[Sussex] Heat!

[Richie Jarvis]

Hi All,

Got a bit of a problem at the moment - well, had it for a while really, 
and hoping to get some good suggestions.

My mythtv box and fileserver sit under the stairs - the fileserver is 
rock solid, but the myth box is suffering from instability due to 
serious overheating - the temp under there reaches between 25 and 30 
degrees C with the door closed (despite putting a huge grill in the 
wall, and putting a vent in the door), and I believe this is responsible 
for the problems.

For those that don't know, my myth box has 3 DVB-T cards in it, and 
those kick out a hell of alot of heat.  Both cases are fully cooled, 
with both intake and exhaust fans, and HD coolers, but it doesn't seem 
to stop the instability of the myth box.

One good thing about being under the stairs is that the house has a huge 
void underneath, and I was hoping that the heat in the cupboard would 
drawn air from below.  I haven't made any additional holes, but there 
are already a few gaps in the floorboards in there.  I was thinking of 
putting some holes in the floor, but am worried that next time a wasps 
nest appears under the floor (like happened last year) I would end up 
with a cupboard full of them!

I was originally hoping that the cupboard would act like a huge 
heat-pipe, with hot coming out near the top, and cold being sucked in, 
but it just heats up without the door open.

So, my question for you lot is this - can anyone think of a relatively 
painfree way to cool these systems? or even just the TV cards - fans 
don't seem to do the trick.

Oh, and last year they were in the loft - great in winter (worked a 
treat), but the instabilities came back big time in the summer when the 
sun was beating down on the roof, so thats a no-no.

Cheers,

Richie