JimCanfield Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 I am thinking of building a box out of 1/2 OSB and 2x2s. I do live in Illinois where it does get cold. I do have the large heat sinks. Will I need to drill ventilation holes to let the heat out?
iresq Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 I would think that unless you used some type of weatherproof connectors for your electric in/out and you sealed your box, there should be plenty of natural ventilation.
evan.a Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 after thinking what iresq said. your going to need a way in with power and an exit for lights. so dont worry about heat build up. your going to drill holes anyway, and there's no way around that.
JimCanfield Posted October 28, 2008 Author Posted October 28, 2008 Cool, thanks for the info. The box will be nothing special, just 4 sides, a top, and a bottom with a hole for the cords and cables. My main reason for the box is not to protect the box (because I know they are weather proof) is to keep all 16 connections off the ground and somewhat protected inside a box.
Richard Hamilton Posted October 28, 2008 Posted October 28, 2008 Jim,I agree with iresq. Also to mention that one reason to have some natural ventilation is to reduce condensation build-up inside a box. I think you never want one to be completely sealed for that reason alone.
Texan78 Posted October 28, 2008 Posted October 28, 2008 What I did was build boxes similar to the ones chuck in Florida built on PC that look like presents. They are 2x2 and the lid slides on from the outside. So they look like your traditional present. Then painted them to look like presents and put a latch on each side that I can pad lock for security. Inside the box has 2 holes drilled on the bottom that I use to anchor the boxes to the ground with 2' rebar that I took and made an L shape out of. That why the inside of the box is anchored to the ground. So they are secure from theft and fit into the display and our out of the elements.The controller is mounted on one side of the box then on the back of the box I drilled a hold 2" in dia and got this air tubes for speaker boxes and slid them in....http://cgi.ebay.com/2-INCH-SUBWOOFER-SPEAKER-BOX-AIR-PORT-TUBE-2-INCH_W0QQitemZ370101238818QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20081022?IMSfp=TL081022112002r347What this does is it keeps a lot of rain from getting into the box and it looks visually better and protects the cords from the bare wood. Then on the back side of the box I mounted these square vents that vent down so rain can not get in similar to the ones below, only square...http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100090036&N=10000003+10401001I think they are called AC vents or ext vents. Anyways, that's is pretty much it. Cost effective, cheap to build, secure your controllers as well as get the plugs off the ground and your controllers out of the elements in a tasteful way that will blend in with your display. One note I installed the vents and those air tubes before I painted it so everything matches and looks seamless.
Recommended Posts