AC Infinity cooling fans

[hellboundlex]

@Neddy I said above that it looks like this controller used five volt fans. Do you use it with 12v?

Edit: saw you posted a model.

It's a PWM fan. Does the controller provide a PWM output?

 

[RickSanchez]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071SLFBNY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I agree that noise frequency and mounting can make a difference.
I sampled a few other fans from other (cheaper) suppliers; none were as quiet for my uses/preferences as the Noctuas (some were close, and ok as Just Fans, but not audio rack quiet).
I also use one of the 200mm Noctuas as a desk fan, mounted in one of these, whose motors die young, and powered by a Milw M12 battery
View attachment 64029


Noctuas come with silicon sleeves over their mounting holes; I did not use bushings on my 1/2'" plywood 12x20" 'fan' doors, and resonance is not an issue for that. (But haven't measured it, either

I've really not experimented much between auto and smart mode; turns out in my rack apparently I over did the cooling capacity a bit - as I'd intended. I also have not thorougly explored best/hottest placement of the temp probe yet, either (same reason), but expect to be doing some re-racking soon, and will do it then.

Aquaero looks wild - good do know! ...but pricey. I have a similar but really cheap controller/sensor/display on my big PC's cooler, but is mostly unreadable even 5 degrees off axis, so largely useless.

Thanks! I appreciate the info.

 

[Neddy]

@Neddy I said above that it looks like this controller used five volt fans. Do you use it with 12v?

Edit: saw you posted a model.

It's a PWM fan. Does the controller provide a PWM output?

The controller has both PWM and 12VDC variable outputs.
It was easier for me to make up a 12VDC (barrel) connector to the end of the supplied Y connector.

 

[K man]

To those of you who own an Aircom S8/9/10 or T8/9/10.

I’m thinking of getting an Aircom T8 but replace the feet of it with some taller ones to leave some more space between it and the receiver.

In my case the only time I need the active cooling is when I push the system a bit extra, while during everyday background play it’s hardly ever needed. However, if I put the Aircom closely on top of the receiver the active cooling might be needed also during background music, adding some unnecessary noise in my otherwise quite room.

I figured that by replacing the feet with a bit taller ones I might be able to keep my current condition where I’m fine with passive cooling for most of the time but have the active one in place when needed.

My question to those of you who has a unit is how hard those feet would be to replace? Are they screwed in place? Glued? How does it look?

 

[RickSanchez]

To those of you who own an Aircom S8/9/10 or T8/9/10.

I’m thinking of getting an Aircom T8 but replace the feet of it with some taller ones to leave some more space between it and the receiver.

In my case the only time I need the active cooling is when I push the system a bit extra, while during everyday background play it’s hardly ever needed. However, if I put the Aircom closely on top of the receiver the active cooling might be needed also during background music, adding some unnecessary noise in my otherwise quite room.

I figured that by replacing the feet with a bit taller ones I might be able to keep my current condition where I’m fine with passive cooling for most of the time but have the active one in place when needed.

My question to those of you who has a unit is how hard those feet would be to replace? Are they screwed in place? Glued? How does it look?

I personally wouldn't take this approach, for a few reasons ...

• I own the Aircom S8, which I'm fairly certain has the same chassis and same feet as the Aircom T8. These feet do not look particularly fun to replace. (Admittedly I'm not willing to try to pry mine off to see if there are screws underneath.) See pictures below. Given that the feet are fairly wide one (better?) option might be simply putting some risers underneath the existing feet vs. replacing them.
• Again, I think the S8 and T8 have the same chassis + fans, and I know they have the same rear exhaust system. On the two lowest fan settings of the S8 I cannot hear the fans at all, even with music at low volumes. (My normal listening position is ~10 feet / 3 m from where the front of the S8 is located.) As such I don't think you're going to hear unnecessary noise in a quite room when the T8 is running at the lowest levels.
  • For what it's worth, my receiver -- a vintage Harman Kardon from the late '70s -- runs hot all of the time, even at low listening levels. So my S8 fan is going constantly.
• If you're buying the T8 over the S8 you're getting a lot of functionality built in to manage the fan.
  • Per ACInfinity: "Programming includes an easy-to-use thermostat and a SMART mode that automatically adjusts the fan’s speed to react to varying temperatures. Additional features include alarm alerts, fan failure triggers, power savings setting, display lock, and backup memory. Six fan speeds are available with three screen brightness settings."
  • My point being: if you have the T8 you can use the thermostat + programming to achieve what you want, without needing to alter the height of the unit. When the fan needs to work hard -- when the receiver is pushed hard and it's running hot -- it will; when the fan needs to do pretty light cooling it'll run on low for only as much time as is needed to cool the receiver down, based on the threshold temp that you've set.

I'd recommend you buy the Aircom T8 and program it the way you want; I doubt you'll have any issues with fan noise when listening at low levels. And if I'm wrong you can always try to change the height at that point.

 

[K man]

Thanks for the photos, @RickSanchez. It’s been hard finding any good photos online of the feet.

I got a very quiet room (and apartment I general) and usually have my background music playing around -50dB, so I’m quite sure that even if the fan would be silent enough I’ll most likely be hearing the sound from the airflow.

Hence I would during most usage prefer to keep the passive cooling, while I’m fine with it turning on when I push up the volume to -30dB or even -27dB (which is about as loud as I ever go).

The problem is that with such low feet, in passive mode I’m actually better off without it. So I need to increase the space between the receiver and Aircom.

Unless you can screw those feet off it does look like the best way to go is to extend them though.

What’s the diameter of them?

I do buy your argument though that the best is probably to just get a unit and then experiment with both settings and height, to find what’s both audibly comfortable and gives sufficient cooling during different usage.

 

[RickSanchez]

What’s the diameter of them?

Looks like:

• The wider plastic part is 55mm
• The slightly smaller pad/foot is 48mm

 

[K man]

Thanks! I’ve seen that diameter on other devices so probably some kind of standard. Should make it easier to find something good looking to extend them with.