Cooling my entertainment cabinet

Indiana

Indiana

CAGiversary!
I'm looking for the best / cheapest way to cool my receiver, dvr, and xbox 360 that are sitting in the top of my cabinent.

I put a digital thermometer up next to the 360 and it hit 98 degrees last night while playing games. My thought was to cut a small hole in the back of the cabinet and install a 3 or 4 inch AC fan to blow cool air in at the bottom components.

Any thoughts? Radioshack wants $25 for one of these tiny 120v ac fans.
 
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Wow, seems like you can get one of those regular small fans for cheaper, like under $10 at Walmart or Target. They might be ugly and bigger than you want, but the solution would be cheaper wouldn't it? And this is Cheapassgamer after all.
 
Or find a really cheap PC power supply, smallest/cheapest you can find, and just plug PC fans into that. There are often free PSU deals on the net. If you could find a silent/fanless one, even better.
 
I'm open to suggestions of what other people have tried. I hate to spend $25 for one fan. It is important that the fan be somewhat small since it has to go in my cabinet or attached to the back of it.
 
[quote name='SpyderGT']Or find a really cheap PC power supply, smallest/cheapest you can find, and just plug PC fans into that. There are often free PSU deals on the net. If you could find a silent/fanless one, even better.[/QUOTE]

That's not a good idea according to TH users... I asked the same thing and they said that I'd end up killing the PS because a PS wasn't meant to run at a few amps to power some fans.

OP, you have the right idea... but that's a pretty pricey fan. Target has these tiny 6" fans (Hawaiian Breeze brand or something) for $7. They're AC powered and are fairly powerful- I use one as a desk cooler for my computer's LCD at home (the monitor area is kinda enclosed, trapping heat).

I'd get that and rig it up top area (since heat rises up) and have it blowing air out rather than blow cool air in though. Or do both and get some real air flow in there.:lol:
 
[quote name='SpyderGT']Or find a really cheap PC power supply, smallest/cheapest you can find, and just plug PC fans into that. There are often free PSU deals on the net. If you could find a silent/fanless one, even better.[/QUOTE]

Well I have a new pc power supply that is collecting dust but the problem with that route is the supply won't come on unless it sees resistence on certain voltages. It doesn't come on without something connected to the 12volt wire I believe.
 
If you go to walmart they have tiny box fans like 6 inches they're mean't for a desk. I think they cost $6-$9. I would just bolt one of those to the back of the cabint.
 
I'd take the 360 out of cabinet and sit it on top or somehting, if your cabinet has a back putting something like a Pc or 360 in it will heat it up very fast as the air it expels has no place to go really. I'm sure you've found that the components like receivers, dvd players, STBs, etc. don't put off nearly the same amount of heat. If anything simply cut a hole in the rear of the cabinet (you can even replace is with a mesh screen or so) to give the hot air escaping the 360 someplace to go. You can install a fan if you wish too, but I have mine sitting in an open audio pier and it has never heated up that much (then again it is sitting on a laptop cooler). As long as it's open enough you shouldn't have any problems though, you simply just need to give the air someplace to go.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']I'd take the 360 out of cabinet and sit it on top or somehting, if your cabinet has a back putting something like a Pc or 360 in it will heat it up very fast as the air it expels has no place to go really. I'm sure you've found that the components like receivers, dvd players, STBs, etc. don't put off nearly the same amount of heat. If anything simply cut a hole in the rear of the cabinet (you can even replace is with a mesh screen or so) to give the hot air escaping the 360 someplace to go. You can install a fan if you wish too, but I have mine sitting in an open audio pier and it has never heated up that much (then again it is sitting on a laptop cooler). As long as it's open enough you shouldn't have any problems though, you simply just need to give the air someplace to go.[/QUOTE]
DVRs seem to get VERY hot, mine definitely gets hotter than the 360. But all my other components run cool.
 
[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']I'd take the 360 out of cabinet and sit it on top or somehting, if your cabinet has a back putting something like a Pc or 360 in it will heat it up very fast as the air it expels has no place to go really. I'm sure you've found that the components like receivers, dvd players, STBs, etc. don't put off nearly the same amount of heat. If anything simply cut a hole in the rear of the cabinet (you can even replace is with a mesh screen or so) to give the hot air escaping the 360 someplace to go. You can install a fan if you wish too, but I have mine sitting in an open audio pier and it has never heated up that much (then again it is sitting on a laptop cooler). As long as it's open enough you shouldn't have any problems though, you simply just need to give the air someplace to go.[/QUOTE]

I hate to take the 360 out of the cabinet as my wife likes the living room to look neat. Even without the 360 running I find that my DVR and Receiver are able to pump the temp up to 93 degrees. The 360 just ups it to 98 or 99 degrees so an intake fan is a necessity. I'm going to check out wal-mart and target to see if they have some better deals before I drop $25 on one of these tiny radioshack fans.
 
[quote name='Redeema']Wow, seems like you can get one of those regular small fans for cheaper, like under $10 at Walmart or Target. They might be ugly and bigger than you want, but the solution would be cheaper wouldn't it? And this is Cheapassgamer after all.[/quote]

Spent $3.99 on a miniature (2" or 3") fan at Wal Mart.
 
[quote name='Indiana']Well I have a new pc power supply that is collecting dust but the problem with that route is the supply won't come on unless it sees resistence on certain voltages. It doesn't come on without something connected to the 12volt wire I believe.[/quote]

S'ok, just wire in a big ceramic resistor. There are DIY instructions floating around the Intarweb. Some people use them to power DC battery chargers and the like, no problems at all.

You can sometimes find AC muffin fans on ebay for a few bucks, but make sure they are ball bearing. I have a couple that have been running continuously for 4 years, and they were probably several years old when I got them.
 
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