Cooling off equipment (1 Viewer)

[MarkWC]

I am looking for a way to cool off my components enclosed in an entertainment center. I open the glass door during movies or when the amp will tend to get hot, however my sat receiver, cable box, and Monster Power Center emit heat that collectively gets pretty hot in there.

Any suggestions? I am ordering from Parts Express, however I am vague on hooking up two or three computer fans. How do you power these??

Thanks

 

[Joe Tilley]

I use a 4" 120 volt case fan from radio shack & it works really well. The down side to them is they can be kinda noisy but I have found a couple tricks to quite them down some. If I remember right PE sells a couple 4" fans similar to what RS has that are also 120 volt.
With mine I just run a single fan blowing across the top of my receiver from the back. I have made a couple radiused pieces out of wood that are on the front & back of the fan to smooth out the air flow & quite it down, & then I mounted it in place with ( may sound crazy ) some acoustic foam & hot glue. I went form having a fan that was very annoying to not hearing it at all with the mods I done. And even running full tilt for a good couple hours my receiver barley gets warm when the fan is running.

Just to make it more clear the wood pieces are screwed on to the fan, than the whole fan assembly is mounted to the back of my entertainment center with the foam & hot glue.

 

[MarkWC]

How do you power the fans, 120 volt, so it is plugged into the wall outlet?

I have a rather big order pending at PE and would like include some fans. Can you reccommend exactly what I need to put together this cooling unit.

I was thinking either two fans acting as an exhaust on the top or one on the bottom and one on top to vent.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Joe Tilley]

Yes they will plug directly into the wall, but you will need to put a plug end on them since they come with bare wire ends. The fan that PE has is actually a 4&1/2" part number 262-686. They are a little more expensive than what I use they sell for 36 bucks each opposed to the 20 I spent for mine. It says in there catalog that they include the power Cord & mounting hardware though so it may be a better deal for you.
The only thing I'm not sure of though is how loud these fans are compared to what I have. I have heard that the ball bearing fans can be noisy compared to the brush-less fans like I have, But I have never tried one so I'm not sure how much difference there is.
I would say if your going to order some things anyway give it a shot & see how they work out.
Something else they offer are fan panels part #262-682 for duel fans. That may help simplify things for you & give you a cleaner overall look when everything is installed.

 

[RobertR]

I did something similar to Joe. I plugged the fan into an X-10 controller so I can switch it off and on easily.

 

[Lee Bailey]

I bit the bullet and finally just removed the glass doors on our entertainment center. Also cut down on the glare from the glass.