What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

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dante
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What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dante »

I never knew anything like this existed - but obvious really
Digital Temperature Unit
Digital Temperature Unit
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https://pssdistributors.com.au/product/ ... ture-unit/

great solution
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dawman »

Looks like an electric stove.
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dante
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dante »

Concentric ?
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ronnie
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by ronnie »

My racks are all pretty empty because of Scope and VSTs except for midi-patch panels, a KORG DSM-1, a Furman Volt Meter, and super quiet Behringer and Tascam Amps that run very cool. Just for giggles how much is it and how quiet is it. Anyone know. The website makes these details a mystery which turns me off.
"I’ve come to the conclusion that synths are like potatoes, they’re no good raw—you’ve got to cook ‘em, and I cooked these sounds for months before I got them to the point where they sounded musical to me." Lyle Mays
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valis
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by valis »

Computer rack hole spacing
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dante
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dante »

ronnie wrote: Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:24 pm My racks are all pretty empty because of Scope and VSTs except for midi-patch panels, a KORG DSM-1, a Furman Volt Meter, and super quiet Behringer and Tascam Amps that run very cool. Just for giggles how much is it and how quiet is it. Anyone know. The website makes these details a mystery which turns me off.
$169 AU$

https://www.4cabling.com.au/4cabling-di ... -fans.html

I wouldnt mind one of those Furman units as well !
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yayajohn
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by yayajohn »

Cool fan! 8) :lol: If you leave some extra space in btwn you can set your Xite pwr supply on it too.
If you've got the extra space, I've had one of these for a while which is a lot cheaper. (3U or 4U size though)
https://www.pyleaudio.com/sku/PFN41/19
Can't really recommend though since one of the fans crapped out in a very short amount of time. Was making a grinding noise.
The really bad part of the design is that they hard wired the fans to the pwr supply instead of using a standard computer fan interface.
It's a shame because they appear to be the standard size fan and would have been very cheap (and easy) to replace. (prob quick work for one mildly adept with a soldering iron though)
I did manage to get it working again by peeling the front cover off the housing and slopping some grease on the bearings.
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valis
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by valis »

Those look like someone in china got ahold of the panaflo design from 2002 and is making knockoff versions. We have PWM Maglev models now that don't grind, though you might eventually hear a wobbly rhythm when not paired with a good PWM controller (they can now vary the speed with iterative functions that are non-repeating to the ear, pretty cool).

I'm all for cooling our gear, I've never liked how hot some of my stuff gets in the rack.
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Bud Weiser
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by Bud Weiser »

I think it´s more or less cosmetic gimmicks w/ the fans on top.
Where should it go in a rack ?
Warm/hot air rises,- so when the unit is the very 1st one top rack and it´s a downblower,- there´s not much space to suck air and what it sucks is warm/hot air already.
When it´s the opposite there´s not much space to get the hot air out of the rack.
Racks are typically closed on top,- except it´s an L-shaped triple-door one for mixers etc..

I´d prefer mounting fans on rear panels and use rack panels w/ air-vents on the front and between the other rackmount units.

:)

Bud
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valis
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by valis »

Some of the computer racks I've had are dual sided, because you often either mount a rear support for a heavy server or various power related units on the rear side such as this one. In those situations, the climate has filtered air and dust is less common than in our home spaces (though plenty of it still) and replacing such a unit is a minor cost once there's a failure. More time consuming & costly to manage a ton of fans than a single unit that shows a failure notice when it's time to replace.

Not that I like waste personally...

In any case that's not a very expensive or well built item, and I doubt any real datacenter uses it. There is a market for soho and home users who like to buy rack gear either to setup silly entertainment and audio networks (tinkering is fun) or in some cases buying slightly older routers so they can learn how to manage them (either readying up for cert or just to increase knowledge). servethehome, 2cpu and so on are forums I used to frequent that have many of these people, though it seems most have migrated now to reddit and modern messaging networks.
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dawman »

I just decided to go with the skeleton framework and skip the heat trappings of having a skin.
These are self cooling indoor and very cool outdoor, even in Nevada where it gets hotter than a Whore House on dollar day.. :wink:


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valis
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by valis »

To be honest, that's mostly what I have. I also have a small wooden 4u that a friend made for me that has an old fx unit (which is probably dead by now) and an older Alesis amp in it, which I rarely use. My main rack isn't massive, but like yours it's metal with open sides and a back. It's an 8u however, and I wouldn't mind an upgrade on the desk holding the mixer someday that incorporates rack improvements.

So Dante does bring up food for thought, as I have already had summer heat that has caused gear to fail on more than one occasion in the last 5 years.
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by garyb »

for that much money, just get an air conditioner...
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valis
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by valis »

I am actually quite happy with my AC upgrade, it’s been enough to cool all bedrooms for sleeping in the back hallway as well as the equipment failures I kept having with the previous one. So that’s certainly sage advice
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dante »

In my rack that units fans would just be blowing up underneath the device above, eg a metal panel that’s the underneath of the XITE where there’s no vents.

Would that work ? Heat dissipation wise.. Probably not worth it for the XITE-1D which runs cooler than the full XITE-1.

Also, if a rack device vents outwards at rear panel, would blowing a fan in opposite direction be counterproductive airflow wise ?

I suppose at the end of the day anything might be better than nothing on a hot august night
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valis
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by valis »

Can't really redirect that particular unit, but if one pointed in I'd just swap the fan direction(s). Also, this is usually placed in the top of a server rack again, or in the rear behind units, as the airflow in them IS vertical. They have front doors and usually bring air in from the flooring area and vent it out the top. Better racks can be integrated with the ductwork above.

The ones intended for top usage are usually full depth (not half depth as with the one you posted): https://www.amazon.com/Rack-Mount-Fan-A ... 07NW127BN/

Something like this is probably more useful to someone with a home server rack: https://www.amazon.com/AC-Infinity-CLOU ... 60&sr=8-35

None of that is what I'm interested in, but thinking about this subject was useful I had always intended to have a large cabinet built around my computer area, or alternatively a closet that I can build with ventilation or air conditioning. I don't really need a commercial product for that, and making a rack for the gear to match the desk could bring a similar need.
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Re: What to do with spare 1U rack spaces

Post by dawman »

dante wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:51 am I suppose at the end of the day anything might be better than nothing on a hot august night
You really don’t need cooling as much as ventilation.
Which is why I ditched enclosures for an open frame.
Heat actually moves all by itself, a simple escape route is all it needs.

On my 1U PC fans work because they are in tight quarters, intake from the 3 x Barrel fans pushes air out of the back.
But the open frame works just as well in loud ass vacuum mode as it does silent. Only 3 degrees difference according to my diagnostic app w/ sensors. I tried a cool LED fan controller once that sucked but I kept the 4 pin powered sensors.

Here’s the 3U I use.
They have room for FX and modules to be Velcroed to on top of a 3U stack.
My HX-3.5 Hammond B3/Leslie 122 module fits perfect.


https://starcase.com/product/rack-frame ... ole-steel/



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