Perforated steel?

[darien87]

Hey folks,

I'm having problems cooling the components in my closed-door audio cabinet. I remember seeing that Salamander has cabinets with perforated steel sides. I was thinking that replacing my solid wood back panel with a sheet of perforated steel would help.

Anyone know where I can buy a sheet of the stuff?

 

[ohio]

I hope I'm not stating the obvious, but look up "steel supply" or "metal supply" in the yellow pages. There is almost certainly one locally... if you have trouble, look up "machine shop" and give them a call and ask.

Are you looking for truly perforated (holes stamped or cut into sheet) or just an expanded mesh (generally very cheap, actually pretty good looking, and easy to come by) like this: http://www.metlx.com/products_smallmesh.html ?

 

[j_garcia]

There are a bajillion machine shops around here, I know a few and can probably get you some fairly easily and even get them cut to size. Dude, that is such an excellent idea that I don't know why we didn't think of it before...

 

[darien87]

There are a bajillion machine shops around here, I know a few and can probably get you some fairly easily and even get them cut to size. Dude, that is such an excellent idea that I don't know why we didn't think of it before...

I know DUH!!! It just hit me. I was gonna give you a call after work today anyway since you have that Salamander stand.

 

[darien87]

I hope I'm not stating the obvious, but look up "steel supply" or "metal supply" in the yellow pages. There is almost certainly one locally... if you have trouble, look up "machine shop" and give them a call and ask.

Are you looking for truly perforated (holes stamped or cut into sheet) or just an expanded mesh (generally very cheap, actually pretty good looking, and easy to come by) like this: http://www.metlx.com/products_smallmesh.html ?

Thanks for the info dude. I searched the web under perforated steel, but I think I was getting more industrial type sources. I'll check the phone book when I get home from work.

That Metalex stuff looks fairly promising. I'd have to paint it black. The problem is that I need it to be open enough to allow airflow, but not so open that it's totally easy to see all the wires that are going every-which-way back there.

 

[Adam]

Just a thought...you might want to just remove the wood back panel and see how much that helps. If that doesn't get you cool enough, then you know that the steel back panel won't get you there and you won't spend the time and money on it...unless you'd consider doing stuff in addition to the steel panel (like fans).

Are you willing to modify the wood panel?

 

[emorphien]

You could also consider installing some vents and some fans.

 

[j_garcia]

Fans already installed...that was a different thread Need more cool.

I found some online. It isn't cheap, but it isn't too bad either, about $35 for a 3x4 sheet in aluminum.

 

[darien87]

Fans already installed...that was a different thread Need more cool.

I found some online. It isn't cheap, but it isn't too bad either, about $35 for a 3x4 sheet in aluminum.

$35 isn't bad at all. I just don't know what the pattern of the Salamander panels are, and all of the sites I found need specs on hole size, spacing, angles, and all that.

 

[darien87]

Just a thought...you might want to just remove the wood back panel and see how much that helps. If that doesn't get you cool enough, then you know that the steel back panel won't get you there and you won't spend the time and money on it.

Just leaving the back panel off and seeing what happens is a good idea. But I was thinking that if the perforated panel alone wasn't enough, I could re-use the fans that I already installed in the back of the wood panel.

 

[j_garcia]

Most of the places you are going to find it at are going to be raw material distributors. I don't remember if I've seen anything like this in Home Depot, but HD or Lowes might have something similar. I was even thinking just window/screen door screen...?

Anyway, hole to hole spacing and hole size determine just how much air flow you will get. I will measure mine to see what the spacing, but I would think .0625 dia and .125 center to center would work fine. Part number 9232T111 at www.mcmaster.com The next size up would be .1875 and .25 cen-to-cen, which you will be able to see through possibly a bit too easily even when painted black - it will give you more air flow though.

I'd say see how it goes with no back panel... Don't know if you noticed on my Salamander, but I took the back off too. You don't notice it too much because the glass doors on the bottom are frosted not clear.

 

[darien87]

Cool. I just placed an order for that sheet of aluminum from McMaster. I'll just have to paint it black. I called them and asked if I need a particular type of paint. They said that they didn't think so, but that I would need to clean the sheet first. I've got mineral spirits lying around. I'll give that a shot.

Hey John, do you know how to cut the sheet down to size? Also, I was thinking of possibly attaching my fans to the sheet for some extra flow. I'll just have to get screws that are small enough to go through the holes, or maybe use some zip ties. We'll see.

 

[j_garcia]

It is .032 thick, so some tin snips should work. Since it is aluminum, it should be fairly easy to paint once clean.

I've tossed the idea of revamping my small business into designing and manufacturing wall units that are geared more theater and are functional and look good while still allowing for things like cooling, wire management, as well as taking the speakers into consideration.

 

[darien87]

Got the aluminum today. That's some hella fast shipping. It is actually a little thicker than I thought, but that's cool. I had no trouble snipping off a corner with some tin snips. I'll try painting and setting it up this weekend. Hopefull this will work.

 

[j_garcia]

I checked Grainger, who are actually local and similar to McMaser, but they didn't have anything exactly like that. I like McMaster better anyway, and yeah, they have great shipping.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I'll try painting and setting it up this weekend. Hopefull this will work.

You should prime it first if you didn't think of that. Then, you can get spray paint of many colors to blend in with the room, if it is visible.

 

[darien87]

Well, it didn't work. I painted the panel black, mounted my fans to it, but when I went to screw it into place, there must have been some type of interference between the panel and the cables. I heard this weird clicking that sounded like something shorting or electricity crackling. Moving the panel would sometimes make the sound go away, but it freaked me out so much that I just said screw it.

Even with no panel on the back at all, and the door closed, the PS 3 fan still kicks into high gear. The weird thing is that if I put my hand next to the PS 3 fan, I don't feel any hot air coming out. The fan is making noise, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I think I'll call Sony about that tomorrow. So I ended up putting a 120mm fan next to the PS 3, and that seems to have solved that problem for now.

And today, while watching a movie and leaving the door cracked, my cable box fan went into turbo! I think I'll move my lower fan up to the top, behind where the cable box sits and see if that helps.

I swear, I'm ready to give up. This has turned into a complete pain in the ***.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I think your last resort is to install an air conditioning coil in there

 

[darien87]

I think your last resort is to install an air conditioning coil in there

LOL
Someone at work suggested the same thing.

 

[avaserfi]

He could always water cool the system too; there are other completely ridiculous things that can be done .