622 Cooling - USB fan on Flexible Stalk

[Cold Irons]

Seem to have found a 622 cooling solution that works for me - thought it might help others in the same situation. My 622 is in an enclosed cabinet with glass doors - pretty much had to keep the door open during use to keep the unit running OK (...wife wouldn't let me just remove the door ). I figured the laptop coolers discussed here would just be moving the hot air around within the cabinet & not help much in this situation.

When I got the 942 last fall, because of the heat, I had used a 2" hole saw to cut holes in the back panel of the cabinet - 4 holes at the top & 4 holes at the bottom to allow some air circulation. This was sufficient for the 942, but the 622 seemed to have problems with DVR playback freezing, etc. if the door was kept closed. First tried a small PC cooling fan (don't know the correct term - we always called them "muffin fans") attached to the back panel over one of the top holes - blowing the hot air out of the cabinet. However, this made an enormous amount of noise - probably reverberations from the attachment to the rather thin back panel - so had to remove it.

My wife happend to see an ad for a small fan on a "flexible stalk" with a USB power connection & asked if it would do the trick. At first, thought the idea was a little silly, but the more I thought about it, I figured why not give it a try - only $9.99 for the fan. Plugged it into the rear USB on the 622 & coiled the stalk a little so as to position it where it would blow the hot air out through one of the upper holes in the back panel of the cabinet.

Perfect solution for me! Quiet, always on, and removes the hot air from the cabinet, pulling room temp air into the cabinet thru the lower holes. The air temperature within the cabinet dropped from ~96 deg F to ~88 deg F. So far (~3 weeks) cabinet door has been closed with no 622 problems.....knock on wood.....

 

[RandallA]

My laptop cooler blows the hot air out of the TV armoire. It has 2 fans and they are very quiet. My low is at 78 F.

 

[Cold Irons]

Yeah - I need to look at my HDD diagnostics & see how my temperature readings are doing. I wrote down the high/low/average prior to putting this fan into the cabinet, but everything's been running so well that I forgot about checking these numbers.

Wonder how the average is computed - running average over X number of days, or what?

 

[RandallA]

We've been trying to figure that out but it's not consistent. For sure the X number of days is part of the computation but don't really know how it's calculated.

It doesn't matter how you cool the 622, the goal here is to keep it as cool as possible because that puppy runs pretty hot.

 

[Kirby Baker]

Seem to have found a 622 cooling solution that works for me - thought it might help others in the same situation. My 622 is in an enclosed cabinet with glass doors - pretty much had to keep the door open during use to keep the unit running OK (...wife wouldn't let me just remove the door ). I figured the laptop coolers discussed here would just be moving the hot air around within the cabinet & not help much in this situation.

When I got the 942 last fall, because of the heat, I had used a 2" hole saw to cut holes in the back panel of the cabinet - 4 holes at the top & 4 holes at the bottom to allow some air circulation. This was sufficient for the 942, but the 622 seemed to have problems with DVR playback freezing, etc. if the door was kept closed. First tried a small PC cooling fan (don't know the correct term - we always called them "muffin fans") attached to the back panel over one of the top holes - blowing the hot air out of the cabinet. However, this made an enormous amount of noise - probably reverberations from the attachment to the rather thin back panel - so had to remove it.

My wife happend to see an ad for a small fan on a "flexible stalk" with a USB power connection & asked if it would do the trick. At first, thought the idea was a little silly, but the more I thought about it, I figured why not give it a try - only $9.99 for the fan. Plugged it into the rear USB on the 622 & coiled the stalk a little so as to position it where it would blow the hot air out through one of the upper holes in the back panel of the cabinet.

Perfect solution for me! Quiet, always on, and removes the hot air from the cabinet, pulling room temp air into the cabinet thru the lower holes. The air temperature within the cabinet dropped from ~96 deg F to ~88 deg F. So far (~3 weeks) cabinet door has been closed with no 622 problems.....knock on wood.....

How about a picture? Maybe a link to the fan on a stalk too? Curious to see how this looks.

 

[RandallA]

I don't know if it's this one or something similar:

http://www.thermaltake.com/accessories/mobilefan/mobilefan2plus.htm

I looked all over for this one but couldn't find it anywhere.

 

[Cold Irons]

Got mine from kensington.com - here's the link to the fan:

http://us.kensington.com/html/4766.html

I'll have to see if I can get a picture of mine this evening. The one that RandallA shows is more like the "muffin fan" that I tried first - screwed into the back panel of the cabinet.

