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Any horror stories from not properly ventilating a MAME cabinet
ChadTower:
It sounds more like a dust collector than a viable cooling solution.
Put a thermometer in your cab. If it goes to maybe 140 degrees in there then add a fan at the top rear. If not, you don't need one.
boardjunkie:
The vent tube is not overkill, but needed to properly displace warm air and bring in fresh air. If you just leave the pc in there, it will recycle its own exhaust (there's no air movement inside a cab) and run warmer than it should. I've been involved in the amusement industry as a tech for over 20 years, and I know how much a monitor alone can heat up a cab. A PC dissipates far more heat than an arcade board and small switching supply.
So I guess its up to the builder what you want to do. But I would make the extra effort (its not that hard) to keep everything inside the cab as happy as possible if its expected to last and run reliably.
ChadTower:
The difference is that nobody on this site expects their PC to run 15 hours a day for 5 years. It's not run like commercial equipment. The requirements are not the same. People here turn their machines on when they want to use them and usually upgrade the PC after maybe 18 months. There is no 20,000 hour requirement on the PC of a MAME machine.
leapinlew:
--- Quote from: boardjunkie on June 28, 2011, 10:10:00 am ---The vent tube is not overkill, but needed to properly displace warm air and bring in fresh air. If you just leave the pc in there, it will recycle its own exhaust (there's no air movement inside a cab) and run warmer than it should. I've been involved in the amusement industry as a tech for over 20 years, and I know how much a monitor alone can heat up a cab. A PC dissipates far more heat than an arcade board and small switching supply.
So I guess its up to the builder what you want to do. But I would make the extra effort (its not that hard) to keep everything inside the cab as happy as possible if its expected to last and run reliably.
--- End quote ---
To each his own. I have multiple cabs that run for weeks on end with no issues. Some of the cabs are almost entirely closed up, while others have a few exhaust openings up top and intake holes down lower. What should be mentioned is the caliber of computer used. I build my Mame machines with just enough. I don't use high end PC components that are overclocked and require additional cooling. My last machine only played classics and I was able to use a passively cooled Intel Atom.
I know saying a machine requires fans isn't correct, but I guess some machines would depending on the level of PC the builder decides to use.
BobA:
Also consider the size of the cab. Bartops need cooling alot more than a regular cab as they pack the equipment into a much smaller space.