Add Cooling Fan to A/V Cabinet - Page 5

The third wire is from the fan reports RPM. Just leave it disconnected. Hot and ground should be Red/Black. RPM is usually yellow.

man you're right on top of it. thanks again.

The yellow wire is for the RPM sensor feedback to a PC that can show fan speeds. So you don't need to worry about hooking up anything to the yellow wire, you can even cut it off if you want. Red wire is +, black is -, hook those up accordingly.

got it all hooked up guys. fan is noticeable only if you listen for it. not bad at all. i've got it set to 9v on the wall wart. i may bump it down to 7.5 and see if it still keeps things cool.

Can anyone tell me if I can use the usb connection on the back of my D* h20 to power a 12 volt fan? Right now I have it connected to a wall wart but, I don't like the idea of it being plugged in all the time. I would like for it to come on only when the equipment is on. I don't have any plugs on the back of my equipment or a 12 volt trigger to connected it to. Any ideas?

Picked up 2 of the "Scythe S-FLEX (SFF21D) 120mm Dynamic Fluid Bearing Fan Nearly Inaudible" fans wondering what folks have done when cutting the hole in the wood cabinet to mount.

Fan's come with 4 metal screws, but I was thinking there has to be a better mounting solution.

If you can detail your measurents and mounting system that would be awesome.

mat

I saw one of these Silverstone Fan controllers at Fry's for about $35. It regulates the voltage of 3 DC fans based on temperatures at 3 sensors.

I am about ready to get a fairly low profile Salamander Chameleon triple cabinet that has three 20"x18"x20" compartments that I would like to cool. I'm thinking that this controller together with a Scythe fan for each section might be perfect. I already have one of the AC to DC Molex power adapters that I am not using. The plan would be to locate a thermal sensor at the top of each one of the compartments.

Has anybody tried one of these PC fan controllers?

For what is is worth I will have the following components:

Compartment 1: Toshiba HD-XA2, AppleTV and OPP 980 DVD player
Compartment 2: Onkyo 674 AV receiver
Compartment 3 PS3 and VCR

Edit: Another option is this Zalman fan controller that does not control on tempurature, but has a nice display and can alarm on fan failure.

the back of my cabinet was luan, so a dremel did the trick. i just held the fan where i wanted it, then traced the inside, circular opening with a marker and cut it out. you could use a jig saw, dremel hand saw or anything that will cut the hole. i used four small nuts and bolts to secure it and make sure it won't come loose.

The Zalman ZM-MFC2 is looking better and better as an alternative for fan control. I did have another question related to dust build-up if the fans are on continuously.

Has anybody used a standard air filter -- like those for home heating ducts in a cabinet application? I am thinking that I could put the filter at the bottom of each compartment and sandwiched between the bottom shelf and a thin piece of thin fiber board with ventilation cut-outs.

I use a either a fine Scotch Brite cleaning pad or a 3M "Final Stripping Pad" for a filter material. Either one can be washed clean in soap & water when dirty, and reused again and again. I prefer to use the 3M stripping pads, mostly because they are thinner.

http://hand-tools.gillroys.com/Sandi...S-s771503.html

dammit. i noticed on monday a minor ticking noise coming from the fan. the scythe wasn't whisper silent to begin with, but i could definately live with the faint whirr coming from the air movement. the ticking is def. annoying.

can anyone suggest any other brands of fans that are quiet? the ticking sound is pretty aggravating. there are a couple different bearing types i see on new egg. is one better than another?

I have these same fans (the 8db version) and they are silent. I would return them if I was you and either ask for new ones or get your money back.

i think i might be screwed. newegg's policy is to only accept with original packaging. i threw mine away.

did you use any rubber isolators or anything to mount the fan? could that be waht i'm hearing? i need to remove it from the back of the cabinet to make sure.

I screwed mine right into the backing board of my cabinet.

I have the faster 1600rpm/28 dB version of these fans. One interesting thing I noticed is that they can be very quite when run at a lower voltage. However, I tried two different controllers and one resulted in a buzzing sound coming from the fan the other just a vert quiet whirling sound. You might want to make sure that the a fan controller is not the issue.

I ended up picking up a SilverStone Eudemon SST-FP52 at Fry's and that unit produced the buzzing sound, so it is not a very good controller for AV applications.

possibly. the ticking noise is variable depending on fan speed. i'm using the same fan that you are. for the first few days, just a faint whirling sound, now the ticking. i'm using an adj. PS (wall wart) to control speed and voltage, using the 9v setting. if i raise or lower the voltage, the ticking gets louder or quieter respectively. i'm going to loosen the bolts that hold it to the cabinet to see if anything is obstructing it.

