Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 We are running a PC within a locker cabinet (the sort of locker kids put their plimsoles in!) but inevitably, we are getting overheating problems as there is just no air circulation in there. We have drilled some holes in the cabinet, but I fear it needs something sucking air in and blowing air out. Something like this Coolerguys Dual 80mm USB Powered Cabinet Cooler for Cabinet & Home Theaters | Cool PC Inc. DBA Coolerguys.com would suffice, as we would prefer a fan that comes on only when the PC is powered, however, it appears that product may not be entirely suited according to the reviews (short lead, problems mounting) As the machine in the cabinet is a Dell Optiplex 745 USFF, there isn't enough connectors to run additional fans from the m'board connectors. So, let's get creative. Any ideas how we can apply a cooling solution to what is effectively a metal cabinet? For next to nothing by the way.
featured_spectre Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 room fans, take the blades off, make your own (put atleast 7 on in replacement), turn it on full power. You will get a much nicer cool breeze
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 room fans, take the blades off, make your own (put atleast 7 on in replacement), turn it on full power. You will get a much nicer cool breeze Room fans? As in oscillation fans? I should point out that the locker dimensions are actually quite small, not much bigger than the PC that is in there.
laserblazer Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 You can get fans that plug into the ide power connector. EVERCOOL|FOX-3|FAN, 3.5" BAY, FOX-3 | CPC
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 You can get fans that plug into the ide power connector. EVERCOOL|FOX-3|FAN, 3.5" BAY, FOX-3 | CPC These are Dell USFF Optiplex 7 series machines; there is no IDE power connector (Molex) only SATA. Because they are USFF, there are also minimum connectors available. In this case, there is but one SATA power connector. I am investigating a 'Y' piece for the SATA connector, but it's what it splits to that is causing me a headache. Ideally, I need it to split out to 1 SATA and 2 MOLEX. That way, I can connect 2 fans to the MOLEX connectors and mount them to the side of the cabinet.
webman Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 What about just sticking in a few air vents? Ventilation Grilles - Polished / Satin Nickel | Polished / Antique Brass | Applied Bronze
Ric_ Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 @theeldergeek: Does the Dell-boy box have a case fan? If it does, it will have a case fan pin out on the mainboard. If you remove the top-half of the case (a good tug should do it... although just looking at some Dell kit will make it fall apart) you can attach something like Scan.co.uk: 180mm Silverstone FM181 White Quiet Case Fan with Fan Speed Controller to the locker. If your locker is in a single column with air on either side, you could have two fans... one sucking in cold air and one pushing out the hot
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 What about just sticking in a few air vents? Ventilation Grilles - Polished / Satin Nickel | Polished / Antique Brass | Applied Bronze I don't think it will be enough as we need to forcibly draw air in, and then extract it. We have a 4" hole in the back, and 'lots' of holes drilled in the side, but there is no convection going on. If we can find a way to attach fans to the side of the cabinet (in itself not an issue) we could draw air in and extract it. The problem is powering the fans so that they are only on when the machine is on. Obviously we could just switch off at the mains, but as we control the machine remotely, we are also trying to avoid visiting the location to do what we are hoping can be automated.
glennda Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 which parts are over heating? the cpu or the whole thing in general? as you could just buy a big old heatsink for it or the cable you after is it one of these Akasa multi fan connection with speed reduction (AK-CB001) - dabs.com then lots of fans!
webman Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 USB-powered fans? Or ones with molex connectors and run them from inside the PC? You'd just need to be handy with a soldering iron or chockblock.
mjs_mjs Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 What about using one of those eon power blocks to turn the fans on and off as the pc is on/off. Only problem i see is not being able to remotely turn the PC back on possibly.
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 which parts are over heating? the cpu or the whole thing in general? as you could just buy a big old heatsink for it or the cable you after is it one of these Akasa multi fan connection with speed reduction (AK-CB001) - dabs.com then lots of fans! Nice cable, and perfect, except it is MOLEX and I only have 1 SATA power connector. If I can find a cable that connects to a SATA connector and then splits to SATA and MOLEX in turn allowing me to power a SATA drive and split off to MOLEX, then that cable will be just right I think. It's the whole thing that is overheating, not just the CPU. When you open the locker, the heat that hits you is quite something!
