You would want some type of white vent cover to blend into your cabinet.

Maybe even out the top heat rises. Again you would want it to look like it belongs...

 

[dabusabus1]

I would think you could find some type of fan that you could cut into the side.

You would want some type of white vent cover to blend into your cabinet.

Maybe even out the top heat rises. Again you would want it to look like it belongs...

I really don't want to cut into the cabinet on any of the view-able sides. Maybe if I can do it on the right side facing the wall. I was thinking about some sort of ducting as well but I am not sure if that will produce any condensation.

 

[Adam]

You can always try it first without forced air cooling to see if you have a heat problem.

Another option for cooling is to duct the air from and then back into the basement. You could have one or more fans on one end of the bottom shelf that pull air from the basement, one or more fans on the other side of the bottom shelf that pull air from the cabinet into the basement, and fans internal to the cabinet to circulate the air past your components.

 

[Hookedonc4]

I really don't want to cut into the cabinet on any of the view-able sides. Maybe if I can do it on the right side facing the wall. I was thinking about some sort of ducting as well but I am not sure if that will produce any condensation.

Can you vent to the basement?

Sorry Adam didn't see your post...

 

[dabusabus1]

You can always try it first without forced air cooling to see if you have a heat problem.

Another option for cooling is to duct the air from and then back into the basement. You could have one or more fans on one end of the bottom shelf that pull air from the basement, one or more fans on the other side of the bottom shelf that pull air from the cabinet into the basement, and fans internal to the cabinet to circulate the air past your components.

This sounds goods like a good option. I wanted to install a outlet on the bottom shelf for power as well. I'll have to start looking into this. Thanks again.

 

[Adam]

Sorry Adam didn't see your post...

Hey, great minds and all.

 

[dabusabus1]

Can you vent to the basement?

Sorry Adam didn't see your post...

Yeah I can, here is a picture of the underneath the cabinet from the basement.

 

[ahblaza]

Yeah I can, here is a picture of the underneath the cabinet from the basement.

I don't see much of a problem from the pic doing what you want with power and ventilation.......

 

[BMXTRIX]

You can always try it first without forced air cooling to see if you have a heat problem.

Another option for cooling is to duct the air from and then back into the basement. You could have one or more fans on one end of the bottom shelf that pull air from the basement, one or more fans on the other side of the bottom shelf that pull air from the cabinet into the basement, and fans internal to the cabinet to circulate the air past your components.

This must be done properly.

That the OP is thinking of cooling equipment is a very good thing. After doing a couple of years at a retail/custom install company my top issue was seeing installations almost identical to this where the gear wasn't cooled at all, then broke down within a month or two of ownership.

The reason I say this must be done properly is that air tends to track along a pathway that is easiest to follow.

If you vent cool air into the bottom, then vent it out the bottom, then the hot air at the top will never be moved out. Air does NOT want to be pulled down, instead the air at the bottom will actually circulate in, then right back out again and the hot air at the top will actually be trapped at the top. You basically create a mini cold front at the bottom of the cabinet preventing the warm air from escaping.

What you always want to follow as a rule is to provide a single point of entry for cool air at the bottom of an otherwise sealed cabinet and provide a point of exit as high as possible in the equipment rack. The fans should always go on the exit side of the rack to pull air through the rack. The entry and exit points should be of the same size to allow for even airflow through the rack.

In an ideal situation, you might have the top of the rack not actually touch the top surface directly. That, of course, takes some serious pre-planning to accomplish or a serious modification.

But, if you provide a duct vent and a decent fan to pull hot air from the top of the rack, and provide a simple vented opening to the bottom of the rack, you should be able to get adequate airflow moving upwards through the rack and venting into the basement.

Keep in mind, that if you ever finish the basement, this will still need to be maintained.

NOTE: Venting into a space which does not have airflow is NOT venting! The air will not actually have anywhere to go and will just create a circulation of warm air or back up all the warm air completely.

 

[Adam]

This must be done properly.

Agree completely. I assumed (my bad, and it was good of you to mention it) that if the OP wanted to follow that path, we could discuss the details.

What I envisioned were fans placed on each shelf that would mimic the fans of the bottom shelf - for example, if the bottom right side had the fan(s) blowing into the cabinet, the shelves above would have fans also moving air in that direction. On the opposite side, each shelf would have fans blowing down towards the basement. There would also be fans blowing from right to left over the components.

It can be tricky, but if visible vents in the living space aren't a viable option, then it's something to consider.

 

[Daigor]

Hello,

I am new to the forums and just saw your post. I like to share my 2cents if I may.

You mentioned that you did not want to cut into the cabinet but may consider cutting the inside towards the basement.

The fan system that I would recommend is;

Coolerguys.com - Complete Wood Bracket Kits

They have other options but I figured that you would like to paint the vents to match the cabinet.

They also offer active cooling as an option which comes with a thermometer that you set the desired temperature. When the temperature hits a certain threshold, the fans automatically turns on.

Since your cabinet is covered. I probably would get some IR Repeaters. This way you could control your system with the cabinet doors closed. Here is an example of what they look like.

Go to Monoprice.com item 7537

Well hope that helps. Let me know how it turned out. GL.

Ps - Since I am a newbie I am unable to link sites.

 

[Tin Ear]

The fan system that I would recommend is;

Coolerguys.com - Complete Wood Bracket Kits

They have other options but I figured that you would like to paint the vents to match the cabinet.

They also offer active cooling as an option which comes with a thermometer that you set the desired temperature. When the temperature hits a certain threshold, the fans automatically turns on.

That is interesting ... I have not seen that site and may build a fan in the furture just to see, at those price points. It is interesting that they also mention they serve the computer industry.

I have long forsaken Home Theater specific power and thermal options. They are just to expensive and seem to be not so durable. I typically go to the computer industry; TrippLite and Middle Atlantic to serve my needs. My current cab fan panel is an EBay find ... a Middle Atlantic UQFP-4DRA.

The DJ industry has quite a bit of this type of gear, but it is inexpensive (read: cheap) and plagued by the same lack of durability. Most of the knocks in the reviews are of noisy squeaky fans after a month or two of use and short-lived LED's. I would like to build one of the temp regulated units just to see what kind of life I could get out of it.

I have never seen the wooden ones anywhere, and I think are a great solution for the OP. The only thing I would say is to make sure the fans used are a standard size so if one pukes, you can go to your local computer parts supply house and pick one up on the cheap.