I have been reading this thread and decided to try a cooling fan for the back of my AV cabinet. I found a 12 volt fan at Radio Shack and a multi voltage power adapter. What an improvement, the internal temp of my Motorola DVR dropped from 120 F. to 102 F. This should help a lot. Thanks to the guys here for their ideas.

I'd return it if I was you. That's what I have and it's LOUD (80mm fan @ 32db)! It moves OK air (27CFM). I'd recommend any fan under 24dB. You can get a cheap Mad Dog 120mm & 80mm fan for half the price and 24dB & 23dB and it moves about the same amount of air.

http://www.mdmm.com/spec.php?productid=88
http://www.mdmm.com/spec.php?productid=86

Also, I've tried both exhaust and intake fan configurations, with the Radio Shack 80mm fan. I don't use the exhaust method because higher air pressure (intake method) from inside pushes the hot air out anyway. The exhaust configuration is useless. It lowered the internal temp of my computer less than 1 degree. By blowing in cooler air, it lowered the internal temp by ~6 degrees. A quieter fan will not be as effective but I can't use the Radio Shack fan during a movie or listening to music anyway because it's too loud.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread.

Some of you have mentioned that you were going to use the Mechatronics Fan Mounts here. I can't see how those would work in a wooden A/V cabinet. In fact I don't see how they work in a PC case either. Can someone explain.

If those mounts won't work in ¾ in. plywood, what other mounts could I use for 120mm fan that would help reduce vibration noise? I thought of using a rubber gasket between fan frame and the cabinet but can't find anything pre-made like that.

What size hole do you cut in cabinet for 120mm fan? The biggest hole saw I have is 4¼ in., which seems about right.

Has anyone used the 3-Speed Fan Cable here? And how does it reduce the voltage, by resistors?

I'm curious too if anyone knows. I know they make notebook chill pads that the power comes from the notebook's USB. My only question whether the D*HR20 still passes power out of the USB even when it's in standby mode and thus your fan will still be on all the time. Anybody have a notebook chill pad to test?

I tested on both HR20-100 and HR20-700 and USB fan stays on all the time. That's what you want with a DVR since standby only shuts off the A/V outputs and front panel lights and results in only about a 1 watt power savings while generating virtually the same amount of heat.

OK Guys,

First post so be gentle. I have just read this whole very interesting thread as I find myself in the same position in regards to wanting to add some sort of cooling to my AV enclosure.

Now straight up guys I'm very confused by what I actually need. Out of all of this discussion the one thing I don't want is it to be running the fans 24/7, to me I would just prefer not to have something running all the time unless absolutely necessary. Probably something that either comes on as the temp rises or when I actually turn the amp on. The amp will only be running when playing the dvd player for movies or music.

The other important bit of information is that I'm in Australia and whatever piece of electronic stuff that I buy needs to suit our voltage of 240V.

Now onto the cooling part of it. I had toyed with the idea of just taking the back off from the unit all together, but I'm guessing really that is not a good idea because of dust etc, what do you think?

I have only had this unit delivered to me yesterday and I have it set up in the workshop waiting to do the cut outs on the back.

The two different brands of fan that I have been looking at are Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan SFF21E and the Noctua NF-S12-/1200 and both seem to be highly recommended, what do you reckon?

As you will see from the added photos I think the amp (Onkyo 875) will be on it's own in one side of the unit and the rest of the gear will be on the other side. The other equipment being a Panasonic DVD recorder, Foxtel Satellite box, and a regular Pioneer DVD player. And in the narrow opening in the middle I will have an Xbox360 or PS3 if I can ever make up my mind.

In the last picture with the amp in it I had intended to have the amp sitting on the bottom of the unit but the knuckle on the hinge interferes with the width of it so I have had to have this silly bottom shelf about 75mm from the bottom, not the best looking, but better to find out now rather than later. The two empty holes will be for the centre channel and the sub woofer.

So without further waffling from me what should I be looking at? Do I need to cut some vents in the front along the toespace to allow cool air to be drawn in, or could I drill some holes in the bottom at the back corner to try and create some sort of chimney effect. Or do I forget all that because I will still have to cut some fairly big cutouts for cabling and hooking up of all the gear?

