[hasan]

Just wonrdering if 127 degrees farenheit is OK level for HR20 ?

There's been a lot of discussion in other threads about this. The consensus seems to be that 127 isn't bad and that the HR20 does not have a heat problem.

That being said, it was too hot for my "comfort zone". Mine was running 127 out in the open on a vertical equipment rack with plenty of space for ventillation. I bought a "cool pad" laptop cooling unit that has two fans (I think it's a Targus) and 4 USB ports. I just set it it UPSIDE DOWN (so it would draw heat out of the vent slots on the top of the the HR20). It is dead quiet and is AC powered (not USB). It dropped the temperature 20+ degrees and it now holds about 105 +/- 2 degrees and I feel a lot better.

My concerns are long term reliability and with nearly all electronics (and especially hard drives), cooler is better.

I obviously don't use the USB ports...I got the unit for its dual cooling fans and an additional nicety is that it is silver, matching the HR20. It was too expensive. I paid about 50 bucks for it...I think you can get the same thing hunting around a bit for half that.

 

[hasan]

Why is it obvious that you don't use the USB port? Are you worried it might affect the machine? I use them and they do provide power.

No, not at all. Mine is AC powered...the USB is nothing more than a 4 port hub, unpowered. It has a wall wart that goes in the AC line to provide power for the fans. There are other units that are powered by the USB port, and I would have no reservations about using them in the back of the HR20.

The IMPORTANT issue here is to EXTRACT heat from the unit. DO NOT BLOW AIR IN. However one needs to mount the cooling pad (up or down), make it so the fans are PULLING hot air out the top of the unit, taking advantage of the convection cooling patterns already designed into the HR20.

I don't like the idea at all, of putting a cooling pad UNDER the HR20 (as is the "natural mode" for a cooling pad for a computer). In the absence of other design decisions, heat rises...let it do it's thing, just help it along. Anything else could produce eddy currents which could result in "dead air" places inside the unit...a VERY bad idea. This is unlikely to happen if all you are doing is accelerating the natural ventillation patterns with an exhaust fan on top.

I know I'm far more concerned about heat than most people. Indulge me, it's a harmless and relatively inexpensive obsession.

 

[hasan]

I am using an old laptop cooler that's too small for my new laptop. It pulls air out of the unit and plugged in the usb. Dropped the temp from 123 to 107.
Figured might as well put the cooler to good use instead of laying around

A man after my own heart! Mine went from 127 to 105 +/- 2 deg and I'm happy.

At first, when I got really crazy, I had a 5" box fan with my homebrew speed control on it, and I got it down to 95 degrees! Of course, being homebrew, it was ugly as sin, covered in dirt and had wires running all over the place. (not to mention noisier than the coolpad) The laptop coolpads are actually quite aesthetically pleasing. Mine is silver and matches the HR20 perfectly.

 

[hasan]

Have any of you guys had issues with the HR20 and has the additional cooling helped????

Very few issues in 2.5 weeks, but no MPEG-4/HD Locals here and that may be the source of some issues.

I did the fans to contribute to long term equipment life, not because there was something terribly wrong with the thermal design of the H20 in the first place.

I have seen no posts that indicate a thermal design problem.

 

[hasan]

Mine runs 129 and I have no problems. So turn the heat up!

I don't know where the temperature sensor is and what it's accuracy it is but the value is going to be close PCB\Component temperature and not ambient air. Some sections may be cooler, some may be hotter. Internal IC temperatures could be hotter and they will be rated for 70 to 85 C. The boxes are in a fairly controlled environment so thermal stresses of heating and cooling should not be a problem. Is cooler better - probably - will it make a difference over the life of the box - probably not. If there was a temperature sensor in everything you own you would probably be surprised at how hot the ICs and PCB can be getting.

I'm not aware of one longitudinal study of hard drives or solid state devices vs. temperature that would agree with your assertion that reducing the temperature of the operating environment by nearly 20% does not improve mtbf of virtually all components that produce or are subject to heat stress.

Cooler is better (short of downright chilly), period. Is it needed? Probably not.
Will it help? Almost certainly in the long term, at least that's what most thermal design research shows. And, no...I'm not surprised at how hot components get....gee maybe that's why I like fans! The issue isn't the absolute temperature (although that can be concerning), it's how much can the temp be reduced by the simple and inexpensive addition of a fan.

