How to build a cooling system for your rack.

[7 Dying Trees]

Great idea and nice install.

Cheers man It still needs some tidying up, but it's cheap, quick and easy. Plus I get to look like the king of the lan party

 

[maat]

THIS SHOULD BE STICKIED!!!

Calms down.

Thanks again James.

 

[sevenstringj]

Yep, that's exactly what I did in my old rack. Though I opted for 2 fans, and they came with normal plugs so I was able to plug them into the power conditioner directly. Partsexpress FTW.

 

[Justin Bailey]

I like to pour cold water all over them personally...

















































































btw awesome rig, really great idea!

 

[Regor]

Partsexpress FTW.

Yeah, that website is awesome, but since I've ordered things from PartSexPress.com before, I constantly get these big ass catalogs in the mail... its kinda annoying.

 

[Distortion]

Doesn't having fans near the amp create a magnetic field that can and probably will interfere with noise sensitive devices.. such as tubes.. ?

Just a thought Really clever and cool idea

 

[7slinger]

Yep, that's exactly what I did in my old rack. Though I opted for 2 fans, and they came with normal plugs so I was able to plug them into the power conditioner directly. Partsexpress FTW.

link? I've been looking all over that site

 

[maat]

Doesn't having fans near the amp create a magnetic field that can and probably will interfere with noise sensitive devices.. such as tubes.. ?

Just a thought Really clever and cool idea

And yet we place said amps constantly next to HUGE ass magnets to push the sound...EXCELSIOR!!!!!!

This is the secret to excellent tone MORE MAGNETS!!!!!

Calms down.

Yep, that's exactly what I did in my old rack. Though I opted for 2 fans, and they came with normal plugs so I was able to plug them into the power conditioner directly. Partsexpress FTW.

Which fans did you order from partsexpress that cam with the AC plugs?

 

[Regor]

This is the secret to excellent tone MORE MAGNETS!!!!!

C'mon now... everybody knows its a well known fact that blinky lights = tone. And since his fans have lights, it is that which is adding to his tone

 

[7 Dying Trees]

this thread gets ressurected every so often, maybe it should go into the howto section.

My fans still work too, and still look more funky than a disco pimp in the70's

 

[sevenstringj]

Oh shit, didn't realize how old this thread was! But anyway...

Parts Express: Middle Atlantic FAN 4-1/2" Fan 105 cfm 115 VAC

That's the one. Though I don't remember them costing 40 bucks! Damn inflation. It was about 8 years ago I got them.

 

[maat]

Oar-SOME! unfortunately, my wallet just got kicked in the nads from simply reading that price...

C'mon now... everybody knows its a well known fact that blinky lights = tone. And since his fans have lights, it is that which is adding to his tone

You kidding me?!?!? I'm mounting a gawddamn lighthouse. TODAY!

 

[Stitch]

Doesn't having fans near the amp create a magnetic field that can and probably will interfere with noise sensitive devices.. such as tubes.. ?

Just a thought Really clever and cool idea

Its not the magnets, its the EM noise produced when the motors spin and the commutator swaps polarity. Because these fans are brushless, you don't get that periodic burst of noise, hence; almost completely electrically silent...

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Thats smart.

 

[maat]

Taken from

A Monk's Musical Musings: April 2007

Friday, April 06, 2007

Proper Rack Setup

One of the nice things about being in the music business for thirty years is that you have experienced and worked through almost everything: I've been a roadie, I've worked as a Synclavier programmer, and I've worked as an asistant engineer in some of the most famous recording studios in the world... plus, I've owned just a ton of guitar rack gear.

Setting up a gig rack is all about heat management, and this is especially important for a guitarist, bassist, or keyboard player who may play outdoor gigs where the ambient temperature can go above 100 degrees F (Working in the Desert Southwest as I do, I encounter this all the time). Problem is, most newbies copy what they see in recording studios via Mix magazine, or whatever. Recording studios are climate controlled environments! Therefore, the ambient temperatures therein are going to be set with keeping the amps, effects units, and computer equipment happy in mind.

So, in a climate controlled recording studio, putting the power amplifier on the bottom of the rack makes perfect sense: It won't overheat, you never need to fiddle with it, and putting preamps and other gear above the amp makes accessing them for adjustments easier. Putting the power amp on the bottom of a gigging rack is, however, idiotic.