Cheers
John

Wow, thank you! I just bought a large entertainment center with beautiful glass doors and cherry wood all around that makes for a pretty visual but a horrible heat dissipater. I plan to put an A/V receiver, DVD player, and a Motorola DVR in my left equipment tower right now, and eventually plan to install an HTPC and perhaps some other equipment (although all of that will be placed on the right tower).

So needless to say I've been searching for ways to get the heat out. Right now I am planning to do the following, based primarily on Grim's postings:

(1) Purchase a single Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D and a 110VAC-to-12VDC converter
(2) Install the fan at the top of the left tower
(3) Pray that I can't hear it and that it gets the heat out.

Having said that, a couple of questions:

First, I am not planning to have any specific "intake" fan or port. I figure it's not air-tight and so air will come in naturally, but the installed fan will pull the heat out. Does that make sense, or do I need to worry about an intake? I'm hoping that if I find out the air flow isn't good enough that I can address it at that time, but....

Second, the back of my center is 1/8" backing material -- not exactly a solid footing for a fan. I was thinking I may need to build a makeshift rig to hold it in place, but I figured I'd ask the more experienced folks -- how do I mount this thing? If necessary, I could mount it to the tower on the right side rather than on the back side -- then I'd be going through nice solid wood into an open area of the center. However, that's a last choice for me as it would be visible and I hate to operate on the center's good looks.

Your help greatly appreciated.

Dan

Dan,

Your setup is like mine. I have a single intake at the top (I too thought there would be plenty of ways for air to get in: around the doors, cable hole at the bottom, etc).
I mounted my fan into the 1/8" plywood/veneer backing. I had my wife hold a block of wood larger than the hole I was cutting with the hole saw on the other side of the plywood while I cut so it didn't sheer/rip as I went through.
I drilled four holes where the fan mounts sat. I think I picked up longer screws and used those round metal things (not washers; these aren't flat) from the hardware store used to dress up screws (they also prevent the screw from damaging the wood in any way); I wish I knew what they were called...
I have a single 80mm fan throttled down to like 4 volts and its worked great for 2 years.

I think you call them cup washers.

Cheers
John

Conversely, you can also say, "...it's not air-tight and so air will go out naturally, but the installed intake fan will pull cooler air in."

In an open environment (like mine), I've objectively proven in my scenario that the intake route is >90% more efficient. This is because I can immediately force induce cooler air directly at the components - providing immediate cooling. The exhaust method will suck out both old warm air and new cooler air that just came in. You cannot direct which air to suck out and loose 90% of the efficiency.

An analogy is a turbo or supercharged engine. The charger force induces more air into the engine than would a naturally aspirated engine, thereby creating more power.

In a closed environment, I'm not too peculiar about intake or exhaust because air in = air out. But if I compare it to a forced induced engine, I still think the intake route is more effective. Also, with an exhaust method, the distance between the hot circuit board and the exhaust creates inefficiencies because if the exhaust was at the top, hot air will have cooled a bit by the time it reaches the top. You are therefore not sucking out the hottest air.

I believe that if you could place the exhaust next to the circuit board, then the air in = air out and the intake/exhaust method yields the same results.

But the reality is that it is easier direct cooler air directly at the components than it is to place an exhaust where it needs to be in order to be effective.

I'd love to upload a video to show the difference between intake and exhaust on my thermometer, but it takes minutes for the temp to move.

Guys like most here the heat is bothersome,so much to the point it killed the ole xbox360.The center is a beautiful piece that I would like to do minimal cutting to. also I was considering using the usb ports on the console and HD DVD player to power some fans to ease the install.Is this even a good Idea?do they make a strong enough fan in usb format to move the air?Thanx for advice guys...my 2nd nub post tee hee.

I don't agree with the SC/TC analogy. If you want to compare with a car, you should look at the radiator which pulls air through the radiator as the air does not get broken up/turbulant. An engine is a closed environment which has an intake tract directing the air where it needs to go (not to mention a SC/TC heats up the air).

Depending on how you setup your coolng chambers within a cabinet, I would much rather use an exhaust fan than an intake fan. You definitely do not want a straight path as that would cause the intake and exhaust to go from point-to-point.

Not sure where you're in disagreement with me. With an intake route, you can direct the air where it needs to go. In an open environment, this concept applies. I first tried the exhaust route and all it did was suck out new air that just came in. You cannot tell the fan to suck out only the old hot air and ignore the new cooler air that just came in.

I'll try to post a video of the difference within the next few hours.