Cooling a small box in the attic

5990 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by ScottR, Jun 3, 2009

kirkilj

Discussion Starter · Jun 2, 2009

I just moved into a house that has about a dozen Cat5e cables with RJ45 terminations gathered into one spot in the attic, where it awaits a network switch to tie everything together. I put a remote temperature sensor up there and it hit 130 degrees with it being only 92 degrees outside. I had a fan blowing on it too. When the dog days of summer hit, it will only get worse. My network switch is rated at a max operating temp of 122 degrees.

I looked at extending the dozen Cat5e cables down through the ceiling into a nearby closet, but then I thought, "why suffer the signal loss of extending the cables with female-to-female couplers when there's a freakin' air conditioner and duct work within 3 feet of the switch location. I thought it might be either clever or ridiculously stupid to put the switch in a small enclosure and somehow tap into the existing AC duct work to cool the case. The case would only be about 12" wide x 8" deep x 3" high. Could a small hose be run from a nearby duct into the enclosure? How would I manage air flow within the enclosure?

Completely clueless,

John

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dac122

· #3 · Jun 2, 2009

You are right, your switch will not last long at those temps. I would also be concerned with the dust as well.

Either get yourself a rugged switch that can handle the heat and dust of that environment, or move it into a conditioned space. Any ductwork changes could cause problems for your existing conditioned spaces via increase static pressure or lower air flow to other spaces, etc.

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