What does heat do? It rises. If you put a big, badass, MESA/Boogie Stereo Simul-Class 2: Ninety on the bottom of your guitar rig, those eight 6L6 output tubes, three 12AX7 input tubes, and two gargantuan output transformers will bake everything above them! However, if you put the power amp on the top, the rising heat from it will actually aid the cooling of the lower units through convection: The rising hot air on the top will pull in cooler air from down below.

*****

Here are two of my racks to demonstrate the principle:

ALL YOUR GEAR ARE BELONG TO US!

One of the reasons that power conditioners with light modules make exactly zero sense for gig racks is because the wretched, blasted power conditioner belongs on the bottom of the balsted rack! Power conditioners - even ones like the Furman AR-1215, which has isolation transformers - generate very little heat: Putting them on the bottom gives a relatively open area for air circulation. Just above the Furman units I have my Lexicon MPX-G2's, which I use in stand-alone mode as the preamps and effects units. These generate a significant amount of heat, they are very deep units, and they have a vent on the top - about six inches back - which should never be blocked by a unit above them. I usually recommend an open space above Lexicon MPX units, but the Beheringer Racktuner generates almost no heat (I let one run twenty-four hours with the lights on, and there was a barely noticable warm spot above the internal power supply), and it is only four inches deep, so the Lexicon's vent is not blocked. Basically, the Behringer is almost as good as an empty space.

Then, the amps are on the top. The top rack is my day-to-day dinner club/backround music rig. The Bryston 2B-LP there is a single space, sixty watt per channel unit, and the heat sinks are on the front, outside of the rack. Nonetheless, it has some upper vents that need to breathe on the top a few inches back, and it can get so hot the sinks will burn your fingers if you try to hold onto them. Nice thing about the SBK racks I use is that they are light as a feather, rugged beyond belief, and they have about an inch of space all around the gear: The rack "breathes" perfectly.

The lower rack is my high end gig rack with the incredible Lexicon Signature 284 All Tube Class "A" Stereo Recording Amplifier and Direct Source: Its +4 db direct outs allow me to plug its pristine class A EL84 output right into the house PA. Yeah, it rocks.

Not pictured here is my large venue outdoor rig, which is the same except it is six spaces to accomodate a Bryston 3B-NPB in the top slot. That amp has massive heat sinks on the inside of the rack, so it really needs to breathe. Setting the rack up with convection cooling in mind makes it relatively compact, and allows me to play folk festivals and whatnot out in the heat with noooooo problemo.

So, don't ever set up a gig rack like a studio rack, OK?

*****

BTW: You can easily see how the Behringers will light up a dark stage.

Cool, huh?

*****

 

[TomAwesome]

^Interesting. How much of a difference is there really going to be in a typical rack, though? If there was much of a difference, you'd see racks set up like this a lot more often. I see very few myself. I set my racks up with the power amp on the bottom so it's easier to balance when I'm hauling it and so the heavier components will be better supported on the bottom rather than being entirely held up by the rack ears (which really should be fine, but I overthink things like this anyway). Also, both of my rack power amps take in air from the back that goes through the inside of the amp and exhausts via a vent in the front of the amp, which is wide open, so the convection cooling principle probably doesn't apply nearly as much to racks whose power amps cool like that.

 

[thefearthefury]

very sweet colours. where did you buy the fans?

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Him being from the UK, he probably bought them somewhere we wouldn't know about. I'm in the process of waiting for a 3u rack panel right now. I have the fans. I decided to go with the Enermax Apollish since I hear the noise and air movement are pretty decent, plus the LED's are bad ass apparently. You just have to mod the fans since they're temperature controlled. I'll have to make a picstory of me making my fan panel too

EDIT: Forgot to mention, I got the fans from http://www.ncix.com . I order all my computer shit through them since they're Canadian. I've looked at the Canadian Newegg site and the prices and selection don't seem as nice as NCIX.

 

[Hcash]

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/gear-and-equipment/41702-rack-fan.html

I bought my fans from Radioshack. 30.00$ for a box of four... There were a few color options...

 

[7 Dying Trees]

very sweet colours. where did you buy the fans?

LED PC Fans, 120mm, cheap to get, ebay or places that sell PC parts

The ones I used are AKASA ones (silent ones, brushless or something, doesn't really matter, the colours were for pimping it out, could have used normal ones and saved some cash, but that's nowhere near as bling now is it )

Basically any fan will do, but PC fans are easy to get hold of