Thermostat for home theater cabinet?

[rockdogz]

I have my home theater equipment in an enclosed cabinet, and have installed some fans that exhaust the hot air into the wall. They run all the time, and I would really like to have thermostats so that they only run when needed. Anyone know where I can get some (or how to build some)?



Thanks....

[dennis68]

WTF? I wish I had a theater system that required a cabinet. My little 27" just sits on the hutch thingy.

Check Radio Shack for a thermostat, we used to pick up 12-volt models for amp cooling fans. It's been a few years since I have been in a Radio Shack, and I don't know an easy way to convert 12-volt to 115.

[Matt@RFR]

Dennis, look at it this way...you have a bigger TV than we do.

[68LSS1]

What you need is a thermostatic switch also sometimes called a temp controller. Radio Shack will probably be the easiest way to go about it. Or here are some alternatives: Adjustable thermostatic switch, peices/parts Actually, now that I've thought about it some more I don't see why a standard oven, or HVAC thremostat wouldn't work. Something like this here.

[TonyL]

indeed. a standard home HVAC thermostat will work best. just use the fan out leads to run your fan when the temp gets too high. set it to "cool" and "auto" and yer done.

[Smoke'm]

ummm that will work but you need to wire in a relay to control the load side.."fans"

dont run the fans through the thermostat unless you need a little excitment in your life and like watching wire lite up like a fircracker fuse...thermostats run on low voltage. and basically just turn things on/off with relays.

[rockdogz]

Thanks... Looks like this one can handle a load without using relays... am I right?

[Smoke'm]

Dunno....they claim it will..have not used one before....and I have never even heard of the Co. selling it...guessing it's there brand??? try one price is right..
I would amp it out during operation and only use it when you are home a few times and keep and eye on it before letting it fly on auto...

hey a side note came to me after you posted this call your Ins agent and ask if your covered if it melts down and causes a fire...I like to build my own stuff but it may make you vulnerable with no coverage..you should be ok as all the parts are OE from the factory???

Bud.

[68LSS1]

What is the load of your fans or the amperage draw? That unit is good for 10 amps. I would assume that's continuous and not peak/spike. Maybe email/call for more info? C'mon, no HVAC people in here?

[TonyL]

sorry, im thinking low voltage fans for computers or something along those lines. (which move alot of air by the way.) check into that as well. i know there are ready made systems, thermostats and all for PC cases that would work great.

[myclone]

Thanks... Looks like this one can handle a load without using relays... am I right?

What type of fans did you install? An educated guess would be that the above rated Tstat will do just fine since a fan that draws a steady 10A at 110v would be quite large....no wait...it would be HUGE for home entertainment component cooling. Im guessing you didnt install two fans close to "huge" since you would probably need a larger amp/speakers to drown out the noise of the fans. ;)

FWIW, those high CFM cooling fans that ppl like to use on their street machines pull 10-15A but that is at 12v and some of those fans can move close to 2500cfm which is a LOT of air. Compare that to your average "muffin" fan on the back of your PC which might flow 100cfm but only draws 250ma (one quarter of an amp).

IMO 10a contacts @110v will more than suffice for what youre doing.