My retro C64 computer cabinet
Moderator: Moderators
-
- Vic 20 Hobbyist
- Posts: 147
- Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:38 am
- Location: Toronto, Canada
-
- Vic 20 Enthusiast
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:04 pm
I have problems with this also. I turn the drives off as soon as they are not in use. I have the lids loose so I can lift them off to help cool the drives. If they are turned on for too long they stop working properly, but they go back to normal when they have cooled. I haven't got around to get heat sinks for their chips, but I will pretty soon. Drives with external power supplies work better, but the 1541 is still my favorite. I have had drives break down altogether but I can't be sure it was because of overheating.
@ DQ - lofl, hilarious! you'll notice that mine aren't enclosed in a tight space.
i'll say again, there is no extra heat with this setup, no hotter than sitting on their own. the table doesn't even get warm underneath. the second 1541 is mainly for support and rarely gets used. the 1702 leaves plenty of room for the vents in the back of the 1541 and isn't putting off that much heat on its own.
you guys are a laugh...
i'll say again, there is no extra heat with this setup, no hotter than sitting on their own. the table doesn't even get warm underneath. the second 1541 is mainly for support and rarely gets used. the 1702 leaves plenty of room for the vents in the back of the 1541 and isn't putting off that much heat on its own.
you guys are a laugh...
I put a cooler fan in my 1540. It attaches to one of the capacitors (there's a document by Ray Carlsen on how to do this). It really cools the drives down A LOT (my disks were no longer hot when removing them), but the particular fan I had was too noisy, so I switched to a cooler drive (1541 short board model). But if I find another fan that is quieter I will probably switch back.
- eslapion
- ultimate expander
- Posts: 5458
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:50 pm
- Location: Canada
- Occupation: 8bit addict
You could have your 1541s in that setup run at a lower temperature just by putting a small fan drawing the air upwards (out of) onto the 1541s venting holes which appear not to be blocked behind your monitor.DigitalQuirk wrote:I would imagine that my 1541's would still run cooler in my cabinet than the ones in this set-up:
Just don't put a fan that's too strong and could draw dust in.
I revisited this project this weekend; I decided to drill 65 1 5/8" vent holes each spaced one inch apart in the board above the disk drives:
As you can see, these are located right where the vents are on the disk drives when they're inserted all the way:
The monitor does appear to cover some of these holes at first...
...however, a closer inspection reveals a gap between the monitor and the holes:
Opinions? Besides the fact that I need to sand it and stain it; I will, once I finish the matching base stand (desk part) of this project.
As you can see, these are located right where the vents are on the disk drives when they're inserted all the way:
The monitor does appear to cover some of these holes at first...
...however, a closer inspection reveals a gap between the monitor and the holes:
Opinions? Besides the fact that I need to sand it and stain it; I will, once I finish the matching base stand (desk part) of this project.
-
- Pinballer
- Posts: 1090
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:26 am
Am I missing something here?...you put 50 holes into the board and with the monitor on top I can see 22 holes left uncovered now with 2 drives underneath producing heat up to a monitor that also may produce heat?
Is this like the theory of fighting fire with fire?
Maybe try converting a bar fridge into a video tower instead...this way everyone's cool and happy
Think the fan unit idea might help or you could try hooking up a CPAP machine (minus humidifier) to blow air and when the drives start choking from lack of air it would ramp up the air pressure to overcome this
Nice looking idea but go with the fan...or a few fans in series even better
Is this like the theory of fighting fire with fire?
Maybe try converting a bar fridge into a video tower instead...this way everyone's cool and happy
Think the fan unit idea might help or you could try hooking up a CPAP machine (minus humidifier) to blow air and when the drives start choking from lack of air it would ramp up the air pressure to overcome this
Nice looking idea but go with the fan...or a few fans in series even better
The theory is that heat rises; hence, heat from the disk drives move up through the holes and escape. Heat generated by the monitor won't go down into the holes, as long as the laws of science don't change. I've never heard of overheating problems with 1701's. Am still considering a fan, but further testing with my thermometer is necessary first. So far, drives appear to run much cooler with no ill effect to the 1701.
