Comms Cupboard cooling

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gcorgnet

1078 posts

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#2481186 11-May-2020 14:24

Cupboard is reaching 32deg now with the room it's in being at about 21.

According to the NAS SNMP monitoring, it's running at 50deg which is not great. (HDD seem to be at 36-37 which is considered normal though)

So I think I definitely need to do something but still confused about how to proceed.

Say I grab a PC fan: 120mm enough? would it need to be bigger?

How would I power that? These are usually 12V, yeah? Could I piggybak off somethng I already have in there? There's bound to be something I can use for powering it, right?

Then would I need ducting in the ceiling? to where? jsut a small lenght that goes further into the roof?

Mehrts

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#2481206 11-May-2020 14:48

I've used the 802.3af to 12V PoE splitters to power random devices including fans before. I cut the barrel connector off to expose the + & - wires for easier connection to these random devices.

I can't see your pic in the original post at the moment, but if you have any spare PoE ports on the switch available, then that's an easy option. Plus you can control whether it's on or off via the Unifi controller.

I use 24V fans on 12V, so they run slower and therefore much quieter. They only pull around 1W of power as measured in the Unifi switch stats. If you've already got 12V fans, then you can get 5V PoE splitters which would achieve the same outcome.

120mm would be fine. It doesn't need to move a lot of air. It's simply helping the convective flow of the warm air to reach the ceiling space. Others have mentioned about pulling in cooler air from somewhere like a lower vent, but my cupboard isn't airtight by any means anyway. I don't worry about heat escaping during the winter months due to the location of the cupboard in the house.

mdooher

Hmm, what to write...
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#2481214 11-May-2020 14:54

gcorgnet:

Cupboard is reaching 32deg now with the room it's in being at about 21.

According to the NAS SNMP monitoring, it's running at 50deg which is not great. (HDD seem to be at 36-37 which is considered normal though)

So I think I definitely need to do something but still confused about how to proceed.

Say I grab a PC fan: 120mm enough? would it need to be bigger?

How would I power that? These are usually 12V, yeah? Could I piggybak off somethng I already have in there? There's bound to be something I can use for powering it, right?

Then would I need ducting in the ceiling? to where? jsut a small lenght that goes further into the roof?

if you are going to duct into the ceiling the perfect way (i'm not suggesting you do it) would be to through the roof. That way, assuming you have some space under the door, the heat from the cupboard will rise due to convection and you wont need a fan. If you just go into the ceiling, when it gets real hot in there the heat will radiate down into the cupboard so you would need a fan, and really ducting air into your ceiling is something to be avoided if you can. A fan into the ceiling would work but a fan into a duct that went out the soffit would be better.

probably all a compromise no matter what you do

Matthew

neb

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#2481343 11-May-2020 16:04

gcorgnet:
Cupboard is reaching 32deg now with the room it's in being at about 21.

The first thing that pops out from that photo is that you've got everything in the hottest location in the cupboard, right at the top where all the heat collects with no way for it to get out. Just moving it down to floor level should see an immediate drop in temperatures. With the door open, some of the rising heat from the equipment at floor level will go out into the room rather than collecting at the top where the equipment currently is.

gcorgnet

1078 posts

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#2481408 11-May-2020 17:40

neb:
gcorgnet:

Cupboard is reaching 32deg now with the room it's in being at about 21.

The first thing that pops out from that photo is that you've got everything in the hottest location in the cupboard, right at the top where all the heat collects with no way for it to get out. Just moving it down to floor level should see an immediate drop in temperatures. With the door open, some of the rising heat from the equipment at floor level will go out into the room rather than collecting at the top where the equipment currently is.

I feel you but not keen on keeping the door open hence why I was looking for a vent solution.

As for putting that on the ground. This cupboard is used for a bunch of stuff and has limited space... not very practical to put this stuff at grould level and I would end up losing heaps of space.

But yeah, your comment makes sense and if temp was the only concern, I would do that.

Kickinbac

427 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2481459 11-May-2020 19:28

I would try a passive means for ventilation first so there is noise.
Undercut the door so there is at least a 20mm gap. Or cut in a door grille. This is the air inlet.
Then cut in a grille at high level in the wall, as high as possible to let the hot air out. This should give sufficient ventilation to cool the cupboard a few degrees.
You could add a fan later (probably in summer) if you still finding it too hot.

dahc

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#2481619 12-May-2020 06:13

How about installing a wall vent which moves air from the cupboard back into the room?

A slimline wall/door vent centred above the door should look more discrete than a square option:

Hafele Ventilation Grill

Small Air Wall Grills

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Froglotion

208 posts

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#2482305 13-May-2020 01:03

I'd try spreading them out a bit along that top shelf and see if that helps with temps. As someone mentioned, you have them all jammed in the hottest part of the cupboard, up top. Do you not have networking in the house that would allow you to spread them out a bit in the house?

gcorgnet

1078 posts

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#2482321 13-May-2020 06:43

Froglotion:

I'd try spreading them out a bit along that top shelf and see if that helps with temps. As someone mentioned, you have them all jammed in the hottest part of the cupboard, up top. Do you not have networking in the house that would allow you to spread them out a bit in the house?

I have (a bit) of networking with one single run going to the lounge (it was retro-fitted so couldn't do much more than 1 run). Not so keen on having a NAS in the lounge though (noise).

I'll try and spread them across the top shelf a bit more, see if that helps

shanes

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#2482508 13-May-2020 09:07

Please excuse the mess, I'm in the middle of a tidy up :)

Here is a good example of why a fan is quite a good idea. The image shows the temperature difference between the top and bottom of the cupboard, heat rises, and that cupboard is quite a small space.

If the temp goes up a bit I have that fan going and it evens out the temps, I've mucked around with placement and even a slight airflow over the ONT and switch makes a big difference to their case temps.

At the moment I keep the door cracked open but will be adding vents and fans soon, probably one to exhaust the air and another to "stir" the air around the equipment.

FWIW I don't think venting to the roof space will be a good idea, especially relying on convection, the cupboard heat won't rise into a space that is markedly hotter... I think you'd also find that, depending on how vented the roof space is, that sometimes wind pressure outside will force hot air into the cupboard.

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