Installing a Case Fan

[TalkingBull]

I could some help installing a case fan.  I plan on taking a standard PC case fan (About 4" square) in the rear of my cabinet to vent the CPU, monitor, etc.  I have never cut wood in order to put something like this in so any tips or steps to do so would really help me out a lot.  I have a router and plenty of bits but I don't want to mess this up and scrap the wood.

[javeryh]

Drill a round hole the same size as your fan and mount it behind the panel (not flush).  Then get a speaker grill or something to cover the hole and make it look finished.  That's what I do...

[TalkingBull]

I see, so you mean to have it behind and attached to the rear of the panel.  I have a finger guard for it so that isn't such a bad idea.. . and it is easy!  I think I will do that rather than muck about with a router.  I already screwed up my bezel!

Thanks for the tip!

[javeryh]

Here's a semi-decent shot of the inside of my cocktail cab to give you an idea what I mean:



Here's the outside with the grill installed:

[ChadTower]

Is that blowing in or out?  Just curious... seems by the bottom it's going to be venting the coolest air rather than the hottest.

[DaOld Man]

Talkingbull,
I did mine pretty much the same way as jeveryh.
My fan is at the bottom of the cab, pulling outside air in, then I have a hole at the top of the cab to let the hot air out.
I am not intending to hijack this thread, but I have a question:

Which is best with fan at the bottom: pulling air in, or blowing air out?

Arguments for both:
Hot air rises, so it should aid the fan by being lighter and rising to the top of the cab, but on the contrary, hot air is lighter and much easier to move than cool air, so would it be less work on the fan to pull the hot air down? The cool air coming in to the top will be heavier and fall, taking some strin off the fan.

Now why do I ask such a question as this?
Fans seem to be quieter if doing less work.

[javeryh]

Is that blowing in or out?  Just curious... seems by the bottom it's going to be venting the coolest air rather than the hottest.

I've got 3 fans installed - one blowing in on one side and one blowing out to create kind of an airflow across the computer and one blowing in (up) mounted on the bottom.  It is VERY cool inside even with the CRT.  I've had it on for 4+ hours at a time and it's as cool as the other side of the pillow when you stick your hand in there...

[Level42]

Is a PC (12V) fan really powerful enough to do anything serious in an upright cab ? Remember there is natural (chimney) effect if you set-up airholes right. (Inlets near the bottom, outlets near the top.)
 
I can see how it works in a cocktail though.

I've recently installed 2 fans that are directly mains powered and they move a heck lot of more air than anything I've seen at 12V. Even the noise was much less that I had expected on them.
Installed them on a SW upright to cool HVT and deflectionboards:

[paulscade]

I too installed a case fan in my cabinet... I cut the hole using a router...

like this:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=82241.msg863041#msg863041