-
- Pinballer
- Posts: 1090
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:26 am
Not trying to slam your idea dude...just trying to wrap my head around the rationing that's allDigitalQuirk wrote:The theory is that heat rises; hence, heat from the disk drives move up through the holes and escape. Heat generated by the monitor won't go down into the holes, as long as the laws of science don't change. I've never heard of overheating problems with 1701's. Am still considering a fan, but further testing with my thermometer is necessary first. So far, drives appear to run much cooler with no ill effect to the 1701.
Heat does rise but when blocked it can only go down to escape through the holes or out the side of the monitor and yes as I said "may" produce heat which I doubt as well but I've never felt mine to see if there get hot
I just performed my first round of temperature readings. I used an indoor/outdoor digital thermometer. I placed the outdoor thermometer sensor in the middle of the grille on top of the test 1541, and I placed the thermometer as far as I could get it from the drive to read the actual room temperature.
In my first test, I measured just the single 1541 sitting outside of the cabinet, turned on and used normally. I took readings every 15 minutes for 3 hours.
Time index:Room temp/Drive temp
0:19C/19C
15:19/23.3
30:19.2/27.2
45:19.4/29.4
1h:19.7/31.2
1h15:20/31.6
1h30:20/32.6
1h45:20/33.4
2h:19.9/34.1
2h15:20/34.7
2h30:20.4/35.4
2h45:20.4/35.2
3h:20.2/35.4
Next, with the drive in the cabinet, both drives and system powered on, with usual usage over the same 3 hour period:
Time index:Room temp/Drive temp
0:19C/19C
15:18.9/21.5
30:18.9/26.3
45:19.2/28.6
1h:19.4/30.4
1h15:19.2/32.8
1h30:19.5/33.7
1h45:19.6/35.1
2h:19.8/35.7
2h15:19.6/36.3
2h30:19.4/36.5
2h45:19.6/37.1
3h:19.9/37.5
Notice that, in the first hour of use, the internal drive seems to run a bit cooler. Between one to two hours of use, the drive in the cabinet runs about one degree warmer. Only after 2 hours and 45 minutes of use does the in-cabinet drive run two degrees hotter. Remember, this is with both drives running.
Externally, the drive seems to top out after two and a half hours. Internally, the temperature pretty much levels off just past the 3 hour mark.
I think I should like to test the monitor in the same manner, as well as perform a long-term test on the disk drive; though I rarely use my C64 for more than 3 hours at a time.
In my first test, I measured just the single 1541 sitting outside of the cabinet, turned on and used normally. I took readings every 15 minutes for 3 hours.
Time index:Room temp/Drive temp
0:19C/19C
15:19/23.3
30:19.2/27.2
45:19.4/29.4
1h:19.7/31.2
1h15:20/31.6
1h30:20/32.6
1h45:20/33.4
2h:19.9/34.1
2h15:20/34.7
2h30:20.4/35.4
2h45:20.4/35.2
3h:20.2/35.4
Next, with the drive in the cabinet, both drives and system powered on, with usual usage over the same 3 hour period:
Time index:Room temp/Drive temp
0:19C/19C
15:18.9/21.5
30:18.9/26.3
45:19.2/28.6
1h:19.4/30.4
1h15:19.2/32.8
1h30:19.5/33.7
1h45:19.6/35.1
2h:19.8/35.7
2h15:19.6/36.3
2h30:19.4/36.5
2h45:19.6/37.1
3h:19.9/37.5
Notice that, in the first hour of use, the internal drive seems to run a bit cooler. Between one to two hours of use, the drive in the cabinet runs about one degree warmer. Only after 2 hours and 45 minutes of use does the in-cabinet drive run two degrees hotter. Remember, this is with both drives running.
Externally, the drive seems to top out after two and a half hours. Internally, the temperature pretty much levels off just past the 3 hour mark.
I think I should like to test the monitor in the same manner, as well as perform a long-term test on the disk drive; though I rarely use my C64 for more than 3 hours at a time.