Venting cabinet

[Madman]

How important is it to vent a cab? also what is everyone using for venting?
Please post  links where you got your fans please!!!

[SNAAAKE]

How important is it to vent a cab? also what is everyone using for venting?
Please post  links where you got your fans please!!!

just leave the back open and you dont need any fans !  

[Madman]

I would... but i have a two year old that sticks his hands everywhere... I really dont want to leave anything exposed...

[Tailgunner]

All of my cabs have passive vents, not fans. They're usually two rectangular openings, one near the bottom and another near the top.
They're generally baffled by a board inside that's spaced away from the cab's back by 3/4" blocks. This lets air through but keeps fingers and such out of the cab's guts.

[SNAAAKE]

cant put the cabinet against the wall ?
If not,try happcontrols.com

http://www.happcontrols.com/amusement/acesor/80000610.htm

I would personally have atleast 4 fan in the back.
2 around the monitor and other 2 on the bottom for computer.

 

[slicer_d]

Dude those are some expensive fans!  I'm a cheap --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules-- so I would just get a couple computer fans real cheap of like for like ~5 bucks each extend the wires if needed and just drill some holes in the back.  Assuming you have a decent  power supply you should be set.

[Ghoward]

I have to agree with Snaaake. In my cab I have 4 Happ 110v fans. The bottom two blow air into the cab and the top two blow air out.

I did at first have all four blowing into the cab however the airflow was that great it kept blowing my keyboard draw open! Since hot air rises I figured turning the top two around would be the best solution.  

One other thing I have also installed two fan speed controls, two fans per control because they are really noisy when running at full speed. I have them all running at about half speed and that cools my cab just fine.

Gary

[Madman]

Where did you find your speed control???

[OSCAR]

Full size, 1-piece cabs don't need active cooling.  Heck, even cocktails don't have fans.  Fans just add noise.  If you have a couple slots/holes cut in the top panel and a couple near the rear bottom that is sufficient.  It's pretty common to see expanded metal or plain window screen covering the holes from the inside to keep debris out.

[Madman]

Thanks for the info... when its done ill let it run for 2 days straight and check the temp....

[JoeB]

I agree with OSCAR!

I have a full size cab, and only passive cooling (of course the CPU and PSU for the PC have fans on them).

The Motherboard is not inside a case, but rather screwed to a piece of metal that is screwed to the inside of the arcade machine.

According to the on-board temperature sensors, after hours of play, the CPU temperature is in the mid 40's celcius, while the MB is about 37 degrees celcius (for an AMD 2400+) which is the same as my regular desktop PC in a computer case with dual fans!

[Ghoward]

Where did you find your speed control???

The speed control is just a normal room ceiling fan controller the type you can buy at Lowes, Ace etc.....

Gary

[Tailgunner]

Full size, 1-piece cabs don't need active cooling.  Heck, even cocktails don't have fans.  Fans just add noise.  If you have a couple slots/holes cut in the top panel and a couple near the rear bottom that is sufficient.  It's pretty common to see expanded metal or plain window screen covering the holes from the inside to keep debris out.

Actually, my Pac cocktail has a fan in the bottom. It exhausts through two speaker grills on the sides. (Cab has three speaker grills, only one has a speaker.) Otherwise I agree, only thing I see fans adding to a full size upright cab is lots of dust inside and noise.

[RedSquirrel]

i just have a large rectangle shape hole in the bottom half of the back, and also a gap at the top too. I think thats fine enough..

[Ghoward]

Real arcade machines my not have fans in them for the most part; however they don't have a pc either. With my fans running my cab is a lot cooler with can only be good for the pc inside.

Gary