Add Cooling Fan to A/V Cabinet - Page 14

Those Noctua fans look nice. But, fwiw ~ Maybe I'm missing something, but the SilenX Ixtrema Pro Line seems to generate much greater airflow while being quieter and a little less expensive.

Noctua NF-P12 @	1300 RPM	54.32 CFM	19.8 dB(A)
Noctua NF-P12 @	1100 RPM	?	16.9 dB(A)
Noctua NF-P12 @	900 RPM	?	12.6 dB(A)
SilenX IXP-76-18	1400 RPM	90 CFM	18 dB(A)
SilenX IXP-74-14	1200 RPM	72 CFM	14 dB(A)
SilenX IXP-74-11	1100 RPM	46 CFM	11 dB(A)
SilenX IXP-74-09	800 RPM	38 CFM	9 dB(A)

Not trying to say mine's quieter than yours, or such. I'm just suggesting that you might get much better circulation with a SilenX Ixtrema Pro without giving up anything.

I'm using the NF-S12 in my cabinet



Size 120x120x25 mm
Bearing SSO-Bearing
Blade Geometry Straight-Blade-Design
Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 1200 RPM
Rotational Speed with U.L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 600 RPM
Airflow 81 m³/h
Airflow with U.L.N.A. 41 m³/h
Acoustical Noise 17 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with U.L.N.A. < 6* dB(A)
Input Power 1,44 W
Input Current 0,12 A
Voltage Range 4-13 V
MTBF > 150.000 h
Scope of Delivery
Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptor (U.L.N.A.)
4 Vibration Compensators
3:4-Pin Adaptor
4 Fan Screws
Warranty 6 years

I have a PS3 and Marantz SR4002 with an HD-20 HD-DVR and use 2 Scythe fans http://www.coolerguys.com/sff21.html at 800rpm. I have all my equipment in an enclosed built in beside a gas fireplace. there is probably 12" between the fireplace and the A/V stuff and I rarely have the fireplace on but the fans are both exhausting the warm air trapped behind the components into the wall behind the built in and out into the room from an air register a few inches from the ceiling in the room behind the TV room. Since doing this set up, I have not had my PS3 fan go above a slight hum and is not audible from my viewing area about 10 ft away. Previosly when watching standard DVDs the fan would get to it's highest level in 20-30 mins. and was so loud that it forced raising volume of the movie.

Thanks Stoneag, this is very similar to what I'm doing. My cabinet will be next to the gas fireplace as well. It's good to know that the heat from the fire doesn't impact the heat in the cabinet.
I haven't cut into the wall yet but I don't think I'll be exhausting into the wall itself but instead to the side of the cabinet. I can regulate the Noctua fans to spin at a lower RPM if needed.

USB powered fans?
2 devices: Tivo HD and PS3
Glass door enclosed tv stand: http://www.elite-inds.com/series_pro...?ProductID=746

I am thinking of placing two USB powered fans (one for each side) as an exhaust toward the rear of cabinet where there already is a hole for cables. There are only 2 products I've really come across for this. Any comments on using these USB fans.. not mentioned in the entire thread until now. I think they should work for me since they are "plug & play" and my devices act as switches when I plug the fans into their USB ports.

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556088417.html
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...C=1165&ID=1801

I have two of the Mobile Fan II's hook upto a USB Hub and it works great. The USB hubs is connected to my TV, so they only turn on when the TV powers up.

did you put the fan right on top of the avr blowing down onto it, or did you mount it? i have an small open backed cabinet that an avr is baking in, and i'm trying to decide the best way to go about it...

Sorry if it seemed that I have ignored your question!! Somehow, I just plain missed your post and since there hasn’t been any recent activity in this thread, (or so I thought) I haven’t even looked at it. – Till today.

Anyway, fwiw after almost two weeks (Again, sorry!): I hang my fan off the back of my open backed, mini entertainment center.

