Help needed with cabinet cooling

Disco Dan

Standard Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I have a home made cabinet that houses a bluray player, VCR and an Xbox.

The bluray player is on it's own shelf with the rear left open. The VCR is on the top shelf with the Xbox on top.

The top section has a wood back with a 120mm pc fan installed blowing air from the back and out the front. It is spliced onto a USB cable for power and plugs into the TV - so whenever the TV is on the fan spins.

The fan does not appear to get much power from the USB plug and spins quite slowly although very quiet.

I would like to increase the power available to the fan - ideally I would like to replace it with an LED fan so the cabinet is 'back-lit' but the power from the USB connector would probably not be enough.

What can I use to power the fan?

I was thinking about using a low wattage pc power supply but seems like massive overkill just to power one fan. Especially as they normally have 2 fans just to keep the PSU itself cool!

I have basic electronic skills - can make PCB boards etc

What would you all recommend?

Thank you in advance!
 

Attachments

  • Cabinet.jpg
    Cabinet.jpg
    54.2 KB · Views: 134
Last edited:
I used an external hard drive case for mine, got two fans powered and it all works nicely :)
 
I used an external hard drive case for mine, got two fans powered and it all works nicely :)

Perfect ! Your a genius ! Thank you ! :clap::thumbsup::clap::thumbsup:

Only last week I purchased two external drives and removed the HDD from them - just as the prices of HDD went through the roof from the Thailand flooding, external drives kept their prices for a few days longer!

Now... to use the seagate or Western Digital one.... :D

What do you use to switch your fans on/off ?
 
I have a power saving 6-way extension lead that comes on and off with my receiver, so when the receiver's on the fans are on. The extension lead has an ir receiver and you programme it to come on and off with whatever other device you want :)
 
I have a power saving 6-way extension lead that comes on and off with my receiver, so when the receiver's on the fans are on. The extension lead has an ir receiver and you programme it to come on and off with whatever other device you want :)

Terrific, I remember seeing one of those "energy saving" power boards that reportedly turn off devices at the board when I detects they are on standby - pretty new and expensive but could be a similar solution.

Thanks !
 
I went for one of the ir controlled ones. I remember reading stories about some of the automatic ones switching off when the power demands of the primary device get low, e.g. your pc when you're away for a while or the tv when it's trying to dim the backlight to make darker blacks etc. It wasn't terribly expensive from what I remember, I linked to it in another recent post but I can't find it easily now while I'm on the AVF Android app. It was from Amazon, if that helps!

Edit; on Amazon, search for "new british gas energy standby saver" and the first product should be the one I own.
 
Last edited:
I have fans on the top of my amp cooling it because it is in a somewhat small space. I used common 12v thin computer fans, though thin was only necessary in my case because of limited clearance. Then powered then with a common Universal Power supply -

Universal Power supply - Google Search

Mine has selectable voltages, rather than running the fan on the standard 12v, I run them on 9v. They run slower, yet much quieter, and still have sufficient air flow to get the job done.

My amp has a switched electrical outlet on the back. I connected the universal power supply to that so the fans automatically come on when the amp is turned on, very handy.

They also make what are referred to as whisper fans, a change in the blade design allows them to run much quieter than standard fans, and if fan noise is a problem, then certainly consider this type of fan. Also consider a variable voltage power source. In my case, 12v fans run at 9v work just fine.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Yes, bigger fans run at a lower voltage is the way to go to keep things quiet and maintain air flow. I have a couple of 120mm Noctua fans running at 5 or 9v (can't remember which, would need to check the wiring) and you really cannot hear them, even in super-quiet sections of movies.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom