Persnickety Tim 2004-06-09 12:40
Anyone done anything about all the heat from multiple CRT's? I have three nineteen inch NEC's, and after two or three hours, the whole room gets warm. The area above the monitors gets even warmer, and that's where the computer is. I tried a small AC fan to move air across the backs of the monitors, but it caused flicker on the nearest screen. I can't really see myself building a giant box that's vented outside, or running yards of ducting from an air conditioner, but has anyone else given this some thought?
http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/gallery_browse.asp?ID=381&date=desc&nummon=false&mon=desc
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ecarlson 2004-06-10 03:23
I've given it a little thought. My idea (which I haven't tried) is to use 12 volt case or CPU fans (or 1 well-placed fan), and a well-filtered 12 volt power source. You would want to use quiet fans, or run them at a lower voltage, to keep the noise to a minimum, but in theory, they shouldn't cause as much interference as a 120 volt AC fan.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Tantalus 2004-06-11 12:19
cpu or case fans are way too small to circulate the air enough to make a difference. if it is really getting warm, use a standard 4-8" desk fan instead. or you could just switch to all LCDs...just another reason why i luv LCDs. :)
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ecarlson 2004-06-11 14:50
I think the small fans would be fine (and some case fans aren't that small). All you really need to do is keep the air circulating so the heat doesn't build up, and some case and CPU fans can move lots of air anyway.
In any case (no pun intended), any fan is better than no fan at all.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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ecarlson 2004-06-11 14:57
Also, a 120.mm case fan is bigger than a 4" desk fan.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Tantalus 2004-06-12 01:00
>Also, a 120.mm case fan is bigger than a 4" desk fan
eric,
please don't nit-pick...note i said, 4-8". sheesh!
using any type of case fan requires connecting them to a non-ac power source. seems like going that route is needlessly complicating matters even more. but that is my just MO.
the poster said the room gets quite warm after several hours. and that's a clear indicator that a 'room' type fan is probably the way to go.
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ecarlson 2004-06-12 02:03
He already tried an AC powered desk fan, and it interfered with his monitors (I've had the same problem with desk fans), which is exactly why I recommended a DC powered fan.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Tantalus 2004-06-12 02:17
re:interference
yes, i understood your reasoning in suggesting the dc fans...no disagreement on that aspect.
what he could try doing is running a long extension cord for the ac fan to a different circuit. also there are some suppressors like some of the tripp-lite models which has line filtering which he can plug the CRT's into.
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ecarlson 2004-06-12 11:15
But the interference comes from the AC motor, since it generates a large 60.hz magnet field, not from the power line.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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Tantalus 2004-06-12 12:08
if the fan is sufficently far away from the displays, then there shouldn't be any interference.
you would need to anyway...to move a sufficient amount of air to cool the room.
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ecarlson 2004-06-12 12:55
The purpose of my idea (DC fans) is to be able to place fans in close proximity to the monitors, to prevent heat buildup in and around the monitors. Cooling the room was not part of my idea.
If you had a hot CPU, would you cool it by cooling the room? Yes, partially (hence the large A/C units in computer hosting facilities), but you would also use a heatsink and fan at the source of the heat to get the heat away from the CPU and into the room.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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ecarlson 2004-06-12 15:24
Tantalus:
I think you and I are talking apples and oranges. I think we both agree that if you want to get the heat away from your monitors, and they are in a somewhat enclosed space, like the person has here, then, a close-proximity DC powered fan would be a potentially good solution, and if you want to cool yourself in the resulting warm room, then an AC powered desk fan, placed away from the monitors would be a good idea.
- Eric www.InvisibleRobot.com
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