You could get a 12 volt power supply and use the Rat Shack fans. |
Radio shack does have 4 1/2" 120V brushless with sleeve bearing cooling fans that work very well. Noise is 38db. Airflow is 65CFM. They are fairly quiet and move a respectable amount of air. I have a total of three wired to 1 toggle switch with a red light so I can see when their on for the audio side of my cabinet. They are mounted on the back and pull air from the front. I also have one 3 1/2" fan from Radio Shack that I wired with a thermostat from a 20" box fan to keep my DirecTV HD receiver cool. They work very nice. Catalog #: 273-241 for the 4". Cat # 273-242 for the 3". I just searched their web site and they show these.
Please note that I have these plugged in a separate wall plug from my power conditioners to prevent any AC noise. |
Check the SHERBOURN website. They have fans for this application. |
Thanks. Unfortunately, both units are just too large and heavy (appears the Sherbourn comes in just one size - the 3 fan unit and is 12v). I saw the same (3") fan at Radio Shack - I've got a pretty limited space - was hoping to some how attach the fan to the uprights on my rack - the fan(s) would need to be pretty light to do so. |
A cool (no pun intended) way to do it if you have a couple inches under your amp shelf, is to cut a couple of four inch holes (or whatever the fan dia. is) in the amp shelf itself, and mount the fans to the bottom of the shelf blowing up at the amp's bottom, which if it's not solid, will provide sufficient air movement to keep them from overheating.
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I still think you should buy a 12vdc power supply and then you can plug the fans into the wall recepticle like you want to. Get one with enough amp rating to run all three off the same supply. Radio Shack should have them too. |
Not sure of size requirements but check this fan out http://mcm.newark.com/NewarkWebCommerce/mcm/en_US/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=50-1672&N=0 |
Frankm1, you didn't say if your amps are tube or ss, but I was thinking that if space is tight, you could buy some of those really little computer fans (they're only about 1.5 in square) that they put right on the printed circuit boards over IC chips like on video cards. They're very quiet and powerful enough for your needs, and just set them on top of the tube cage or over the vent slots of a ss unit. |
I'm also thinking that I may have to go with the 12v for lack of an alternative that will fit the my space requirements. I note that one of the postings above refers to using a different outlet. Currently, I have a PS Audio Power Port and I have a PS Audio Power Director plugged into it. My tube amps and other components all plug into the Power Director. If the 12v power supply is plugged into the other outlet on the Power Port, is this going to cause some sort of problem that might interfere with the operation of my other units? |
It won't cause a problem except for being a wall wart and may take up too much space. A small extension cord can be plugged into the PS Audio and the wall wart can be plugged into it. |
The cooling of computers is a business all in itself.
You might do well to do some surfing in the world of computer cooling.
I'm afraid you might still end up using a 12 volt supply and don't be afraid to us a variac to control the fan speed.
That said, in the world of computer cooling exists a sub-culture regarding noise issues while cooling.
You'll want the quietest fan which moves the most air.
Cooling electronics is cooling electronics be it digital solid state or analog.
www.silentpcreview.com |
he has tubes, read closer its in the first sentence |
Guess I read too fast. What kind of tube amps are they. I want to look at how the tubes are arranged. |
I wasnt being a smartass, just pointing out he has tubes, but like you said, more info would be nice |
If you have a 12v trigger on your pre, you can run a small PC type cooling fan directly off the trigger output. Check the current requirement of the fan against the current available on the trigger. |
www.directron.com/quiet fans.html Then in search box type silencer. About half way down you'll see 8x8 ball bearing case fan 11.95. just above quiet fan shootout,read it ..i got 2 of these had a wall wart laying around ,went to radio shack,and got little black box for switch,put velcro on back of box and shelf to hang it ..so i can cut it off,,made a wooden fork like hanger to slide on back of self and mounted fans ..these fans a so great you cant here them run ever..read the shoot out ..greaest treak i know of for cooling..i set mine on my ps audio p 300 and it shays so cool befor it got hot even with there fan in it,shit works |
just wondering which modl computer fan you picked up, tried to find it on the web site but wasnt sure,thanks |
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/sil.html try that im sorry they changed there web sight around..they went down in price get a couble of them .i had a 12 volt ..800 milla amp wall wort around and have 2 fans running off of it ..you dant need 800mas 400 would do.i even got some 2 prong male and female plugs from radio shack and hook 16 gauge wire from each fan about 2 feet long so i could move them around and then unplug them also..hard wired both fan wires in black box where a switch was mounted box is 4 inches by 2 inches maybe..rect in shape,and ran the power wort on other end of box...i did by a 1/8 male and female plug ..over kill but clean |
Sounds like a good possibility. Note the fans you mentioned are about 3" X 3" X 1". Hopefully I could mount them in the space I have - but I would be close. I might try to find something even a bit smaller. Just to answer a couple of the questions above, I have vintage tube gear-Marantz model 9 amps and a model 7 preamp. There are four EL34s for each amp and they run in a row parallel to the back edge of the shelf on which they sit. Just measured and I have only 3" from the top of the tube cages to the bottom of the shelf above. Presume the wall wart referred to is the 12v 'cube' that plugs into the wall?? |
If you run fans with 12v trigger you can get a power adjustable adapter from radio shak and control the fans speed with diffrent power output, thus controlling any noise issues. |
follow me here..if you read the fan shoot out ,you will see these fans move alot of air..alot..you dont have a noise problem read the low db in noise mesurement,make a mountto hang on the back of your shelf mount the fan on your mount mine is maybe 6 inches away from rack ..now i get lots of air,you can feel it when you stand in front of rack..these are the best option,run wal wort only .email me and i give you my number bbaxley2@yahoo.com |
wall wart plugs in wall yes |
Wouldn't attaching any cooling fan to the uprights of an audio rack (or any other part of the rack) introduce vibration into the rack? |
not these fans they are dead still and you cant hear them run,,but you could prevent that by mounting it with some rubber,these fans are not like the radio shack fans, |
1) DO NOT try to use the 12V trigger output as a fan power supply: they are very limited output current
2) any cooling fan should be mounted so as to draw heat away from the component - not blowing air onto it |
Bob bundus, what is the advantage in having induced draft versus forced draft?
Bob P. |
Bob, I was going to ask the same question a inpep. Mainly because for years, ARC used forced draft (I don't know if they still do.) |
i would think that forse draft would cause dust to go inside sourse faster,although i have cleaned both pulling and pushing air and they both were dusty,i know when im hot i want fan to blow on me,but im a southern boy ,what do i know?b and bob is right ...no 12v trigger ,use wall wart |
