Cooling fans for enclosed components? (1 Viewer)

[Jeffreybomb]

My set-up might be a little out of the ordinary. Yesterday, we moved a few of the components taking up space in the living room to the coat closet that shares a wall the TV is mounted on. Cables are hidden in the walls, and I'm very happy with how the project is working.


I let the components sit in the closet overnight while they were on standby. It's a little warmer than usual, but not warm to the point that I'm worried about a fire hazard. Actually, not even close.


I'm considering a redundancy in ventilation. I was toying with the idea of attaching a PC cooling fan to the shelving unit to get a little bit of circulation. Albeit, there isn't much fresh air to circulate in the closet. However, I thought moving the air around even a little bit would help.


Of course, I could be overanalyzing this whole thing. Many illustrations I've seen involving the infrared repeater I picked up showed devices in cabinets that are much, much smaller than the coat closet.


Thoughts?

 

[wiredawg]

I agree air movement will help. I have a 12 volt pc fan ran off of a 6 volt wall transformer sitting on a shelf in my built in wall cabinet. TheXbox 360 and reciever are on that shelf and produce a lot of heat and it helps get it away from them.

 

[The ACM]

If you're looking for a small fan like a 120mm to hook up to a outlet you can wire a PC case fan and plush air over the hardware or circulate the air.


I suggest this 120mm fan, I personally have them in my gaming Pc.

Or if you want to get a bigger fan you can get a Coolermater 200mm fan it does have red LED's but you can remove those easily.

 

[Phil Taylor]

I installed one of these CabCool fans for a client just last week and it works very well and is relatively quiet - it's an always on dual 80mm model but they also have a dual 120mm thermal switched model.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

Originally Posted by Phil Taylor fans for a client just last week and it works very well and is relatively quiet - it's an always on dual 80mm model but they also have a dual 120mm thermal switched model.

Did you install them into a device or on a cabinet?


I replaced the shelf with two 2x4's in order to keep the underside of the devices open to more air. I could see mounting this device between the 2x4's, even using metal strips on top of the fans in order to move around the assembly rather than having it bolted down. It would certainly help in repositioning as devices are added or repositioned themselves.


Thanks for the suggestions, all.

 

[Phil Taylor]

It was in an enclosed cabinet - blowing cool air onto the AV receiver ... with an opening at the top for warm exhaust. Could also be configured to pull hot air out of the top with a vent at the bottom ... just depends on how it's facing/installed on whether it blows or sucks.

 

[JohnRice]

In general, it is more effective to exhaust hot air and allow cooler air to enter. The reverse tends to just move air around.

 

[dbaker619]

I was actually just about to tackle an identical project and was wondering the same thing! I am going to put a dummy vent cover in the wall to get some air in there, but i was wondering about installing an exhaust fan, or temp controlled cooling fans. I was going to us metal racks instead of solid shelving to keep air moving around the components. Any pictures of your project? i am really interested in how its working for you. I've used ir repeaters in other places in my house but does anyone know how well bluetooth (PS3 controller) would work through the wall? Thanks for all your help suggestions, and good luck on your project.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

Quote: Originally Posted by dbaker619

Any pictures of your project? i am really interested in how its working for you.






Here's the disorganized mess as it sits right now. From left to right: stereo (yes, it's old), HD-DVR, IR repeater (small black box with a red light on top) modem, and wireless network router.





Here, you can see the underside of the stereo and the spacing between the 2x4's. I think leaving as much venting as possible is really going to help anything from getting too hot. I'd like to place a few cooling fans between the 2x4's. I really like the idea of installing these cooling fans.


I'm going to climb up into the attic and pull the slack out of all the cables in the living room and attic. Once I get the slack back into the closet, I'm planning to loop it up, velcro-tie the loops, clip the loops with carabiners, and hook the carabiners into eye hooks screwed into the back of the furthest 2x4 (the right side of this photo where you see more cables hanging). My goal is to get the slack loops as far back as I can so they won't be knocked around when coats are pulled out of the closet or hung back up.


The dowel rod mount is the circular thing near the bottom middle of the picture.





Here's a shot of the surge suppressor I mounted to the right-hand side of the closet. I definitely want to take the modem and the wireless router off the top of the DVR, but I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to store them. The router works very well, even stuffed away in a closet with the door closed. You can see one of the IR repeater's transmitters attached to the front of the DVR.

 

[CB750]

Just remember as in computers when you add cooling fans you also add the dust factor.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

I was wondering about that, too. Wouldn't dust be somewhat less prevalent in a closet, though? Either way, that's another reason I'd like to keep the fans easy to remove. A few blasts from a can of compressed air, and they're cleared out. With a computer, I usually have to take off the panel to get to the innards before I start using the compressed air.


Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[CB750]

Have you taken any temperature readings inside your closet with all of your equipment turned to determine if you have any kind of a heat problem in that enclosed area. Why search for solutions before you have determined that you have a problem.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

Good point. I'll probably head to HD today and pick up a cheap hanging thermometer or something. The results may be a little skewed, though, as I'm in Chicago where it's currently 11°.

 

[CB750]

Since you appear that you want to be scientific about things many of those Home Weather stations have the ability to record the high and low temperatures over a 24 hour period. The one I have can do it for both the display that is indoors and the sending unit that you can place out doors, or in any other location like your closet to determine how much hotter it may be in the closet as it is in the rest of your house.