Of course, if you're looking at the lifetime of the box to be 2 or 3 years, I'd agree...probably not worth doing, except for your mental health, especailly if you're thermally rententive like me.

 

[hasan]

Mine has an exhaust fan on top and has had few issues except for locking up three times. The fan has brought the temp down from 126 to 109.

It's pretty loud, though. I'm thinking seriously of trying it again without the fan.

The laptop coolpads with dual fans seem to be just about dead quiet. I'm using one and can't hear a thing unless I got right next to it with my ear. It took the temp down from 127 to 105 +/- 2 degrees.

 

[hasan]

The legs on the reciever are less than a centimeter tall, unfortunately, but I have seriously been thinking of some rackmounting system, or at least something that has cable management. the first site I found had some decent looking rack mounts, and something I thought was decent looking.

http://www.smarthome.com/874230.html

it seems very simlar to what you were talking about, but it might be slightly overkill, and might also kill the idea of the vent in the floor, unless we have it to the side.

just an fyi, dimensions of the cabinet are about 29 inches height, and 22 inches depth

so obviously, this solution wouldn't quiet fit, but something like that. Also, if i found a system like that about 24 inches tall or so, I could still pop a laptop cooler on.

Gosh, I wish we had just made a television closet like at my cabin =(. its amazing how just making a 3x3 closet can make these things so amazingly easier...

Found a vendor of a 23" tall unit, http://cableorganizer.com/home-theater-system/SRSR-rotating-sliding-rail-system.htm#PRICE

One downside of this of course is the $600 price tag.

Maybe the nice and cheap $200 for just a basic rotating rackunit would be better...

I have one of the smarthome racks, at 7 feet tall. Love it. Everything is completely open, slotted shelves, very good air flow (and I still use a fan).

Temp is 105 +/- 2 deg

 

[hasan]

Just be careful which way your blowing that air... Most Computer towers and racks don't blow air toward the equipment, they are made to draw air away from. This also aids in the dust build up... By blowing into the unit you are forcing particles and dust on to everything which will eventually cause it all to overheat, fan or not. Also, keep a good bottle of air on hand and blow it out once in a while - but be sure to stand back, you'll be sick at the ammount that will come out in so little time....:barf:

Blowing air in without complimentary exhaust fans is a VERY BAD idea. When you blow air in, you stand a signficant chance of creating eddy currents (with resulting dead spots), where the temperature goes UP instead of down, but NOT where the temp sensor is...so you could have localized heating that goes undetected.

So in addition to dust accumulation, there is the potential for increased localized heating by blowing into the case.

If you are going to add a fan, make sure it EXHAUSTS heat out the top (or rear). I have done so (for two months) and find that the "normal" temp is 127 and then, when using a fan on top exhausting air, takes it down to anywhere from 106 to 92 degrees, depending on how I set the fan speed.

I'm NOT saying a fan is required. I didn't see any sign of overheating at 127. However, heat is a known and demonstrable "long term" issue for sensitive electronics, particularly hard drives. For next to nothing, it is a nice add-on. In my case it was nothing, I have several fans with speed controls on them laying around, so I just put on 4 rubber feet and laid it on the case, at the warmest spot. My HR20 runs cool now, and I no longer think about "heat".

 

[hasan]

I recently noticed my week old HR20-700 was running at 127.
I've been having numerous BSOD events...family has been unhappy with this after the R-15 mess. I put the unit up on two VHS tapes and the temp dropped 5 degress almost right away. Added a small fan on top nothing like what you guys have been talking about and it's now running about 104 - 107. I'll post a more after a while.

127 is pretty "nominal". I don't recall seeing any posts indicating anyone had a problem that they could conclusively attribute to heat at this level.

That said, I'm temperature retentive. I'm interested in the long term, and for that, cooler is better (short of outright frigid). I use a 5" equipment fan with my own speed control on it. My temps run 102 +/- 2 degrees or so.

I've never had a BSOD, but I would not claim temp has anything to do with it. I just like my stuff to run cool. Old habits die hard.