HDTV and Home Theater Podcast #277 - Cooling your home theater equipment

Hi HDTV Guys....

I have used ABS pipe couplings as separators between two pieces of equipment to foster cooling. While not perfect they look a little better than a childs building blocks as they are black, are relatively cheap and if you place them under the feet of the top component maybe semi earthquake proof.

They come in various sizes, here is a sample:

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stor ... PartNumber

If more space is needed than the coupling can provide, try ABS pipe cut to length with a hack saw.

Just a comment, keep up the great work!

Scott

I used a closed rack (w/frosted glass front) because I didn't want to see the wires, placed the AV receiver on the top shelf (with 3" of empty space above it), DVR receiver on the next shelf down (with 3" of empty space above it) and all of the heat sensitive gear, Blu-Ray, etc. on the bottom. The rack I purchased was designed for passive convection cooling, having air flow slots in the bottom and 3 sides of all of the shelves, however that wasn't enough. it was reaching close to 120 degrees in the top of the rack with the system on for over an hour with music playing. So I added a cooling fan to help out the convection (drawing air out of the top) and that dropped the temperature considerably. IMO, in a closed rack, forced air cooling is a necessity.

See: http://www.practical-home-theater-guide ... cks-2.html

and http://www.coolcomponents.com/Cabinet-Venting_c_8.html

I used the variable power supply, dialed in a quiet, but effective speed and attached the transformer to the switched AC output on the AV receiver. Hope this helps.