COOLING for Enclosed AV Cabinet

Xstyle

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I have had NO problems in the last 2.5 years with my set-up, but the time has no come to add some cooling to it ... esp as I am thinking of upgrading the av receiver/amp to the Onkyo 875 which is a heat outputting monster!!

My cabinet space where this would go is:
530 (w) x 225 (h) x 600 (d)

Onkyo is:
435 (w) x 194 (h) x 460 (d)

There are 2 further shelves above that have kit on (and to the side, but that is pretty much partitioned off). Very little airflow at back, what space there is, is for the plugs and cables etc. It's not tight sealed at the back, but pretty much as good as, with a velcro backing. If I put holes into the back board, I would get light coming through from the room behind (garage) when that is in use. hmmm... (and glass fronted doors - pics in my sig)

I cant change the height and width of shelves, they are secure.

I can possibly do something about ventilation at back?
but dont want it open, as dust and more importantly, light, will get in and shine through the front where we sit in the living room and distract away from the TV.

Grills sounds like an option... if I can find some that are suitable.
and would they fit ok on the mdf back panel?

This VENT from B&Q is louvered, but would still allow light in...

Would this be a better option than holes covered with speaker cloth?

My AV cabinet is here:

av1frontopendc0.jpg

(taken from my link in signature below)


It's your own risk of course, but personally I wouldn't put an 875 (or most other Onkyo amps) in that cabinet.

They get a lot of praise for their many features but everyone agrees they put out a lot of heat and that cabinet you have there isn't designed to handle it.

Just putting a few hole in the back isn't going to do it, you need to figure out a way to get some real airflow going if you want to put the 875 in there an exhaust fan would be the best way I guess.

I've stuck to an open hi-fi rack with a 320mm gap between the amp shelf and the one above it. Leaves plenty of room for the heat to escape with no build up.

Enclosed cabinets look good no doubt but you have to deal with the heat.

Alastair Collie said:
Hi
Personally I wouldn't modify the unit as this will invalidate the warranty.

What you would need to do if there is minimal space is put some low voltage fans built into the back of the unit at the top. If you add a grill at the bottom of the unit then cool air would be drawn into the cabinet at the bottom and hot air pulled out by the fans. I'm not an electronics expert but I think you can get inexpensive PC fans and I believe from Mark at Onkyo you can drive these from the 12v trigger on the amp.

Regards
Alastair:hiya:

Morning

I haven't done it myself but I know Mark from Onkyo mentioned you can drive external low powered fans from the 3.5m jack 12v trigger outlet on the amps. I believe you can set the amp so the 12v trigger is activated when the amp is switched which drives the fans. Unfortunately that is all the info I have until Mark gets back from hols next week. I have a feeling one or two forum members may have already done this.

Regards

Alastair:hiya:





Other info I have seen:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=884053

http://www.hometheatercooling.com/
http://www.coolcomponents.com/
http://www.triktags.com/html/fan_vent_panels.html
http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/home-wiring-construction/heat-buildup-and-your-components
http://yampanet.com/
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=nexus120mm_bw.html
http://forum.coolermaster.com/viewtopic.php?t=4360&highlight=cabinet

Any more input, and advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks!!

Xstyle :lease:
 
Hi Mr X!:hiya:How's it going pal? I've got no input for your thread sorry mate - I just fancied saying hi ! lol
 
Hi Mr X!:hiya:How's it going pal? I've got no input for your thread sorry mate - I just fancied saying hi ! lol

Hello fella! :hiya: lol
I'm just going High Def ... so upgrading some kit... as you do...
All else is well ... will start on a new kitchen & bathroom project soon.
Love your Xmas tree!

Thanks to Allastair Collie & sdb123, I may have the cooling sorted ... IF I eventually do go with the Onkyo 875 (as opposed to the Pioneer VSX-LX70 amp) ... so you're alright! ;)

I'll also have to start looking through all those links I posted above :eek: to see if there is a vent or grill I can get for the hot air release...
as extra or instead of the Onkyo option...
 
