Add Cooling Fan to A/V Cabinet - Page 15

Well, I put my kit together. As I was hoping, the two 80mm fans are pushing air through my smaller enclosure nicely. The SilenX fans really are quiet. I'm definitely going to use them for my projector enclosure when I make it. I'm really happy with most of my kit, I wish I'd bought a fan to put on the receiver and cable box.

Thanks

Testing

I just did some quick tests with and without the fans.

• Before cutting off the fans the temps were 93.6 (lower shelf) 103.4 (upper shelf).
• After one hour without fans temps rose to 108.8 (LS) 109.6 (US).
• After 10 minutes of turning the fans back on it's down to 96.8 (LS) and 105.2 (US).

Obviously the fans are working The upper shelf is cooler just by having air flow past it. But, I'd like the upper shelf to have air blowing directly on the components so I'll probably add another fan or two. I know the 120m fans move more air, but the 80mm size is much easier hole to hide.

Has anyone had a chance to try this system yet?

I have a TV console with a closed left and right section, and each side has 1 shelf.

I was thinking about trying the SilenX cabinet cooling kit, but that only gives me 1 fan per side. Adding additional fans is possible, but gets expensive.

If you guys think 2 fans per sealed location is better (1 intake and 1 outtake), what about four 120mm fans, 4 metal grills, and this controller?
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/59..._IXA-FCEX.html

Aaron,
Why would you buy a fan speed controller? I guess I could maybe see it if your fan was close to your ear when seated, but these fans are really silent.

The kit looks well put together, but these would seem like a better choice (add your own fans).

Cooler Guys 500mA DC supply ( http://www.coolerguys.com/840556087977.html )
Cooler Guys Thermal Fan Controller ( http://www.coolerguys.com/840556086611.html )

You can add up to 8 fans to the fan controller with the cooler guys splitter. Give Cooler Guys a call, they're great.

Hey Dan, thanks for the thoughts. The reason why I figured the fan speed controller would be nice is that I could hook up all 4 fans with just 1 AC plug.

I do like the idea of the thermal controller, but I'm a little hesitant on where to put the sensor. On one side of our console table, I have the PS3 and Wii. On the other side, I have my HTPC. I'm just worried with only 1 sensor, I'm going to have to chose which side to monitor the temp on. Of course, you can have 2 of these thermal sensors, but then that's 2 AC plugs.

Again, yeah, I don't need the voltage control on the controller I linked. If there's another unit that can power 4 fans, I'd like to just plug it into the switched outlet on my AVR and just have them come on whenever. Is there something similar to the thermal controller you linked, that can control 2-4 fans, without the temp sensor?

I hope that all makes sense.........

Aaron

Aaron,
If you just want constantly running fans you can just buy the power supply. It's 4 prongs but the SilenX fans (probably all fans) come with a 4:3 converter so they'd plug in fine. If you want multiple fans, get some splitters. I'm crunched for outlets too, so I added an octopus. The fans barely use any power so it's not a big deal to add it.

I can't help with the rest of your questions, but this is a cheap way to get cooling.

Incase this helps anyone out in the future, I talked to cooleruys today. For my situation, where I want 4 fans with no temp controller, they recommend:

one of these http://www.coolerguys.com/840556090236.html
and two of these http://www.coolerguys.com/840556000037.html
and one AC adapter http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html

I asked about fans, saying I had seen a lot of mention about the Scythe Slip Streams. Jose said the 1200rpm version was a good flow/noise ratio fan.

For 120mm fan, I'm currently looking at a hole saw on ebay. 120mm=4.72"
Would I be ok with a 5" hole saw, or should I look for a 4 3/4" saw? Planing on getting the metal grill covers if that makes a difference.

amheck,

You will want a 4-1/2" hole saw.

I just picked up some supplies from Coolerguys last week and all went as planned with the 4-1/2" saw.

