Using an external fan to cool electronic equipment.....

[Stanislav]

I recently lost use of a DVD recorder (it can probably be repaired, but I don't have the time to send it off right now) -- a friend suggested that the symptoms it displayed may indicate the thing was overheating -- I did use it intensely, sometimes 12-14 hours per day for six months -- he says these are consumer units and are not meant to be used for heavy-duty work.

Anyway, I have a new unit now, and he suggested using a small extrnal fan to assist the internal fan in cooling it, much like some folks do with their computers. I'm willing to try it, but I wonder how I should situate the fan? The machine is rectangular and has the main fan and cooling vent in the rear, plus there are vents on each side. Should I aim the fan right at the rear vent or does it matter as long as the air is hitting the unit? And how close should I place the fan?

[gcarroll]

Originally Posted by Stanislav

I recently lost use of a DVD recorder (it can probably be repaired, but I don't have the time to send it off right now) -- a friend suggested that the symptoms it displayed may indicate the thing was overheating -- I did use it intensely, sometimes 12-14 hours per day for six months -- he says these are consumer units and are not meant to be used for heavy-duty work.

Anyway, I have a new unit now, and he suggested using a small extrnal fan to assist the internal fan in cooling it, much like some folks do with their computers. I'm willing to try it, but I wonder how I should situate the fan? The machine is rectangular and has the main fan and cooling vent in the rear, plus there are vents on each side. Should I aim the fan right at the rear vent or does it matter as long as the air is hitting the unit? And how close should I place the fan?

If the unit already has a fan I am doubtful an external fan will do a great deal more, other than to make sure the whole unit is not sitting in a pocket of hot air, or taking in heated air from equipment under it. If either of these is true then an external fan might make a difference, and it's location is not very important... you just want to make sure the air around the DVD is room temp. However, it's true that a consumer unit used 14 hours a day for six months is likely going to be toast.

[Ice97531]

It worked for me and my computer
I put an external fan out it ( it in a built in slide out drawer, the tower that is, that is surrounded on both sides by boards). I drilled a hole in the middle of the board, and placed a fan in there. On the last computer, it got fried becuase it got too hot. But now it works just fine. Just gotta remember to turn on the fan when you use it I know however that there is a way that you can connect the fan to the power button on the computer so you can just forget about it, not sure how though. I'm sure you could do this with a dvd player

[Joey P]

My receiver is about a half inch below the glass shelf above it. I noticed that the glass shelf went over 100 degrees. I just took a computer fan, hooked it up to a 7.5v power supply (I used 7.5 instead of 12 to keep the noise down, I can't hear it at all), no everything is nice and cool.
Does the top of the case get hot, just keeping the air above it moving may help with heat removal.

[Indefatigable]

If the unit already has a fan I am doubtful an external fan will do a great deal more, other than to make sure the whole unit is not sitting in a pocket of hot air, or taking in heated air from equipment under it.

Funny story... I work in an observatory, and we have a fancy little CCD (digital camera, to the uninitiated) on the back of the telescope. Typically, its internal cooling system keeps its innards around -50 C while it's running. There's a little light that comes on to tell us it's cooled down enough to take reasonably noiseless images.

In the summer, nighttime lows hover between 22 and 28 C. On warmer nights, the camera has trouble cooling itself down. We clamped a little desk fan to the back of the telescope, aimed at the camera, and sometimes that's all we need to tip it over the edge and keep that little OK light on. Since the telescope is inside a dome, the air flow isn't great, and I'm guessing that the camera really does sit in a pocket of hot air unless that extra fan is on outside it.