Cabinet ventilation and control?

DHR · 27 Apr 2025 at 08:40

Has anyone rigged some custom intake and exhaust fans for easy cooling of a cabinet/cupboard, be that AV cab, home lab / comms cab?

The fans are the easy parts, it's the thermostat, control and power source I'm finding a bit of a challenge.

Kind of want something out of the box that'll run 24/7 avoiding some of the common hobbyist bare pwm boards.

Begbie · 27 Apr 2025 at 09:29

I've looked into this, there are specific avr cooling fans with a thermostat but they're £135. Which is crazy money.

You can buy programmable thermostat plugs, I was thinking about them with two pc fans via usb plug which would essentially be the same thing but much cheaper.

I.e

https://amzn.eu/d/7hbffgw

And then any spare pc fans you have with a usb to 3/4pin adapter.

DHR · 27 Apr 2025 at 09:42

I'd not thought of approaching it like that, not a bad idea.

Mcnumpty2323 · 27 Apr 2025 at 12:21

Think there was someone asking about similar
In the watercooling section recently
Good suggestion from begbie for thermostat control
If you dont want to just leave fans constantly running
Though does add another point of possible failure
Can even buy some fans that have usb
Without needing an adapter
Larger fans may be an idea since usb will be 5v
So spinning slower/moving less air if use 120mm