Thanks for the info on the 1200 RPM fans as I went with two 800s and temps are in the low 90s. I would like to get them down to 80s if possible.

Thanks for the confirmation. Found a bunch of cheap hole saw sets on ebay (and I mean CHEAP) but the 4 1/2" size doesn't seem to common. Maybe I'll head to Lowes/HD and see how much they are there.

I bought mine at Lowes and they are not inexpensive but in my mind, well worth it.

Lowes had two types, one with the built in arbor and the other where you have to buy a separate arbor. I went with the separate type in case I ever need to make other size holes.

Part numbers I bought at Lowes:

Lenox #12204 (6L hole saw arbor for 3/8" drill)
Lenox #12191 (4-1/2" (114mm) Wood and Metal hole saw)

Hey guys,

Getting ready to place an order. Any idea which might be the best guards?

http://www.coolerguys.com/120grills.html

On one hand, the mesh ones that capture dust might be nice, but I don't want to add additional noise (whistling?) nor make it so these need to be removed often for cleaning. Wondering if the simple metal guards for a buck might be the ticket. None of these will be showing in my setup.

Get your hole saw at HarborFreight.com. They are super cheap.

I looked and there are no 4-1/2" hole saws at HarborFreight.

amheck,

I picked up this one as I did not want to restrict airflow and will vacuum out the fans every 6-12 months:

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556082705.html

I'm thinking about using a pair of 120mm fans as exhaust for a closet (small closet, probably about 40 cubic feet) inline with the Coolerguys DC supply and thermal fan controller. I thought about going the bathroom fan route, but may not because of space constraints (planning to exhaust into exterior wall). Any reason I should be concerned about using the PC fans in this fashion?

I figured that this thread is due for a pic.

I ended up using two Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F fans (120mm, 1600 rpm) with a CoolerGuys Thermal Fan Controller and Power Supply. So far temps just above the amplifier have been running 4-10 degrees above ambient depending upon use.

I have had my new setup for just over 3 weeks now and I am very happy. It includes:

Panasonic TC-P54V10
Denon AVR-2310CI
Motorola DCT-3416
Sony PS3
3x B&W LCR600 S3
B&W ASWCM Sub
Custom cabinet cooling

Nice set up! I love the 1-piece glass of the V10.

I just upgraded my TV stand to a nice AV cabinet. The Onkyo 606 loves to run super hot so I modified the removable magnetic rear doors a little bit. I added two Thermaltake Silent cat 1600RPM 16Db 62CFM fans, a cooler guys controller and used the 600MA power supply I had for one fan by making a 3 pin to Molex adapter. I also bought a couple chrome grill off Ebay.

The fans blow out and have been keeping the system really cool.



The cabinet.

Interesting thread.
I scanned it, but may have missed some things.

What are people using for taking temperature measurements.

I saw this at Amazon and it looked interesting...
Mastercool MSC52224A Infrared Thermometer
Link



Mike

Hello!

Hello all!
I just got a new entertainment center... http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/Showr...ItemNo=W423-21 ...to house my Samsung UN55B8000, PS3, Scientific Atlanta HD DVR and Dell Studio PC.

My problem is I have been noticing a lot of heat build up. I have the DVR located in the center top shelf behind the glass door. I have the PC and the PS3 located on the right hand side behind the right door. The PC is on the upper shelf and the PS3 is on the lower shelf. I have to leave the doors open to cools things off.

I have been reading this entire thread and have gotten some nice ideas. What do you all think of 3 of these USB fans... http://www.coolerguys.com/840556088417.html ... One attached to the PS3, another to the PC and the third to the DVR?? The PC and the PS3 fans would only come on when they are turned on and the DVR fan would always be on.

I would use a filter on each fan. Is this a good setup? Should I have the air blowing in as per Bricot's #413 post? Or should I have the air blowing out? Any help or advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

I would not hook two fans up in the same "air compartment" such that only one or the other may be on at a time. If one of the fans is not running, the open space around the non moving fan is a prime opening for the air from the other fan to short curcuit through. in the most severe case of this, all the air will just circulate in the one fan opening and back out the other. If you then had them mounted close together, you would get little to no benefit from the one fan being on.

