I'm going to be installing my first rack and was wondering if anyone had any pointers for me. It is a Mid Atlantic ERK-4425 and will be housed in a basement closet with easy access to the front and back of the unit.

Should the amps be in the bottom for stability or in the top for easy ventilation? What kind of ventilation do you normally use?

The rack is going to be pretty packed. Do I need a 1RU space between components or does the rack ventilate pretty well?

Any other pointers?

Thanks,
CJ

We typically put the amps at the bottom for stability and becuase heat rises. So they will naturally vent. We will do 1U vented blanks between amps and major heat sources (receivers). Sometimes DVR's and cable boxes too (these puppies can get hot). We put DVD players and any other device you have to load often at a natural height so they are easy to reach and see what you are doing.

The environment the rack is going in will determine what if any ventilation we are doing. Big open air basement that is typically cool might not need any fans. Anything that is going to be enclosed in furniture or a closet will need something. But again it depends on the size of the closet. We just did two racks side by side and didn't have any fans installed but the closet was a decent size and since we were involved when the house was being built so we were able to have the A/C guy put a vent in. The room runs at the perfect temp.

hope that helps.

Good luck!

-Matt

Sometimes people just rack the amps together (meaning with no spaces between ....)depending on the ventilation in the room...

There was a white paper or some drawings from Mid Atlantic I remember once about grouping above mentioned pieces to get proper flow of heat venting......

Check middleatlantic.com
then check tech support and fill out the comany information and youll be able to donwload this PDF about rack thermal management...

CI

Here is the link to the White paper on cooling

[Link: repnet.middleatlantic.com]

You can draw a rack up and email it to Middleatlantic as well for a review, they will look it over and recommend a solution as well

We use an Elan Z-Fan above any big amp or receiver. If we have rear rack rails (maybe order it with...) we put it in the back and put a vented blank on front. We almost always leave 1u or 2u space between amps

In addition to Mid Atlantic, try Active Thermal for parts and white papers. I use them a lot.

http://activethermal.com/

I ditto any recommendations; amps on the bottom, space between heat generating units such as DVR's and Cable boxes. Some Cables boxes get hotter than some amps! If you have a closed rack with lots of cabling and heat generating sources, get a rear door and vent the bottom of it; add exhaust fans at the top, and that will create a draft. Add smaller 12v fans within the rack to force cool problem units.

Custom cut and fab all your cables. If you have a lot of cable in the rack, this becomes very imortant. Keep signal segregated from power. If you have large cable trunks, work with small sections at a time and add onto the trunk. Buy a LOT of wire ties.

There are a lot of good tips here, and I agree with most of them.

As for placing the heavy equipment higher or lower...
If the rack is fixed, you can locate the heaviest equipment anywhere.

If the rack is on casters or is a slideout rack like an AXS, I always try to keep the weight low to avoid testing the anti-tipping straps that Middle Atlantic includes with AXS models.

Thanks for all the help. I had read the whitepaper from MA a few years ago, but hadn't been back over it since.

Since the rack is vented at the top and bottom, MA recommends not to use fans! I'll see how that goes. I guess, along with the back panel, there will be a pretty good chimney effect. I have a ZFan on hand in case it doesn't work as specified.

I'll also be putting the amps in the bottom and will place vented spacers below each amp as well as the DVR since they are all passively cooled.

I had already planned to custom make the cables, so that fits right in.

Thanks for all the suggestions. If anyone has the time to take a look, here's a workup of the rack layout

CJ

Put your DVD's down lower just above waist height so people don't need a ladder to put a DVD in the tray, probably right where the UPS is, put the stuff that no one really needs to get to or touch at the top and at the bottom.

I understand what MAP means when trying to do a convection 'chimney' system, it makes sense; when dealing with moderate heat output, you want the hot air to rise and create a draft, which in turn creates the cooling effect. If you put some small fans inside the rack and create too much cross current, the draft will never get going or be inefficient.

The solution to that (if you have a med-hi level heat rack like yours) is to enclose the rack with a door, vented at the bottom. Enclose the top, but put in dual or quad exhaust fans forcing draft. Then you can put additional smaller fans inside to further cool hot components.

The cool thing (no pun intended) is that you can try out the chimney first and move up in effort if the rack gets too warm.

Let us know how it turns out.

All of these suggestions are great execpt for the vent panels near each hot component. THese should be blank panels. THe vent panels cause the heat to vent out around each of the hot components and circulate back in though the other vent panels that are higher up, keeping these components from cooling. All the vent panels should be at the bottom and top only. This will create the natural draft.

Also on the ERK dont forget to get the rear lacing bars and rear rack rails for tying your cables to.

Good Luck!

That goes against what MA says. On page 15 of their thermal management guide, it shows that you should use vents underneath amps when they are not actively cooled.


Got them.. thanks!

CJ

I would put the power conditioners and ups at the top, that way the equipment that will be accessed all the time will be in the middle. Ditto on the lacing bars, rear rack rails, and no vented blank panels unless at the bottom and top. Make all of you interconnects custom length, otherwise you will lose you mind. We always pu in a 2 rack space drawer for remote controls and instruction manuals, if we have room.

Mike

Use velcro cable management ties instead of plastic zip ties! You'll probably make a few changes wiring route wise, and this makes it easier. Plus if you ever go back to service the system you don't have to clip off and re-do all the wire ties.

CJ, did you use the racktools program to build your rack?

If anybody wants it, the program is at http://www.racktools.com and it's free.

I also second Mr. Stanley's use of velcro for cable management.
I can't tell you the number of times I reached into a rack only to pull my arm out and have it look like I stuck it into a rose bush.