Heat
Rob:
First of all we need to know what gear you have, Make, Model, power outputs for amps. Do you have four eight or twelve components??
Is your system going to be truely flush?, sealed into a structure?, what about the backside?, is it open or will your gear be sealed, totally enclosed in the back?, A sealed box.
Will there be no gaps whatsoever on the front panels?
If you will have no gaps on the panels on some eight pieces of gear inside a sealed box of a like sized component group...yes you will have virtually no movement of air.
If your gear has the 3/4" panel gap between components as if all were to be stacked one on top of the other you can get away without fans, provided the very top piece has a one inch gap.
We are assuming you have about a 100 WPC amp.
If your amp has external heatsinks you probably will have to reconfigure things. If it is open in the back chances are your gear has access to a vitually unlimited volume of air.... and a common gap between components..........this set-up will have your gear trying to heat up this large volume of air , something it will be very hard pressed to do.
__________________________________________Rick.......
Rob:
First of all we need to know what gear you have, Make, Model, power outputs for amps. Do you have four eight or twelve components??
Is your system going to be truely flush?, sealed into a structure?, what about the backside?, is it open or will your gear be sealed, totally enclosed in the back?, A sealed box.
Will there be no gaps whatsoever on the front panels?
If you will have no gaps on the panels on some eight pieces of gear inside a sealed box of a like sized component group...yes you will have virtually no movement of air.
If your gear has the 3/4" panel gap between components as if all were to be stacked one on top of the other you can get away without fans, provided the very top piece has a one inch gap.
We are assuming you have about a 100 WPC amp.
If your amp has external heatsinks you probably will have to reconfigure things. If it is open in the back chances are your gear has access to a vitually unlimited volume of air.... and a common gap between components..........this set-up will have your gear trying to heat up this large volume of air , something it will be very hard pressed to do.
__________________________________________Rick.......
Re: Heat
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the reply.
The entertainment center consists of two cabinets separated by a large TV. The entertainment center is built into a cutout into the wall, rather than a free standing structure.
The lower cabinet will house the amplification, which for rough planning purposes is 10 channels of 150 wpc (this stack will drive HT, patio, and dedicated 2-channel rigs). The cabinet doors are solid, and the intent is to operate with the doors closed. There will be a couple of inches in the back for cable chases.
The upper cabinet will house the equipment you typically touch, i.e., prepro, DVD, and other stuff that's controllable via remote. The cabinet doors will have a wire mesh or screen insert to allow IR to work with the cabinet doors closed.
I'm expecting forced ventilation will be required for both cabinets, especially the lower. I'm seeking information on fan sizing, location, noise abatement, and controls before I start boring holes in expensive cabinetry.
Thanks!
Richard Ellis said:
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the reply.
The entertainment center consists of two cabinets separated by a large TV. The entertainment center is built into a cutout into the wall, rather than a free standing structure.
The lower cabinet will house the amplification, which for rough planning purposes is 10 channels of 150 wpc (this stack will drive HT, patio, and dedicated 2-channel rigs). The cabinet doors are solid, and the intent is to operate with the doors closed. There will be a couple of inches in the back for cable chases.
The upper cabinet will house the equipment you typically touch, i.e., prepro, DVD, and other stuff that's controllable via remote. The cabinet doors will have a wire mesh or screen insert to allow IR to work with the cabinet doors closed.
I'm expecting forced ventilation will be required for both cabinets, especially the lower. I'm seeking information on fan sizing, location, noise abatement, and controls before I start boring holes in expensive cabinetry.
Thanks!
OK, now I know enough to ask a specific questions.
Looks like I have an interesting challenge. I figure a heat load of 4400 BTU's generated from amplifiers. Middle Atlantic has a calculator on their website which indicates a need for ~450 CFM.
So, how loud is a fan? Is 50 dBA obnoxious? Would I notice 40 dBA?
What's the best approach to get 450 CFM of flow (active) at an acceptable noise load?
Thanks!
Looks like I have an interesting challenge. I figure a heat load of 4400 BTU's generated from amplifiers. Middle Atlantic has a calculator on their website which indicates a need for ~450 CFM.
So, how loud is a fan? Is 50 dBA obnoxious? Would I notice 40 dBA?
What's the best approach to get 450 CFM of flow (active) at an acceptable noise load?
Thanks!
Hello weinstro, if you could post some sort of sketch, that would help. If I understand your thoughts correctly, making the cabinet so that it create a natural air current that pulls air from below the amp and allows it to exhaust out above it will help immensely. Think of designing a chimney, you use the natural tendency of hot air to move upwards to create a vacuum that pulls in cool air from below.
Peace,
Dave
Peace,
Dave
dave_gerecke said:
OK. About a year ago, I started this thread and had posted some sketches.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108982
This is now taking shape, and attached is a photo of the lower section:
The sides will contain subwoofers, which are not quite underway yet. The center part will contain a bunch of amplifiers, behind solid doors. The idea would be to slot the floor panel of the lower cabinet, and slot the sides below the floor panel to allow air flow into the cabinet. I would then mount several fans on the back or under the top to exhaust the hot air.
The middle section will contain a very large HD CRT TV. Having the fans for the lower section underneath this might provide some additional cooling air. On the otherhand, having the fans on the back panel puts the hot air into a cable plenum, which goes all the way to the top - the chimney, perhaps.
I'm still concerned about the fans being loud.
Thoughts?
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