At the very least, if you set them up so one comes on per component, at least set one high as an exhaust fan and set the other low as a supply fan. that way you still maintain flow through even with only one fan running.


I wouldn't, you just kill all the airflow these thing can provide. Seriously, those two fans will likely not have enough to keep a PC and a PS3 ventilated if it is even remotely hot in your room, adding a filter on will cut at least 50 to 75% of the air they can move, making it that much harder. I suggest you go filterless and just vacuum your carpet more often.

Further, if your setup allows (fans are located out of the way, no kids with inquisitive little fingers, etc.) run those fans with no shielding too. You would be amazed at how much airflow gets reduced when you put those little round bar fan shields on. Take them off and you will get a lot more airflow (and the fan will most likely run quiter too.)

Lastly, running fans as supply instead of exhaust can have advantages, but their advantages become significantly reduced if your cabinet has a lot of leakage points. (IE: If the supply air leaks out along the bottom of the door right by where it was blown in, it's not doing much to force the hot air out the top.) Whereas if you run fans as exhaust and you have leakage, its not really as big of a deal, as even if you are pulling air in around the top of the door, you are still going to be pulling cooler air in and most likely evacuating the hotter air out the back. Long story short, if you run those fans as supply fans, weatherstrip those door openings and make a dedicated exhaust opening up top.

-Suntan

Suntan,
Thanks for the reply, help and advice!

I gave up on the idea of usb fans and I got this from Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811998069
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811992005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812706011
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999344

I bought two of the Silverstone fans


I was also thinking, for the same price, I could have gotten this from Coolerguys.

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556089544.html

Not sure which setup is better. The one from Newegg has better thermal control and better fans.

I hear what you say about filters. The only thing is I am a nut a when it comes to dust. The 2 seperate shelves I have to cool are not that big, so I think this setup should do fine. I wont know though till I have it all up and running...

Thoughts??

Have my exhaust all set up. Here are a couple of pics.

This is outside of my media closet. Vent hole up top in the photo.


This is the other side of that vent hole (2x120mm Thermaltake fans).

hello all, relatively new to the forums, though i've been looking and learning for a little while.

i just got a new tv stand, and it is getting pretty hot in there, or so i think. between 120-125 F i think.

i'd like to add some fans for cooling, but am not too sure about placement. since i have two sides of the stand, each with two sections that have wire pass-throughs, where should i put the fans? i have about 6 inches of workable space between the edges and the wire pass-throughs.

i was thinking i could put them a couple inches away, blowing inward to force air out of the wire pass throughs. that way, if they are too closely spaced, and the hot air out of the wire hole is going back in through the fan, i could put a barrier on the back to separate it.

any thoughts or opinions??

here is my setup. the most heat is building up on the bottom left (denon) and top right (dvr).

Funny I came across this posting. I was just shopping this weekend for an enclosed cabinet and from all of these postings I guess I too should be considering how to keep the equipment cool.

Thanks for all the tips!

Bucks13,

Check out my pics in post #436 of this thread as I had a similar situation to you.

that look pretty good. should work for my setup i'd say...do you have both fans blowing in, out, or one in and one out?

I have both fans extracting air which results in cooler air being drawn in through the open front of the cabinet and across the equipment.

Since my A/V Receiver generates more heat that my PVR I positioned the fans so that the A/V Receiver is exposed to one and a half fans and the PVR "sees" half a fan.

i see, that makes sense for your setup. since i have a closed tv stand (which you can't tell from my pictures since the doors are open) should i have the fans force air in to the stand? i figure i'll have a better chance of maximizing the cool air inside the cabinet if i force it in with the fans, rather than trying to pull it in through the smaller diameter wire holes.

does this sound about right?