I was thinking of putting a pc fan in my Onkyo a/v receiver?!?

Question

I have an Onkyo TX-SR503 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver. I was thinking about doing a little modding on it due to its temperature after it is on for a while.

I want to put some kind of pc fan in it to help keep temps down a little. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas, concerns, whatever! Let me hear 'em!

I want to do this and tap into the power supply somehow without disrupting the normal operation of my receiver. I don't want to disrupt the sound or power output to my speakers at all. This isn't something that has to be that fancy. It would turn on with the receiver, keep things cool while I'm watching movies and turns off when I shut it down. Any ideas?

Here is a link to my receiver and specs:

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR503&class=Receiver&p=i

Answer 1

My amp is in an entertainment center. I added a low-noise AC fan to the back of the center. It keeps air flowing in that cabinet. I plugged it in to the 'switched' outlet on the back of the receiver.

Answer 2

Tapping into the power supply is a bad idea since it probably won't match the input voltage or wattage of the fan. You are likely to burn the fan out and there are lethal voltages you will be dealing with.

As for cooling...to cool a piece of equipment properly, you need to look at where it is. If the receiver is in a closed rack, then putting a fan on the receiver probably won't help much. You must set up a flow of air thru the cabinet. This allows the natural cooling capabilities of the reciever and its' heatsinks to work correctly. You need both intake and exhaust in the rack with the ideal being intake thru the bottom front and exhaust thru the top rear.

If the receiver is in an open rack with a shelf above, there are other cooling options that allow you to draw air up, thru and out the back or front (remember...intake and exhaust). What you don't want to do is set up a circulation in which the heat is pumped back to the bottom of the unit...that is a recipe for thermal shut down.

Your best bet is to use a cooling system with a thermostat on it. This way the cooling system only comes on when temps require it and turns off when things have cooled down. Check out the Active Thermal Management cooling systems. They are specifically designed to do what you are wanting to do.

Answer 3

I think that KrautRock's idea is really the best way to go. I have that same receiver and mine gets rather warm also. I"ve also noticed that that is very common with Onkyo receivers. Perhaps, it's their version of a high current design that causes this heat.

Answer 4

Dont it will cause humming noise in the receiver. Buy a regular small home fan and blow it across the receiver.