This is topic CP55 cooling question in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 05-29-2002, 10:25 PM:
My cp55 is running a little hot. It is equipped with a cat. 222SR/A card, cat. 441 and the old style cat. 249 power supply. The box is running a little hot, but how can I cool it better without cutting holes in the chassis and putting muffin fans in? Any ideas?Josh
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"Film is made of silver, video is made of rust"
'nuf said
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 05-29-2002, 11:04 PM:
Forced air. There are 20 slots on the top and 20 slots on the bottom, so just set a couple of muffin fans on the top to either suck or blow the heat out. Since heat rises, it would be better to suck it out from the top, or blow it out from the bottom. Leave enough air space on the top for the unit to breath.There us at least a half-inch of open space between the front door and the chassis. That could be used your advantage. You don't need any muffin motors that are high power or anything like that. All you need is something to keep the air moving. That's what they do with the CP-500 and CP-650, and the motors are very small and do a nice job of moving the air. Check the CP-500 at the Fargo, and you will see what I mean. They look like CPU blowers, and those can be had for about 6 to 9 bucks a pop.
If you feel ambitious, there is another way to do it. Leave plenty of breathing space on the top, and seal the area below the chassis. Then get a furnace blower and direct it into the sealed area so the air will force its way through the bottom slots of the chassis. That's what I would do instead of fooling around with a bunch of muffin motors.
Stuff a regular old outdoor bulb thermometer into that thing and take it's temperature. Then check the specs of the CP-55 to see what the maximum parameters are, and go from there. The power supply is the real toaster in that thing, so it would be advisable to orientate the muffin motors on the slots closest to the power supply if you elect the muffin motor option.
OOPS! Furnace blower is a sight over-kill. You know what kind I was referring to. 
Actually, you might be able to squeeze a muffin motor in the spare cat 249 slot and have it blowing on the regulator board heat sink.
Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-30-2002, 10:09 PM:
There is no substitute for a good blower in a pressurized rack. By blower I mean one that blows IN good CLEAN (filtered) air. Equipment stays clean and lasts longer. Good ones are made by Rotron and BUD (and others, I'm sure)...if just put a fan in at the top...sure, you move the air but it will be filthy and grow fuzz all over...I call em dirt pumps.Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-30-2002, 10:27 PM:
I have not had many temprature/reliability problems with older Dolby stuff. As long as you install at least one vent type rack panel above and below it you should be fine. Some of the regulators do run hot and this is normal.
Mark @ GTS
Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 05-31-2002, 01:16 AM:
did I mention this is in a rack with 3 tube amps 
They all have fans on them though.Josh
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 05-31-2002, 02:04 AM:
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-31-2002, 08:57 AM:
Some of the Dolby manuals say not to mount the processor directly above or below the amps. That may be the problem here. Most installatios seem to have booth monitors, CD players, and other devices which don't produce a significant amount of heat mounted above/below the processors.