[Sussex] Heat!

[John D.]

Richie Jarvis wrote:

> 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. 


Well, I'm guessing that if your gaff is of a conventional design, then 
an exhaust fan type (though you might need to check out which model 
would be the quietest one) in the framework or possibly door of the 
cupboard, then remove a floor board or 2, and replace them with 
grill/mesh type material of a fine enough guage to prevent the wasp ingress.

Finally, and not necessarily the most obvious, make sure that any air 
bricks that vent the under floor void are free and clear (you might also 
think about removing an air brick and enlarging the hole to fit a vent 
and fan there as well - like a cooker hood fan arrangement).

If you don't like those ideas Richie then my only other suggestion is 
this <http://www.overclockers.co.uk/> !

regards

John D.

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