webman Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 Loads of fan/molex/power cables here: Kustom PCs Molex Cables
difinity Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 (edited) What about a fan/s powerer by usb ? [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile-Fan-External-Cooling/dp/B00080G0BK]Amazon.com: Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us: Electronics[/ame] Edited March 3, 2010 by difinity
Ric_ Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 @theeldergeek: Does the Dell-boy box have a case fan? If it does, it will have a case fan pin out on the mainboard. If you remove the top-half of the case (a good tug should do it... although just looking at some Dell kit will make it fall apart) you can attach something like Scan.co.uk: 180mm Silverstone FM181 White Quiet Case Fan with Fan Speed Controller to the locker. If your locker is in a single column with air on either side, you could have two fans... one sucking in cold air and one pushing out the hot Missed the 200mm fan - Scan.co.uk: Big Boy 200 - Antec BIG BOY 200 -200mm manual 3 speed fan -THIS IS NONE STANDARD CASE FAN SIZE
laserblazer Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 What about a fan/s powerer by usb ? Get an old 5v fan and a usb lead. Strip back the usb lead and connect the red and black leads to the red and black leads on the fan. Cheap as chips.
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 What about a fan/s powerer by usb ? Amazon.com: Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us: Electronics USB is only +5v I believe. Not sure the fans would spin fast enough to do what we need, in addition, aside from the ones I mentioned at the top of the thread, I can't find any.
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 Get an old 5v fan and a usb lead. Strip back the usb lead and connect the red and black leads to the red and black leads on the fan. Cheap as chips. Not sure +5v will be 'man' enough to spin the fans fast enough to do the job, although obviously bigger fans = more air movement. Due to the lack of m'board connectors available to me to connect fans onto, USB is probably going to have to be the route we take.
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 @theeldergeek: Does the Dell-boy box have a case fan? If it does, it will have a case fan pin out on the mainboard. If you remove the top-half of the case (a good tug should do it... although just looking at some Dell kit will make it fall apart) you can attach something like Scan.co.uk: 180mm Silverstone FM181 White Quiet Case Fan with Fan Speed Controller to the locker. If your locker is in a single column with air on either side, you could have two fans... one sucking in cold air and one pushing out the hot The idea is to have a suck and blow arrangement, but it's how we power the fans that is the problem. It isn't a single column arrangement however, but the locker in question is on one end of a row, so we do have a side and a rear to which we can attach fans. There are in actual fact 2 fans in the case, both powered by 4 pin connectors off the board. One is blowing air across the CPU, the other is extracting air out of the case and it is almost a 'tunnel' of air in the way it is arranged. Being Dell however, I doubt the connectors are 'standard' (they don't look it). This http://www.book4e.cn/xie/DSC02848.JPG is what the inside of the PC case looks like, although in this pic, the CPU heatsink sits between the 2 fans as it has been removed to get to the CPU. The HDD goes where the heatsink is shown.
Andrew_C Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 Use the 5v to switch a relay. Use the relay to control a pair of low voltage fans fed from a 12v wall-wart. Or if you can build, or get someone to build, a mains relay to switch the fan or wall-wart. Fans could be as big as you want!
laserblazer Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 230V Main Axial Fans : 12V / Mains Fans : Maplin You'd probably need to get it PAT tested.
witch Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 Remove the door to the locker and replace it with a couple of removable bars - pref across the switches etc - so no one can get in to muck it up but the server would be cooler
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 Remove the door to the locker and replace it with a couple of removable bars - pref across the switches etc - so no one can get in to muck it up but the server would be cooler Unfortunately, the locker is in a corridor and part of a set of lockers that students use. The PC therein is actually being used to run xibo on a LCD TV for presentations and such like. I fear that if the locker door were removed, and the innards protected from 'fingers', we would soon find various 'deposits' left for us, i.e. banana skins, apple cores, crisp packets and half eaten sarnies.
Guest theeldergeek Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 230V Main Axial Fans : 12V / Mains Fans : Maplin You'd probably need to get it PAT tested. I like the look of those, I have to say; regretfully, they are going to need manual on off switching unless we fit a timer. As the unit is about 15 foot away from the office, none of us wants to walk that far and flick a switch...
truslack Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 I like the look of those, I have to say; regretfully, they are going to need manual on off switching unless we fit a timer. As the unit is about 15 foot away from the office, none of us wants to walk that far and flick a switch... What about one of these? ONECLICK Intelliplug CSIMP205 Energy Saving Powers All Desktop Computer Peripherals ON And Off Automatically- microdirect.co.uk
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