RE: Keeping Radio Equipment Cool?

You can also retrofit a NEMA or other outdoor enclosure with a
thermostatically controlled peltier cooler/heater.. Basically these are
solid state heat pumps. They are extremely ineffecient.. You could pull
100watts out of one to get decent cooling power, but it could work..

It's kind of a small ceramic square panel about 2-3mm thick.. you apply
power and one side gets very hot and the other cold. So on the inside of
your equipment box you have a heatsink with a fan that get cold and
circulates that cool air around inside. The other side of the peltier is
mounted thru to the outside of the box with another heatsink to disapate the
heat. I used to have a little peltier cooler on my desk at work that would
actually condensate and form a bit of ice - used it to keep my drinks cool
all day.

Standard ventalation should work in general I'd think, but if your stuff is
really getting that hot and you can afford it perhaps these are what you
need. http://www.eicsolutionsinc.com/

If you can't take them out of the sun, you could consider some kind of
thermal sheet that extends off the main box to shade the unit.


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Cameron Crum
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 11:21 PM
To: Phill Kenoyer
Cc: BARWN Chat
Subject: Re: [BARWN-Chat] Keeping Radio Equipment Cool?


If they aren't alreay in NEMA 4 boxes you might put them in one. PVC boxes
best for the next part of my solution (goto www.mouser.com for these...they
have the best prices I've found). Try to find a spot where it is shady more
than sunny throughout the day...maybe on the north side of the elevator
shaft or chiminey or something like that to mount your Nema Box. Now you
could create a natural air circulator by drilling some small holes across
the bottom and drilling a 1 1/2" inch hole in the top. Put some screen on
the inside in the bottom to keep the bugs and such out. You could also line
the screen with some dacron or just make a screen sandwich with two pieces
of screen and some gauss to make a dust filter. On the top hole, go get
youself a short piece (maybe 1" in length) of 1 1/2" inch PVC water pipe
and a "U" shaped elbow and a small can of PVC cement. Stick the "U" on one
end and stick the other end into the top of your box. Make sure you use the
cement. Put a bead of silicon around the pipe/box joint to make sure no
water creeps inside. The "U" keeps water from coming down into the box when
it rains, yet still allows hot air to escape. As the hot air inside the box
rises and exits, cooler air is pulled in the bottom. making a sort of
natural fan. If you have an electric outlet nearby, you might even throw a
couple of mini PC fans in the bottom of the box. Couldn't hurt and it might
just be cheaper then a mini refrigerator ;)

Cameron

Phill Kenoyer wrote:

> Does anyone have suggestions on how to keep roof-top radio equipment
> cool?  I have three Net Nimble WRIP's.  Two of them I use as relays.
> The problem that I have been having is they lock up in the heat.  It
> has been getting about 103 here and could get hotter.  I need to find a
> way to keep the electronics cool and also keep them sealed from the
> dust, dirt, and sand.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> _______________________________________________
> BARWN-Chat mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.barwn.org/mailman/listinfo/barwn-chat

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