Computer Cooling

So I am in the midst of decision / information overload . I await the arrival of my G0602Z lathe and am in
the process of designing the CNC control cabinet.
As usual I am probably over thinking things . I am trying to figure out the best way to keep the computer cool
and as maintenance free as possible.
Seeing that it most likely will not be in an air conditioned environment I have a few questions.
Is it best to use filtered air to cool the control cabinet?
or
Should I seal the control cabinet and use some form of heat exchanger ?

What is the usual heat tolerance or most SFF pc's?

I have used laptops in garages with 90 to 100 degree Fahrenheit temps but not on a daily basis.

Thoughts ?

[/quote]
Seen some working at 55 C inside the box with no issues.[/quote]

that's good to know . As long as I keep power supplies in the cooling air flow after
the mother board I should be fine. I am a bit of a fan of torroidal power supplies .
Glad I don't have to worry about any internal to external heat exchanger system.

Still trying to figure out a filtered air system.

I don't think you'll have any problems. We get up to 110 in this country without issue. some of the single board pcs have an external cpu fan so maybe use that. I pi\ut a fan in my enclosure so it draws air diagonally through from another opeining. some of the A/C filter material might be handy.

100F yeah just a usual summer day.

Keeping the CPU free of dust will help keep the temps at a reasonable level. Think about component placement as well.

Best thing to do is build it, keep an eye on it and make any changes as required.

Greetings,

This past Summer, my machine would "lock up" in the middle of a program. CPU temp was 110F.

On the motherboard are spare connector pins for fans. Some even read "Smart Fans".

I connected an extra fan to move the air away from the Mother Board and things improved.

My CNC control cabinet is not the best design and heat is an issue. Later models came with large fans cut into the electrical cabinet.

The cooler the better, in my opinion.

Cheers,

Dave

fc60 wrote:

The cooler the better, in my opinion.

Cheers,

Dave

I agree. I just don't want to have to install an air conditioner in the electrics cabinet .