[Dale Rasco]

A while back I asked for help in deciding which way to go with my A/V rack needs and below are pictures of the process and end result. I was initially going to add an entire room on but in the end felt that an in-wall rack would suite my needs..... At least for now. :bigsmile:

My only regret is forgetting to take pictures of the cabinet I built before installing it! :doh:

Before: Going to replace the '300' picture on the left


During: Cut the hole and brace the hole


Almost There: Just needs to be prettied up!


And Done:



And now on to the next project! :T

 

[Anthony]

Nice. Good work on that install!

 

[Dale Rasco]

Thank you Anthony, if I were to do it again I would definitely wait until it cools off a bit. That attic space behind the cabinet was HOT!!!!!!! :unbelievable:

 

[Anthony]

I've decided to wait until Fall to install my soffit vents and attic insulation (for the same reason )

 

[roadroach357]

Lookin' good. Sooner or later this has got to end..

 

[Dale Rasco]

END?! BLASPHOMY!!!! addle:

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Nice work Dale! :T

Regards,
Wayne

 

[Dale Rasco]

Thanks Wayne, luckily I read a thread where you recommended exhausting the heat with fans for cooling and it worked lime a champ. I put one midway and one near the top and all is well and cool and ticking right along.
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[mdrake]

Nice rack but...

Am I seeing attic back there?!! Looks like a NICE home for a tapped horn!!

Matt

 

[Dale Rasco]

You're killing Matt!... Sadly yes, there is room for said horn and after seeing pictures of you crawling around in the IB I am considering it..... Luckily I have a supportive wife.
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[abstract mind]

Looks good. Ever think of mounting your equipment with Middle Atlantic custom rack shelves?

 

[bbieger]

ARe you going to put a door on it? Smoked glass would be pretty cool looking although, probably not really cheap.

 

[Dale Rasco]

Looks good. Ever think of mounting your equipment with Middle Atlantic custom rack shelves?

That was my initial plan but in the end I found the Middle Atlantic to be a little more than I wanted to spend. (Of course my wife told me I felt that way) :foottap:

ARe you going to put a door on it? Smoked glass would be pretty cool looking although, probably not really cheap.

I actually did a temporary door that I will update soon. Due to the need for ventilation I made a simple door out of birch plywood with the middle cut out and a piece of solar screening over it. It serves it's purpose of reducing the glare and looks alright with one major issue, I forgot to account for the hinges and now there is a gap on the right side that I need to go fix. Like I said though, it is only temporary until a better solution comes to mind. I was thinking a mesh metal grating with a heavier frame but the the jury is still out. :scratch:

 

[bbieger]

I have a solid door on mine. Really nice to keep everything quiet- especially the xbox, which is as quiet as an old diesel engine. I think there is a picture of it in my build thread. I installed some temperature control fans..COMPLETELY silent....like freaky silent (two in bottom drawing air in, and one in the top blowing out) Keeps things remarkably cold in there. Even though you already have the case built, probably easy enough to retrofit. The whole set up cost me around $60-70. Nice having the temperature switch in there.

I think patience and a sharp wood plane will make any door fit in there if its not square. Flush mount cup hinges make it ALLOt easier to adjust and get all the caps even.

fans: coolerguys.com

 

[Dale Rasco]

I do like the way you have the fans pulling in from the bottom. I was initially thinking along those lines but haven't been able to realize a solution I liked however, after seeing your cabinet, my brain is going again. Thank you for the input and the link to coolerguys, I really appreciate it and I will keep you updated on the progress. :bigsmile:

 

[bbieger]

No problem. The cooler guys stuff is pretty slick as it is hard to find a thermo controller for fan units that isn't 110 volt. Plus I can't express how quiet there big fans are. You seriously can not hear them even if your ear is right next to them.

There are basically two issues to achieve proper air flow: air pressure and circulation.

If you have positive pressure in your cabinet (from more input fans that exhaust fans) then the cabinet will not suck air (dust and grime) in through the gaps around the door. Since my input fans are in a sealed space below the cabinant it stays much cleaner than it did when it sucked in room air from my previous cab.

For circulation, rather than just pointing the fans at your components, I installed my fans so they would induce a pattern of circulation. I have a a 2-3" gap behind my shelves. The exhaust fans blow up through the cabinet through these gaps to the exhaust fan mounted in the center. In theory, the hot air rises up the back, pulls hot air off the top of the components, and the cool air falls down the front. So it is somewhat circular. I am tempted to blow some smoke in there and see how much circulation there is..but it won't really work with the door open.

My comcast DVR runs so hot that I think there is a fission reactor in there but my gear is always cool so it must be working. I'm not sure if it because I have more space over my receiver in this cabinet but my gear runs way cooler than when I just had fans blowing air all willy nilly.

 

[Dale Rasco]

Great minds obviously think alike. The I setup two fans in the back of my cabinet to exhaust the heat into the dead space behind the wall and the air vent from my A/C happens to be at an angle right above the cabinet to where the cool air drops right into the cabinet at the midway point which cools the recevier. (Trust me, that part was blind luck.)

Like you described, I also left a 3" gap in the back for air to circulate and eventually exhaust through the fans. I placed both fans on the back wall of the cabinet above the receiver and again near the top. It works pretty well as everything stays very cool compared the old furniture piece they used to be in.

That all being said, my fans are very noisy and I would rather have some in the bottom like yours to pull cool air in rather to rely on the A/C that way I can also put in a solid door when I am done. Oh well, half of the fun of home theater is learning and luckily we have a great forum to get help and learn from one another. I will probably make the changes sometime next month as I will be traveling a lot this month however; I would really appreciate any input. Would you mind if I sent you my ideas before hand to get some feedback? An extra set of eyes always helps.

 

[bbieger]

sure, be happy to. Sounds like you have it licked, just need some quiter fans. I got the 800 rpm version of this fan...http://www.coolerguys.com/slipstream120.html 10 db is almost imperceptible. Examples of 10db include "calm breathing".

If your going to install cup hinges, I could mail you my cup hinge forstner bit. Cup hinges have a particular sized hole that they mount in. I believe its 22mm. just mail it back to me as it wasn't exactly cheap.

cheers,
Brian