With the grill screws, I attached rubber strips to the fans intake side. I then used stick-on Velcro tabs to affix the other end of the rubber strips to the top of the shelf above the JVC so the fan hangs down directly behind the JVC. It pulls air, from the front, across the top and bottom of the JVC RX702.

To achieve the best airflow:
I raised the JVC slightly by putting ½ inch rubber bumpers on the JVC’s feet.
In my setup, angling the fan slightly upward greatly increased airflow under the JVC while still providing great airflow in the larger, open space above the JVC.
The front of my entertainment center has swinging glass doors which I leave closed in the most open way. (You know how those magnetic click-closers have two closed positions.) This results in about ½ inch gap between the two doors as well as an increased opening around the doors.

If you are considering the SilenX fans, I still don’t know whether to recommend the 14db one that I kept or the 11db one, which I never tried.

Dude you may have just saved me $20. I was thinking of getting a usb fan for my ps3 but after reading all 14pgs of this thread i was sold on the ac-dc plug.

Question, i read my owner manual (pioneer 5080hd) and it doesnt say anything about usb power. It says i cant connect a hub to it though but i'm wondering if two fans would be less power than a digicamera which would count as one device. Does your tv say it can power multiple devices? In any case i can plug the hub into my power conditioner and just do a 24/7 setup.

Also is either of these usb fans as quiet as the dc fans? I cant find any db/cfm specs on them?

New SilentX cabinet cooling kit. 2 high flow fans, controller, ducts, expandable to 5 fans.
http://www.crazypc.com/products/ixa-ccs-1800.html

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1148054

Posted that yesterday. Cost me about $15, but I had a lot of stuff lying around.

This Silenx option looks nice and easy, but I can't find anywhere if it's temperature controlled or just always on.
I think the dial there may be for fan speed, but I don't really know.

Anybody got any ideas???

Is there a way to toggle the temp readout on the Onkyo 806 to display Farenheit? Also, not to sound like a noob, what do the other readings mean? (see attached) The Antec A/V cooler looks nice, but I don't think it does anything for my receiver at either the high or low speeds. Under load, the receiver does not exceed 55 degrees C, about 125 F, which is pretty hot. I have a open back cabinet, and can feel hot air ducting from the rear of the A/V cooler, but see no relative temp drop. Holds steady with or without the Antec unit. Comments? Thanks.

For best performance (cooling) a fan should be placed on top of the receiver blowing UP, sucking the hot air out of the amp.
For those with equipment in a cabinet... do you think your car would overheat if you left it running full throttle in the garage with the door closed?

No. It would stall due to lack of oxygen.

WARNING! KIDS DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!

If you decide to ignore the warning please be sure that you are not in the garage with the car thats running while the door is closed.

I have a Middle Atlantic 44u enclosed rack that had heat problems. I recently purchased a ERK-10FT-FC by Middle Atlantic fan unit which is thermostat controlled, which is nice, but talk about noisy. This 10" fan cannot run while watching a movie. Its too loud.

My enclosed rack in my theater room actually sits within the attic. The cool air from theater room is sucked in from the vents at bottom of rack and hot air is sucked out the top with the above model fan unit. So it works great, but its just too noisy...

Anyone out there know if the 10" fan tha can be purchased so I can swap them out with a quieter one from another manufacturer?

Any help would be appreciated. I am glad I found this site. There is alot of good information here...

Try using a lower voltage power source. It will slow the fan down and reduce it's loudness.

I have a 24U cabinet that came with 2 120V 120mm X 25mm fans in the top. NOISY. Swapped them out with 2 120mm x 25mm 12v (computer) fans with another fan placed directly on top of the AVR and the SilentX multi-fan controller with the wall wart plugged into the switched AVR outlet. Placing the AVR on the top shelf just below the cabinet fans helps too.

Fans - http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g36/...ml?id=aJAgZghu

250mm 12v fan - http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g36/...ans-Page1.html

360mm 12v - http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g36/...ans-Page1.html

So what's the best thing to do: cool the component or push the hot air out of the cabinet?

I'm looking to keep my Onkyo 605 and PS3 cool. I know that blowing air in the cabinet is not good because it will increase the amount of dust.

