Add Cooling Fan to A/V Cabinet - Page 4

Bigger fans move more air at lower RPMs; small fans need to spin faster to generate an equivalent air flow. The faster you spin, the more noise you make.

My cabinet is enclosed; I have a Motorola 6416 DVR on the top shelf; ~6" from top of dvr to the top of the cabinet. It runs 24/7.
Within that 6" space is my sole exhaust fan, an Arctic cooling 80mm fan cranked down to 3.5V. With a room temp of 77F right now, the top 6" of my cabinet containing the DVR is at around 84F. The only air inlet to the cabinet is the cable entry at the base (4" or so diam hole) and through the door jam.

Grim,

In your opinion, would you suggest I figure out some solution to gain more airspace above the unit or would adding the fans be sufficient? there's ~6-8" on all sides except the top. I would exhaust through the top, but it's a solid 2-2.5" thick, while the back is luan and much easier to cut through. i was thinking 2 80mm fans at the top with an adjustable power supply and possible a few vent holes at the bottom, but the cabinet is anything but air tight. here's a pic of the cabinet:





the photo shows a D* STB, but i'm running the same as you, the 6416. the fan inside the 6416 must be variable. when the top shelf is pulled out, it's nice and quiet (plenty of ventilation) when it's pushed in, the fans cycles high and low speeds and is extremely annoying.

Here's a very early picture of my cabinet with a test fan:

http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php?photo=20391

In your pic, I'd say you would be fine with the fans on either side of the DVR, as close to the top as you can get them. If you want more air coming in, you can always cut a hole in back of the CD changer where you can't see it (I assume you already have one filled with cables/power cords).
As you can see, mine is cut in the faux wood backing too.
You'll see early in this thread exactly what I used for a power supply; a $13 variable ac->dc psu from Walmart. Couple a "Y" cable to that to the fans and you're all set.

thanks Grim.

i'm trying to decide on whether or not to use two fans at the top for exhaust or one fan for intake at the bottom and one for exhaust at the top. if i use two fans powered by one adjustable 12v power supply, are there any particular specs i need to look for to power two fans, or would any old adjustable 12v PS do the trick?

i'm really leaning towards two exhaust fans at the top though, b/c of the limited amount of airspace above the DVR. i would imagine two would move twice the air and keep it cool.

also pondering the thermostatically controlled fans for efficiency, but i'm not try to dump a lot of money into the fan setup, like the $100 pre-made units you can buy. after all, they're just fans for God's sake.

lastly, Scythe, or artic cool? dual 80's turned down with the PS, or a single 120?

I decided to get two of the Scythe fans for cooling my entertainment center. They are found at http://www.coolerbguys.com/sff21.html.

I haven't installed them yet, but I did wire them together and test them. They are EXTREMELY quiet. I literally had to put my ear right next to them to hear them. As such, for those looking for an extraordinarily quiet fan at a decent price, check these out.

FYI, they chain together, so no need for connectors. Just get an AC-DC power adapter and you're ready to go.

Paul M.

Wall wart with 4pin molex or AC 120mm fans
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g46/...ml?id=NIWuNxub

i think i'm going to go with the 80mm scythe fans, but i'm not sure if i need one or two for exhaust. also, i can't seem to find the adjustable power supplies anywhere online. i can find the non-adj. ones, but i want to be able to tweak the voltage if the fans are too noisy for my taste.

There is an error in your link. It should be: http://www.coolerguys.com/sff21.html


If you get the fans referenced, they are basically completely silent. You can't hear them from 1 foot away.

I am using two Scythe 80mm fans, one for exhaust, one for intake, because my entertainment center is basically otherwise not ventilated. If yours is similar, go with two, if yours is well ventilated (open back, for example), one is probably fine. You can daisy-chain them together easily.

referenced? oh, and does anyone have a link to an adjustable wall wart?

All,

I like some of the solutions here, but does anyone know if there is a simple USB fan? I mean, most of my units have a USB port (seems like everything comes with one now adays) and it would be simple to plug in a USB fan and when the device powered on, the fan would power on.