Hi there! Love your TV wall, your's was one I browsed over when looking to do my install.

I used a shower extraction kit from Screwfix (£20) and a length of ducting to cool my pc in the loft.

If you fix the ducting to the back of your cabinet and place the fan a suitable distance away then you should neither hear it or see any light travel down the ducting.

Also, it backs into your garage it should be cold enough in there to have a vent lower down in your rack to allow cool air in while the fan higher up exhausts it for you.

To control it, you can just wire a plug onto the fan then plug that into an intelliplug which is also powering your amp, so when the amp is on, the fan kicks in etc...
 
I used two large and two small aluminium vents and a drawer handle all from B&Q to construct my own vent cover once it became clear that even four inches above my Onkyo 875 receiver was insufficient to prevent overheating. Off cuts from the edges of the aluminium panelsare superglued on the rear of the edges where the panels meet to bond the four sections as one panel and the handle is superglued to the top. The hole cut in the shelf below is approximately one inch inside the vent borders. It is highly effective. I can feel the heat rising from the grill when the amp has been on a while. It also has the handy property of giving a neat trapdoor with which to get at the connections at the back of the unit. :)

P1000527.jpg



P1000525.jpg
 
Hello fella! :hiya: lol
I'm just going High Def ... so upgrading some kit... as you do...
All else is well ... will start on a new kitchen & bathroom project soon.
Love your Xmas tree!
Cheers mate!:smashin:
So your going all HD on us eh? Good man :D. Nice that you're still keeping everything 'in wall' too! Where's your Amiga gone though? Or are you gonna start PS3'ing it ?:devil:

Anyways, have a wicked 2008 mate, and keep up the top work.:hiya:

ps Nice setup too Captain Ron!
 
Cheers mate!:smashin:
So your going all HD on us eh? Good man :D. Nice that you're still keeping everything 'in wall' too! Where's your Amiga gone though? Or are you gonna start PS3'ing it ?:devil:

Oh the Amiga is still there, that last pic was a n earlier pic (not it's not painted). Amiga and PS3 both there ... but PS3 is top banana at the moment!

Think the Onkyo amp is too big, and not enough space in the inbuilt rack, with only 1" above it, and even with a cooling system in the AV cabinet, I don't think it will be enough. I will probably now go for the Pio vsx-LX70 (in keeping with the "looks" of my set-up!) :rotfl:


p.s. ditto that Force, LOVELY set-up Captain Ron!! :)
 
Also, it backs into your garage it should be cold enough in there to have a vent lower down in your rack to allow cool air in while the fan higher up exhausts it for you.

To control it, you can just wire a plug onto the fan then plug that into an intelliplug which is also powering your amp, so when the amp is on, the fan kicks in etc...

I'm not sure I would go the ducting route ... but I am considering the fans and grille route, even if I don't get the Onkyo...
and the intelliplug seems just what is needed. Where can I get this from pls?

Thanks
 
I'm not sure I would go the ducting route ... but I am considering the fans and grille route, even if I don't get the Onkyo...
and the intelliplug seems just what is needed. Where can I get this from pls?

Thanks

I got mine from a Maplin store, but they can pretty much be got from any electrical retailer; they are a fantstic piece of kit that can help with quite a few install designs. You could even use two fans, one to blow air at the bottom, and one at the top extracting it; serious ventialtion!

The ducting is still worth considering as it uncouples the fan from your cabinet so there won't be any rumble/hum from it. Ducting is white though but you could even wrap it in something black like a bin liner to stop any light shining through.
 
I have bought the Onkyo 875 !! :devil:

It's sitting in my car boot, waiting for me to take it home and give it a good spanking! lol

Hmm.. right then, I need to start the cooling!