Scarfather,

It is a very good idea to cool your components. It will extend the life and inprove performance. Electronics perfrom better when they are cool. Some actually misbehave when the temperature is beyond room temperature. There ar a lot of myths about cooling and how it is done. Put simply, you need to establish a forced path. That means that the air can only pass over your components. Putting a fan at the back is usually not effective because it just draws air across the back of the components. This is known as "Thermal Management."

Here are some simple solutions:

ATM - Active Thermal Management

You can make a large hole in the bottom of your shelves, beneath your components. Make sure that through the wholes is the only significant path for the air to travel. Draw the air out from the top of the encloure with some sort of fan.

Hopefully, this helps.

Most AV cabinets are furniture designed to hide electronics, kinda like storing chocolate above a stove.
Server cabinets aren't too pretty but work real well. Mine is a 24U (about 5') tall, 25" x 25" with a magnetic (like refrigerator) acrylic door, designed for vertical airflow. Fans at the top. Standard 19" rackmount ventilated shelves, powerstrip, drawers, HTPC, power amp, AVR.

More stuff, pretty good variety. http://www.acousticpc.com/acoustirack.html

I am pushing air into the cabinets (Positive pressure), I use filter screens on the fans, that way ANY air coming into the cabinet is filtered. This works very well for me, I opened it up the other day and still no need to dust!

Positive pressure makes sense to me, because air is forced out of every crack and crevice, if you are pulling air out that means unless you have an air tight cabinet (except for you're intake hole) then you are drawing dusty air in from around glass door's, etc.

I don't have enough space to put a cooling device on top or in between components. And cooling the ps3 seems like somewhat of a difficult task.
My intention is to try to blow out the hot air generated from the onkyo receiver and maybe place one of the cooling fans right next to the ps3 blowing air in it so it keeps cool.

Even getting airflow through the cabinet to help evacuate the buildup of hot air will help quite a lot. If you can keep the cabinet supplied with "room temperature" air and your components are spaced such that natural convection can allow the hot air to move up and away (in otherwords don't stack STBs right on top of each other and don't block the fan on the PS3) your equipment should be able to servive.

-Suntan

In addition, putting fans at the inlet (versus drawing air through an enclosure with a fan at the outlet) will be more efficient and you will get more airflow. Depending on the design of the fan used the difference may be minor or it may be significant.

I personally would not decide fan placement solely based on this, but also based on issues such as packaging, fan location, safety, noise, etc.

Also, keep in mind that your filters will most likely be blocking a lot of air from moving through. If you ever find that it is a hot day and your components are getting a bit sweaty, the easiest thing would be to just remove the filters and let more air through. Again, depending on the design of the fan in use, the difference can be significant.

-Suntan

Ya, I figured that filters cut down efficiency so I 'over fanned' a little, I have 1 120mm fan per shelf, I've done spot checks for temp and the temps have been fine. This thread reminded me...so I went and vacuumed out the filters this weekend

Any reason I can't use 80mm fans? 120 (5" fans are pretty large and my cabinet has glass doors so I'm pretty sure I'd see them.

I'm thinking I'll go with the
Two (2) SilenX IXP-54-14 80mm Case Fan
Two (2) 80mm chrome grills ( http://www.coolerguys.com/840556041184.html )
Cooler Guys 500mA DC supply ( http://www.coolerguys.com/840556087977.html )
Cooler Guys Thermal Fan Controller ( http://www.coolerguys.com/840556086611.html )

I know the 120mm fans will push more air, but each of these fans push 32CFM at 14 decibles and my cabinet is only 25"x15"x15". I'm thinking two fans will be overkill, but what do I know?

Any thoughts?
Thanks

120mm fans are MUCH quieter than 80mm.

Thanks for the reply.
Going for equal CFM, yes. But, like I said, my cabinet is very small and I don't need as much air movement. I do not want to see these fans either and since I have glass doors I think I'd see 5" fans while I might not see 3" fans.

Any other reasons?