An inexpensive equipment rack

[rkrenicki]

I have been running into heat problems with my equipment.. 3 satellite receivers, and a cable box, as well as a surround sound system, and video game consoles all crammed into a small area on top of eachother, will definately heat up some.

I wanted to get a rack of some sort, to keep the hardware seperate and cool things down, but they are rather expensive.. $200+ for anything decent, or $100 for something really cheap and crappy.

This lead me to ye old Home Depot with ideas, and delusions of grandeur.. What I came to instead shocked me and my roommates.

Shoe Racks.

They have these 13 inch tall, 24 inch wide wooden shoeracks that even stack into eachother. and they only cost $13 each.

I bought 3 of them, assembled them, stacked em up, and I have a perfect rack, keeping everything nice and cool. If I get more equipment, I can stack a 4th on there without any problem.. any more than that, I may run into stability problems, at least in one tower, perhaps splitting them into two towers side by side would be ok in that circumstance.

attached is my before and after (cables not tidied up yet, but its together and working)

 

[rkrenicki]

hmm.. I cant seem to find a photo of my old setup.... I will look again when I get home, but suffice it to say, it was pretty cramped

 

[Mr Tony]

neat idea....I have the same issue with some of my stuff

receivers stacked on top of each other

 

[drhydro]

excellant idea, i have ran out of room in my entertainment center and will have to give these a look :-D are these made of plastic or wood?

 

[rkrenicki]

looks to be 1/2" particleboard w/formica (or something similar) on them.. so it will stand up to alot.

I may end up putting some 90 degree metal angles in the corners for reinforcement at some point, as they really werent made for this kind of load.. (that STR-DE587 weighs a but more than a few pairs of shoes ) but I dont have any stability problems with three.

And for the price, they really cant be beat.

 

[drhydro]

sounds good, if stability is needed a back could always be fashioned out of wood with proper venting, once again, excellant idea :-D

 

[Mr Tony]

maybe Im blind but where is the FTA box?

and whats in the bottom left corner next to the video game system

(I do like the SC setup...Is that a 500 or 530?)

 

[bryansr]

l

I may end up putting some 90 degree metal angles in the corners for reinforcement at some point, as they really weren't made for this kind of load.. (that STR-DE587 weighs a but more than a few pairs of shoes ) but I don't have any stability problems with three.

And for the price, they really cant be beat.

This is a NEAT & INEXPENSIVE solution to equipment stand needs
You could always just nail or screw some thin wood or metal strips to the back of the racks to stiffen them. Like any box with the front & back open, they want to collapse and the strips should help a lot.

Bryansr

 

[Devil24]

whats in the bottom left corner next to the video game system

That's a modified Xbox. It's missing the cd/dvd drive face plate and has what looks like an external LCD screen installed on it.

 

[rkrenicki]

Yes, that is a 2nd xbox.. It has a modified Samsung DVD Rom drive in it, and a 20x4 LCD on the front. It will eventually become the media player for my car.

My FTA box is way on the top, sitting on the PS2 (Remember the Frankenciever?) Sitting next to the bag of zip ties that is slated for my stack.

The zip-tying will wait for when I get my DCT6412 back from work (since it is missing in the stack at the moment)

 

[rkrenicki]

Oh, and the SC box is the 500, the orange display is the giveaway, as the 530 has blue numbers..

I picked one up a few weeks ago when the price dropped to $250CAD

 

[BubahJim]

Good Idea.

Good Idea. I did same exact thing with my amateur radio ICOM ham gear a couple of years back and it works fine and has good venting for air. One suggestion, however if you start to have a weight problem with it sagging cut a scap piece of 2 x 4 and use it as a brace for support. I did. Good luck.

Bubah Jim