Hi all
I have been looking around and finding that there are some people that are worried about the heat issue, and yes they do get HOT !. but they are within EC saftey limits.
But I would give at least 120mm fresh air above the box , failing that you can use the 12v trigger output to run a few fans , I will explain. This I have done with my NR5000

1.from the 12v trigger out >>>>>>>>> to a 12v relay
2.get a 500-800mA 12v power supply and conntect this up to the said relay
3. get a Zalman FanMate and have this on the switched part of the relay
4. get a 3 to 1 combiner to allow you to hook up 3fans to 1 socket
5. then pug in and turn on-and activate the trigger which will in turn kick over the relay allowing current to pass to the fans !!!!!

this method will allow you to have controll over the air flow thus giving you air volume over velocity so the fans can run whisper quiet but still keeps the kit temp down.

Is this the complete Shopping List then?

120mm Cooling Fan - £21.99
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=A10FJ&DOY=3m1

12v 6a Mini-Relay ?? - £3.34
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2525&doy=3m1&C=SO&U=strat15

1200ma PSU - £8.95
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=32754&doy=3m1

Fan Multi-Connector Cable - £5.99
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=A88AQ&source=15&SD=Y


The fans will come on when the amp does... out of its Zone 2 12v trigger 3.5mm socket... so no need for the intelliplug :smashin:
Oh and yes, I will get 2 fans ... one either side, left and right, toward the top and just 2 grills/vents at the bottom of the AV cabinet.

An idiots guide for connecting all this up would be handy please! :lesson:

And at a push, photo's of people's successful attempts at doing this!

Thanks
 
Oh the Amiga is still there, that last pic was a n earlier pic (not it's not painted). Amiga and PS3 both there ... but PS3 is top banana at the moment!
How dumb of me not to see the PS3 in your sig - Doh !
Hope you enjoy the new amp mate - might see you on Burnout sometime ?:smashin:
 
Hi XStyle,

How did you get on with this in the end? Did you buy the maplin items you mentioned and fit some kind of active cooling to your case?

I'm in the construction phase for an enclosed cabinet in my cinema, and I'm also starting to get worried about heat. My cabinet is smaller than yours (in depth and width) but I have plenty of space in between each component. I also have active air extraction (our central air exchanger will be hooked up to the innards of the case).

None the less, I'd be interested to hear what you make of the 875 and whether you required any innovative heat management solution :)
 
I am right in thnik you cut a hole into your garage and thats where the equipment is? I think you are suppose to have a 1hr fire barrier between a garage and habitable room :confused:
 
As far as my understanding goes, the ideal way to make a good cooling system work is actually to ensure that the unit is well sealed. What you need to do is make sure that the air actually flows through the unit rather than just having an exhaust fan. Its all to do with convection.

I did some cooling mods in my mum and dads cabinet as follows:

Removed as much of the shelves as possible (cuts down the edges and cut out sections in the middle). Made sure that they were still strong but opening them up stops creating hot 'bubbles' for the equipment to sit in.
Hottest equipment at the top. Hot air obviously rises so it helps having the equipment that runs the hottest at the top which helps reduce heat in other kit that runs cooler.
Fan at the bottom of the cabinet drawing air in and a fan at the top of the cabinet pushing air out. This again comes down to making the cool air flow over the units and then the hot air being drawn out.
Made the unit as sealed as possible.

It stays pretty darn cool in there now! :thumbsup:

If you want any pics or other info then let me know. Hope this helps
 
Hi XStyle,

How did you get on with this in the end? Did you buy the maplin items you mentioned and fit some kind of active cooling to your case?

Hiya ... I haven't actually done anything! The Onkyo 875 is working just fine!

I am right in thnik you cut a hole into your garage and thats where the equipment is? I think you are suppose to have a 1hr fire barrier between a garage and habitable room :confused:

The garage is partioned off at the front so you can't open the door, and is pretty much used as a habitable room anyway.

If you want any pics or other info then let me know. Hope this helps
Sure....... go for it! It's sure to help someone.....

I will get to do the cooling at some point, haven't needed to so far as it has obviously been rather cold in my garage which has helped keep the kit happy.
 

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