- Roger

Hello,

I have one more question. I have a Nice BDI entertainment system and for the most part it is very well ventilated. For my Blue-Ray player I went with a PS3 as I just couldn't resist. Even though my bdi is well ventilated I find that the PS3 fan still comes on.

I was thinking of using some of the Scythe 120mm 8db fans to move more air around the PS3, but I am really unsure of how deep the problem is. I know they make an external PS3 fan unit, but I was really hoping to go with a quieter solution.

Does anyone have experience with the PS3? Will blowing more air around it shut-it up or do I need to create a forced air system to direct the air though the system?

Thanks

-Roger

I've used those same fans in my setup and it works quite well. My cabinet is split down the middle with the cable box on the top shelf and the PS3 on the bottom on one side. I've placed one of those fans near the top on each side(my receiver is on the other half. This seems to draw out all of the hot air and keeps the fan on my PS3 from kicking on. Plus those fans use so little energy you don't have to worry about keeping them running constantly and they are rated for 100,000+ hours or use.

Good Advice,

I was thinking of getting:

Power Unit: http://www.coolerguys.com/840556029977.html
Splitter: http://www.coolerguys.com/840556026983.html
Fans: http://www.coolerguys.com/sff21.html
Stands: http://www.coolerguys.com/840556081456.html

This would be a 24/7 always on device which is fine, however I would like some control and I am considering this unit:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/62...61.html?tl=g46

I just see that it takes 5V in, yet everything else is 12V. Not sure how to use it without a PC power supply.

Any ideas?

- Roger

is there such a thing as an adjustable wall wart? i've looked on radio shack and walmart's webite, but couldn't find anything.

You suggested setup will work fine. The power unit you have listed there outputs to a standard PC power interface which is 12v and 5v. Here is an excerpt from the power unit's specs. So all those pieces together will make your power.

Model: CS-120/0502000-E
Input: 100-240VAC 50/60Hz 1.5A
Output: 12V +- 2A
5V+- 2A

Yes, I assure you that your local Walmart has them; they are universal AC->DC converters. They have a tiny switch on them that lets you select between multiple voltages.

i assume thy'd be in electronics? i guess i'll have to actually go there (which i loathe)

Yes; in audio/tv right along side all the A/V cables.

You may want to try Radio Shack again. Because they do actually have quite a few different ones available. Here are 3 of them.


http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

thanks for the links. what amperage do i want?

For that, you need to know what amperage your fans will need/draw.
But, bigger than what you actually need won't hurt anything at all, and in fact it may even help you if you want to run multiple fans.
If it was me, I'd get the 2nd one with the 1000mA rating.

i'm looking at this particular fan:

Scythe 120

cfm looks good and has a lot of positive reviews. with the adjustable PS, i should be able to tweak it to where i want it. the confusing thing is the dBA's. how do i know how loud 28dBA's is??

here is Scythe's page on that product:

Scythe Specs

it says the current draw is .2 Amps. how does that relate to 1000mA?

Just a heads up for anyone looking at the Active Thermal Management System 1
http://www.activethermal.com/System_1.htm

Looks to me as if they are using a basic Fantech fan motor. (Like the one I use in one of my bathrooms )Similar parts could be assembled from here, for much less $$$:
http://www.hvacquick.com/subproducts.php?prod=BATHFAN

any have any thoughts?

1000mA would be 1 amp, so .2 amps would be 200mA.

As for the dBs, 30 dBs is like a "quiet office, leaves rustling" etc. depending on where you look. I have the 8dB fans(2 of them) that run constantly and I don't hear them at all.

info on said fans? how's the cooling?

Fans work great for me. See my post http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post11690191
for more info.

thanks. if the 8dBA fans work for your situation, i think i'll consider those. any pics of your cabinet? my Moto DVR is on the top shelf with about 1.5" of airspace above it. i have to slide the shelf out for the time being to keep the noisy fan in the box from turning on.

i just got my 12v adj. wall wart from RS and my 120mm scythe fan in today. the scythe fan has blk, yellow and red, yet it's a 12v DC fan. why the 3 wires? i got some clip style connectors to splice the wall wart to the fan. i may cut and solder later, but this will do for now. red is 12v, right?