 

[digiblur]

This reminds me of my old entertainment system with my XBox. It kept overheating with the door closed. So I ended up cutting out a whole in the back of the cabinet, and putting the XBox exhaust fan right up to the hole. So the fresh air was pulled into the sides of the door, into the XBox, then out the back of the cabinet. The temperature dropped like a big dog!

 

[Old Guy]

RandallA try this link for the USB fan. Mine works great.

http://coolbidnow.stores.yahoo.net/thmoiia1usbe.html

 

[RandallA]

RandallA try this link for the USB fan. Mine works great.

http://coolbidnow.stores.yahoo.net/thmoiia1usbe.html

Thanks, I already have a laptop cooler. I was looking for that fan at first but couldn't find it and settled for the laptop cooler. It's been working great.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

RandallA try this link for the USB fan. Mine works great.

http://coolbidnow.stores.yahoo.net/thmoiia1usbe.html

That's a nice looking fan for use in a cabinet. I like the variable fan speed and the casing, which would make placement easier. Nice price too.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I'm about to take the plunge and upgrade my 942 to a 622, as my old HD promotion expires this month. I'm thinking about using a simple 6" 120V fan. I have a couple of them that are very quiet when running on the low setting.

The advantages are:

1) Moves much more air than a small 2"-3" fan.
2) Since they run off of a standard 120V plug, it won't draw even more power off of the 622's power supply, as a USB fan does.
3) Mine cost only $7.99 each

I've seen some that have mounting clips, if that makes your installation easier.

The one I use, and which is the quietest one I've found yet, is a Lasko 6" Personal fan:
http://heating-and-cooling.hardwarestore.com/34-172-misc-fans/lasko-personal-fan-274068.aspx

I've seen them at Wal-Mart and Sears. The base is easily removed.

 

[Dirtydan]

I'm using a "Cool Breeze" 6" fan from Rite Aid store,it has the mounting clip but I don't use that. After a week it has lowered avg temp from 114 to 111. I ordered the fan that RandallA posted and will report how it does after a week of use.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Ok - just to confirm. If I buy another Targus ChillMat, a 2-fan USB pad that I use to cool my ThinkPad when its sitting on my lap -- I can plug it into a USB port on the back of the 622 and that will provide the power for the fan.

Right now I have a fanless Cooling Mat that provides some space between the glass of my B'Ello stand and the 622 and for awhile it seemed to drop the temp a bit, but I just checked, and my low temp is back up to 111, and 122 for average. Too hot! Of course, its July in Western Colorado, where it is ALWAYS hot, so I want to take more serious measures to try to keep this thing cool.

 

[Cold Irons]

Ok - just to confirm. If I buy another Targus ChillMat, a 2-fan USB pad that I use to cool my ThinkPad when its sitting on my lap -- I can plug it into a USB port on the back of the 622 and that will provide the power for the fan.

Yep - the USB on the back of the 622 will provide the power. Note that the USB is always ON - whether the 622 is in standby or fully powered on, the fan will run all the time (which is probably what you want to happen).

 

[Weezknight]

Anyone know if these will work on the 625 as well?

My 625 is running a bit warm with recent temperatures. I was thinking of using the laptop mats, but not sure if that's the best way. Plus I was a bit hesitant at their durability if they are running all the time. Any suggestions?

 

[RandallA]

Anyone know if these will work on the 625 as well?

My 625 is running a bit warm with recent temperatures. I was thinking of using the laptop mats, but not sure if that's the best way. Plus I was a bit hesitant at their durability if they are running all the time. Any suggestions?

Yes Weezknight. I have a laptop cooler on a 625 and it runs very cool. Mine runs all the time and I can't hear the fans unless I put my ear right next to it.

 

[DougE]

RandallA try this link for the USB fan. Mine works great.

http://coolbidnow.stores.yahoo.net/thmoiia1usbe.html

Thanks Old Guy! I purchased the USB fan you directed me to with the link on your post. Great service, they delivered in 2 days. It is working great......the 721 is located in a totally enclosed cabinet, temp inside now actually feels COOL.

Thanks again for the tip.

 

[drjdan]

What temp are OK? Mine is H 131, L 89 and A 114

 

[faster345]

I removed the door to the small enclosure under the TV where th 622 sits and put a Tornado Notebook USB Fan underneath, with the 'exhaust' pointing out into the room. So far so good, although I haven't measured the temp difference. Is there a temp self-diagnosis screen somewhere in the 622 menu? I really should read that manual. Cheers.