TV Cabinet with ventilation build/modification project

goonergaz

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
6,679
Reaction score
765
Points
1,562
Age
54
So a big thanks to @BigA1 who inspired me when I saw his thread.

Essentially, long story short - with the new consoles I wanted to sort out my TV cabinets from the dust magnets they are...I've attached a couple of pictures. It was a massive cabinet but simply not big enough for all my kit, I had a load of it behind the TV including a PC! lol

I managed to snag a reduced (£130) used TV cabinet from Richer Sounds thinking if I screw it up it's at least not a brand spankers £450 cabinet! It's one of these but no backlight. There's 3 doors and the plan was 1) PC 2) Sky/Amp 3) Consoles.

Reading @BigA1's thread I decided to get get a couple of intake fans with temp controls at each end so the doors can stay shut - one end will have the PC and the other end my PS5 and XSX. These will be new holes (probably from the side so I can clean the filters, and the 3 the cabinet have will be used for exhausts. I'll use a cabinet 'brush plates' for cables and minimising dust getting inside.

I'll post comments along with pictures through this thread, maybe my more modest (and not so tidy!) work will inspire others, to me - it's not so much 'can I do al well as what other people do', it's more 'can I improve my current situation'. I knew I wanted to stop dust getting to my new consoles and I didn't want them overheating!

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask :)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4347.jpg
    IMG_4347.jpg
    216.4 KB · Views: 443
  • IMG_4346.jpg
    IMG_4346.jpg
    334.2 KB · Views: 522
Now, don't do what I did with the hole saw, I thought I'd get a cheap kit - well that didn't have the right size hole cutter...I should have learnt from my own saying of 'buy cheap, buy twice'!

So tool needed for the project;
Glue gun - this one can be used unplugged which is great!
Hole saw (the size you need) and arbor (Toolstation can help you get the right bits - I literally ordered the saw, walked into store and asked for the 'the bit it attaches too so I can drill' lol)
Screwdriver (I've got a great little Bosch drill driver) and screws

Then the materials/parts I used are in the pictures;
Mains 4 way gangs
Magnetic tape
Dust filters
Fans
Brush plates
Lights
Speaker wire and joiners

 

Attachments

  • IMG_4349.jpg
    IMG_4349.jpg
    422.3 KB · Views: 421
  • IMG_4350.jpg
    IMG_4350.jpg
    358.1 KB · Views: 356
As ever pictures are attached...

So the TV cabinet already had 2 passive airflow vents and a hole for cables...but that's not how I planned to use it. I'm going to turn each top vent into exhaust and each lower vent into supply. I'm also blocking up the middle hole and will use parts of the old passive vent 'strip' to let cables pass through.

As I drill the larger holes (which initially seemed too big!) I can use these for passing any plugs or larger object through BEFORE I add the fans!

In the end I (wrongly) decided the middle only needed a vent - this was my old setup. Retrospectively I would set all 3 sections up the same. I ended up with a dust middle cabinet so have since modified it!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4351.jpg
    IMG_4351.jpg
    241.8 KB · Views: 330
  • IMG_4352.jpg
    IMG_4352.jpg
    466.5 KB · Views: 334
  • IMG_4357.jpg
    IMG_4357.jpg
    301.5 KB · Views: 329
  • IMG_4356.jpg
    IMG_4356.jpg
    456.3 KB · Views: 362
So with the holes drilled I was able to start fitting the fans and blocking up the old holes...using the off-cuts from earlier! I screwed them in place an applied a bit of glue-gun because it's fun!

The fans I used are great, AC Infinity, they come with a speed setting however this is manual, you can buy a sensor to control the fan speeds - I highly recommend this for anyone thinking of enclosing their PC/Console! Of course you can use the console USB to power the fans to save a few quid :)

The I took the brush plates, removed the plastic brush from the metal strip, cut to size and stuck them where the old passive vents were.

On the inside I added the magnetic filters on the cool air supply (magnetic for easy cleaning) and used one of the metal strips cut in half to hold the brushes in place.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4362.jpg
    IMG_4362.jpg
    486.5 KB · Views: 333
  • IMG_4361.jpg
    IMG_4361.jpg
    338.9 KB · Views: 302
  • IMG_4360.jpg
    IMG_4360.jpg
    219.4 KB · Views: 311
  • IMG_4358.jpg
    IMG_4358.jpg
    494.6 KB · Views: 312
  • IMG_4371.jpg
    IMG_4371.jpg
    521.2 KB · Views: 324
  • IMG_4370.jpg
    IMG_4370.jpg
    384 KB · Views: 328
  • IMG_4368.jpg
    IMG_4368.jpg
    245.4 KB · Views: 330
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Finally I finished up by trying to be as tidy as I could and failing miserably with my power, fans and lights cable management! lol

Just a note, I got lights that are linked, only one has the on button - I put this in the middle as I thought it would make sense, ultimately I wish I hand bought lights with sensors.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4380.jpg
    IMG_4380.jpg
    476.6 KB · Views: 335
  • IMG_4379.jpg
    IMG_4379.jpg
    207.5 KB · Views: 323
  • IMG_4374.jpg
    IMG_4374.jpg
    265 KB · Views: 330
  • IMG_4372.jpg
    IMG_4372.jpg
    273.7 KB · Views: 367
And so we have the end product - just in time for the new consoles. In the end the PS5 only fits in if I remove the base! I can't believe I did all this for the PS5 and it didn't fit!! lol
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4414.jpg
    IMG_4414.jpg
    304.4 KB · Views: 415
  • IMG_4415.jpg
    IMG_4415.jpg
    299.1 KB · Views: 391
  • IMG_4383.jpg
    IMG_4383.jpg
    371.6 KB · Views: 391
We/I liked the cabinet so much I bought the 2 door version going for a reasonable amount on eBay just to house my accessories...by the way, I can highly recommend the magnetic chargers in the pictures, no more faffing plugging stuff in to re-charge or accidentally pulling something out while it's still plugged in and causing damage!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5003.jpg
    IMG_5003.jpg
    350.6 KB · Views: 360
  • IMG_5004.jpg
    IMG_5004.jpg
    175.4 KB · Views: 338
  • IMG_5005.jpg
    IMG_5005.jpg
    254.7 KB · Views: 393
Nice work.... lighting is a nice touch.... and may have given me a little further inspiration....

Great pics as well, nice to see it take shape... did I see a temp sensor on the roof of one of the cupboards? If so what controller did you use? And is it easily programmable, because mine while doing its job.... is hardly intuitive to set up.
 
Last edited:
Nice work.... lighting is a nice touch.... and may have given me a little further inspiration....

Thanks :)

lol, it was a last minute thing as my son mentioned it...and he's right, it's a faff when you need to do anything without lights inside!

I wish I had your attention to detail, your cabinet looks amazing!
 
Thanks :)

lol, it was a last minute thing as my son mentioned it...and he's right, it's a faff when you need to do anything without lights inside!

I wish I had your attention to detail, your cabinet looks amazing!
Bro, yours is a triumph...!!! Does what you need it to do and looks the shit.

I bet your thinking.... if I had my time again I'd do this... or that... I know I always am and your lights are giving me the "Amazons".....!

Be happy with it and enjoy it mate.... and plan for the next one...! 😳
 

The latest video from AVForums

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