# Looking for long lasting quiet fans for AV rack



## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

I'm thinking 120mm "quiet PC" fans right now.. newegg has a few for around $10/ea... 

But not all fans are created equal. Some "throw" air in all directions, some push air one direction.. I need the latter-- to push air in between several pieces of equipment.. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg, but I also don't want the sound of airplanes coming in for a landing in the rack...

I know some of you guys have already done this research and have some practical experience that you can give... so I'm knocking at your door!

thanks,
..dane


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## Pestilenceten (Aug 10, 2010)

http://www.infotechnow.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_87&products_id=5813


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## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

Thanks! While waiting for replies I was doing some more searching, and began wondering about using two of these... one for my bluray, and one for my video processor (the two by far hottest things in the rack)... 

I need to also mention that my "AV Rack" is more of an "AV Stack." It's not a rackmount system, it's a rollaround rack with multiple shelves, each shelf having a few of the AV components stacked on top of each other...

StarTech Black USB Powered Laptop Cooler Model NBCOOLER:









StarTech Lightweight Laptop Cooler with 2 Fans









These would be just a smidgen more expensive than raw fans, but have simple power (I have a spare powered USB hub already), and already have everything all built-in. Inserting one of these between the components in the stack I would think would help a lot more than without, and a lot simpler than trying to rig up some case fans and have air going everywhere instead of were I want it focused most...


Is this a completely and absolutely idiotic idea???? :begging:

thanks,
..dane


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## Pestilenceten (Aug 10, 2010)

Another good idea if your looking for better circulation is to go to lowes into their shelving department, they have these build it yourself, modular shelving that I use and can be as small or large as you want and they can hold over 100 pounds a level. the legs come in black and silver and the wood comes in cherry and black. I use it for my AV , its beautiful and when it was all said and done it costs 36 bucks


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## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

I've heard references to that before, but our local Lowes doesn't seem to carry that modular shelving system. Other Lowes' have apparently clearanced it out while some still stock it. There was a thread about it at the old av123 forum a while back..

If you can find a link (or supply good pictures) ofwhat you're using, though, I might be able to find it somewhere else..

thanks,
..dane


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## Pestilenceten (Aug 10, 2010)

No problem I will take some pics when I get home, I chose the cherry wood with black metal legs 13" high 4-tier


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## dvenardos (Sep 27, 2008)

In the silent PC community Yate Loons are known as the best low noise budget fans (they are the OEM for Nexas). Easiest solution is to get a cheap walwart with adjustable voltage and wire it to the fans. Dial down the voltage until the fans are as quiet as you need them to be. You can also get a 12v wallwart and couple it with a fan controller for the same effect.
Fan Controller


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## fanuminski (Apr 11, 2008)

I'm going to sound like an idiot, but where are you drawing
your power from to run these? 
I'd like to get some for my AV rack also, but was
thinking along the line of 120v corded plug-in -
not 12v
-M


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## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

Speaking for myself, I'm no less idiotic, I'm sure! 

I was planning on getting a little wall-wart USB power adapter, or use a spare USB powered hub to power the laptop coolers. Or, just get a wall-wart DC power adapter and splice into the raw fans (if I went that route)...

I'm looking for something that's easy, inexpensive, and doesn't add tons of noise (or height) to my component stack... how it's powered I can deal with (I'm an EE).

..dane


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## Steve_Vai_rules (Jun 22, 2010)

dane, i just did the 120mm fan approach. the quiet fans seem to have better thought out blade design that is less turbulent. check the cfm though to see how potent they really are.

my 120mm fans keep everything super cool even when i am really cranking out the tunes/movies/gaming. especially gaming my ps3 and 360 both get super hot. i have one fan set up to intake air and another to exhaust (for each shelf of equipment).

I power all 7 fans using an old 250w pc PSU. works great. just wired a switch on so that i can turn off and on as i see fit.

Matt


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## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

Thanks Matt.. I appreciate the input greatly!


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## Steve_Vai_rules (Jun 22, 2010)

no probs


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## cdy2179 (Mar 2, 2008)

I've used 120mm AC fans in the past that were freaky quiet. I find DC fans to be much noisier. Many AC 120mm fans are sold as Home theater fans BTW.


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## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

very interesting.. any links you care to share? 

thanks for the AC vs DC heads up!

..dane


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## dane (Aug 30, 2007)

Some quick googling indicates that AC fans emit more EMI noise however.. I guess there's always a tradeoff..


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## dvenardos (Sep 27, 2008)

Dane, do you know about this website?
Silent PC fan review
I always buy from their recommended lists when building a PC because I can't stand a noisy computer.


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## blackzarg (Apr 19, 2009)

I use two large 180mm fans for my Onkyo, and they work superbly without any audible noise. My Onkyo is actually somewhat cool to the touch after hours of operation!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M78L0K/ref=wms_ohs_product

Pretty much, the bigger the fan is, the slower it needs to spin, so less noise. You'll of course need a 4-pin to AC adapter.


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