Home Theatre cooling

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#399170 2-Nov-2010 15:35

A relay is probably a good idea... but i'm lazy... i'll think about it, thanks :)

richms

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#399176 2-Nov-2010 15:43

Not an electromechanical one tho! make sure its solid state so there is no back EMF.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#399185 2-Nov-2010 15:49

Where would I find one of those? And how would I package it all together to make a nice little tidy unit instead of a few components soldered together wrapped in duct tape?!

Edit - jarcar has them. By the time I got a pcb, a case, wire, etc, it's probably just about the same price as just buying a prebuilt kit with a thermostat!

richms

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#399193 2-Nov-2010 15:59

I got mine from eBay, but RS and farnell (or whatever they are calling themselves now) sell them.

http://www.instructables.com/id/A-USB-Power-Controled-Plug-Strip-With-Isolation/

Otherwise you can just get a mosfet and put it on the downstream side of the wallwart. Plenty of schematics online on how do to that, which I cant look for right now.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#399247 2-Nov-2010 17:15

Thanks again Rich, I might take the schematic into jaycar and build myself a nice little box, sounds a pretty easy weekend project :)

elldizzle

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#399336 2-Nov-2010 20:30

So got all my Fans mounted on the backboard of the Cabinet. Holes all cut out with the jigsaw and everything. Fans were drawing about 1.2mA so well within the current for USB. So I have the three of them running of USB in parallel. As USB is only 5V I think there running at half speed. Im of the understanding that voltage is constant in parallel and its the current that splits.
What's also good is my cabinet has no front, the 3 fans will easily be enough to supply sufficient airflow to cool my gear. Took loads of photos will upload at uni tomorrow, then post links and a proper write up..

timmmay

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#399338 2-Nov-2010 20:38

Nice work ell. Are you sure it's 1.2ma draw? That's really low. I would expect more like 1.2A draw, since each fan should draw around 300ma at 12V. I bet they're almost silent at 5V too.

Can anyone see a downside of running this from the TV USB socket? I'm still tossing up whether to do that or use a solid state relay and an external power supply, just to make sure I don't somehow hurt the TV by drawing too much current, feeding back interference, or anything else.

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richms

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#399339 2-Nov-2010 20:40

1.2mA is absurdly low.

1.2A would be more like what I would expect for 3 fans.

Are you definitly using the correct terminal on the multimeter to measure it? The amp terminal is normally only for the 10/20amp range, others usually use the normal positive terminal that you use for voltage. If you use the wrong one the shunt will make it give stupidly low readings like that.

Richard rich.ms

elldizzle

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#399381 2-Nov-2010 22:42

Ahhh that would be why.... I've only used multimeter for 230v applications so always instinctively use the fused terminal... Will do some readings again when I post my build thread. Hopefully tomorrow If I have time.

timmmay

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#399385 2-Nov-2010 22:52

Post a link here if you do :)

MrFlower

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#400687 5-Nov-2010 12:12

here is how my receiver gets cooled.

timmmay

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#400705 5-Nov-2010 12:37

No walls is one way. Does it cool itself well enough with that setup, or does it still get quite warm?

wmoore

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#400714 5-Nov-2010 12:53

Sorry but I think it is a waste of time putting cooling fans everywhere.
What is the point ?
Your gear gets a bit warm, so use natural ventilation, like Mr Flower does above.
or something like this

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." -
-- Abraham lincoln

richms

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#400764 5-Nov-2010 13:49

Both those need a coat of black paint before I would let them inside...

Richard rich.ms

MrFlower

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#400798 5-Nov-2010 14:43

timmmay, yes it does cool itself very well compared to typical av unit with walls.

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