Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Help with ventilation for electronics

Shawn, I wouldn't spend my money on those racks. You can easily do it yourself. Those prices are ridiculous for fans. I think they are simply targeting a niche of home theater enthusiasts and they can jack up the prices because they are custom for home theater. I was really surprised at how hiiiigh those prices were.

All you need to do is buy a few Silent Computer Fans 120mm Cooler Master Fan - $13 - 11.27 CFM - 13 dBA

Vantec Stealth Fan - $18 - 53 CFM - 28 dBA


If you want to make it a nice system, cut some holes in your entertainment system to put these fans in. I don't know if you have any gaps, for airflow or not, but be sure you have a way for air to get in if your fans are blowing out.

I would say you need about 30 CFM (cubic feet per minute) of air moving through your "areas" for the best heat dissapation. If you aren't paranoid about 28 dBA (also consider these fans are going to probably be inside your entertainment center thus cutting down on noise) I'd get the vantec ones. One on each side would easily ventalate your system silently. Research some computer supply stores and look for good fans. Another good place to check is www.svc.com

Alright, so how do you power these things? The amp draw from these fans are about .05 mA (miliamps) when they are running, .2 mA when they are starting up. They run off of 12 Volts. Sometimes the amperage ratings for each fan is listed on the website.

Go buy an AC adapter. This one has 1000mA of capacity, way more than you will ever need.

All you need to do now is get some small guage black/red speaker wire (24 guage or something) and start wiring up your fans. Once they are all wired up, cut off the plug to the AC adapter and split the wires. Test connecting one wire to the red and one to the black to see wich one is positive/negative. You will be able to tell which way the fans are supposed to be blowing by the arrow that is imprinted on the side of them.

Now, plug it in and you have a constant airflow system for under $50 with plenty of airflow and a custom installation to cool what needs to be cooled the most. It doesn't need a temperature probe because you can just leave it on all the time.

If you really wanted the power to turn on/off fans you can get a computer fan controller and hook it up that way. There are a plethora of controllers, some even have temperature monitors but mind you they are designed for computers. Here is a link of a large selection. http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g36/c17/list/p1/Fans-Fan_Controllers.html

Hope that helps in some way. If you have any questions, just post them here. I winced at the prices because something like this is very easy to make if you put your head to it.

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The amp draw from these fans are about .05 mA (miliamps) when they are running, .2 mA when they are starting up.

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WOW! Thanks Dan, I had no idea those things drew so little juice.

Shaun, no worries with a standard (or even digital) heat/cool thermostat, then.

Yea, those were the close spec's of the silent (coolermaster) fan which runs at a low RPM so it uses very little juice.

Most fans are somewhere in the .05 mA - .5 mA range depending on their RPM speed and size. Most are around .2 mA

Very good info Dan.

I would think you only need to draw the hot air out of the cabinet. With an intake opening on the other side so that cool air can be drawn thru the entire cabinet. No need for fans on both ends.

Thank you Dan!

I needed a little nudge to try this on my own. I considered the DIY route, but just couldn't figure out how to convert the AC power to the fans without over-juicing them.

I'll try the passive route for the intake. The holes for the cabling should be large enough for supply.

Thank you all for your suggestions and help,

Shaun

BTW, just so you know... the radio shack AC fans (at least the 4" ones) are far too loud.

I have a fan I bought from Radio Shack and it just sits on top of my receiver out in the open. Although I can hear it when my stereo sound is low, it is very quiet. I can't imagine even hearing if it is the back of your cabinet. Check out the link in my signature to see.

Thanks for the response shag.

I was having the most trouble with the conversion from 3 or 4 pin to ? for powering the fan. Dan had a great idea, thank you for that Dan!:

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Alright, so how do you power these things? The amp draw from these fans are about .05 mA (miliamps) when they are running, .2 mA when they are starting up. They run off of 12 Volts. Sometimes the amperage ratings for each fan is listed on the website.

Go buy an AC adapter. This one has 1000mA of capacity, way more than you will ever need.

All you need to do now is get some small guage black/red speaker wire (24 guage or something) and start wiring up your fans. Once they are all wired up, cut off the plug to the AC adapter and split the wires. Test connecting one wire to the red and one to the black to see wich one is positive/negative. You will be able to tell which way the fans are supposed to be blowing by the arrow that is imprinted on the side of them.

I winced at the prices because something like this is very easy to make if you put your head to it.

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Sadly Dan I'm not that great at wiring, so all I heard was the wah wah wah wah sound from Charlie Brown's teacher.

Since this post, I have seen all kinds of USB powered stuff. This Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan interests me most since it has a cord/cable capable of powering the fan externally, though I wouldn't need the retractable feature, without having to work that hard at it.

I am thinking about using an 80mm fan to duct cool air in from the rear towards the front of the enclosure / HTPC and a 120mm fan venting out of the upper rear. It would seem to be easier to duct air in rather than having to attach the ducting to the rear of the case for exaust since the case will need to be pulled out from time to time.

Keep em coming!

ShaunB

If you have a 3 pin or 4 pin connector on a fan you just snip it off.

Trust me, all you need to do is make about 3 foot extensions to the BLACK and RED wires of each of the wires and connect them in one spot. Shouldn't be too hard. Heck, I could do it for you and mail it to you if you really wanted. USB stuff might work if you wanted to do that as well, more expensive, however.