Cabinet Cooling

[gdickin2]

All of my AV gear is in a cabinet with a drop down door. The cabinet is solid wood all round save for a few holes at the back for passing cables throug. Obviously it gets hot enough to grill Bacon when all the gear is on and working so I am looking for a solution to provide some cooling (other than leaving the door open) and thought of screwing a fan to the back over the vent holes to suck the hot air out. Any views and suggestions on fans to get and where from ?. Must be quiet but size isn't a major issue.

[catrevilla]

Cat here,

Go to your nearest electronic or computer store, where they sell electronic equipment parts or computer hardware. They sell AC/DC fans, so it's not that complicated, I suggest you buy a AC fan. Those fans for computers are silent, since they specially designed for mainframe comps, and they sell them from various diameters, from 2" to 10." You can order one of those from that store, and problem solved. The only thing you need to do is just plug and play to the nearest wall connector.

You want to make it a little more sophisticated, and you know your electronics, I suggest that once having the fan, you built on it an automatic on/off switch. This switch consists of an electronic circuit that controls the phasing of the AC using a TRIAC, which is that controls the phasing of the AC so it can vary the speed of the fan. At the same time, this TRIAC is going to be controled by a thermistor (temperature sensor) and an 741 operational amp. If you're interested, I can send you a schematic and the construction details of this controller so you can use it in your gear cabinet.

Just say the word, as always, at your orders ;)

Cheers,

Cat

[Cheng]

Use PC cooling fans. Available from any pc shop, but cheap from overclock.co.uk

If you want quiet go for a big 120mm fan, if you want about 1/2 the nosie and 1/2 the air you can 7 volt the fans (rearrange wires), so they spin slower and quieter.

[gdickin2]

Thanks for the replies folks.
Cat - I would appreciate if you can send me the circuit you mention as I like the idea of the auto on/off :smashin:

Regards
Gary

[catrevilla]

Cat here,

cool, PM me your e-mail so I can send it to you

Cheers

Cat

[gdickin2]

Cat
There is a PM in your mailbox.

Gary.

[PeteCIS]

Cat here,

cool, PM me your e-mail so I can send it to you

Cheers

Cat


I'm also interested and will send a PM with my e-mail. Hopefully you will get the request.

[hornydragon]

I personally would use a couple of PC Fans you can get them with built in temp sensors either fixed or variable, Also make sure any cooling fans on amps etc have room to breath!
one of these will keep your kit cool: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=010511050&r=2142&g=118 ;)

[DLoAZ]

Cat here,

Go to your nearest electronic or computer store, where they sell electronic equipment parts or computer hardware. They sell AC/DC fans, so it's not that complicated, I suggest you buy a AC fan. Those fans for computers are silent, since they specially designed for mainframe comps, and they sell them from various diameters, from 2" to 10." You can order one of those from that store, and problem solved. The only thing you need to do is just plug and play to the nearest wall connector.

You want to make it a little more sophisticated, and you know your electronics, I suggest that once having the fan, you built on it an automatic on/off switch. This switch consists of an electronic circuit that controls the phasing of the AC using a TRIAC, which is that controls the phasing of the AC so it can vary the speed of the fan. At the same time, this TRIAC is going to be controled by a thermistor (temperature sensor) and an 741 operational amp. If you're interested, I can send you a schematic and the construction details of this controller so you can use it in your gear cabinet.

Just say the word, as always, at your orders ;)

Cheers,

Cat


Cat,

I would love to get a schematic for this. It'll save me the trouble of spec'ing it myself. If you have it scanned, you can send it to me via e-mail.

DLo

[inzaman]

DLo, it appears that catrevilla is no longer a registered member :confused:

[cat]

received a PM this morning - just to clarify I'm not THAT 'cat' :rotfl: I have absolutely no idea what a schematic is ;)

[UnicronI]

Would it be possable to put a fan inside the amp? not nothing anything bout the internals of this stuff, i would'nt iamgne how though?