Cooling a small box in the attic

5987 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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kirkilj

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 2, 2009

Yes, I would definitely need to remember to disconnect the enclosure from the duct when we start using the heat during the winter!
I have a managed switch with a web interface to configure and monitor each port as well as perform a soft-reset. This would save me the hassle of going into the attic to check on status, but if I needed a power-reset I'd still have to go up there. Good point.
I was concerned about signal integrity, but if I get decent Cat5e-rated female-to-female couplers to extend the runs into the living space I suppose I should be OK. I just know that whenever you introduce a connection, you will change the signal-to-noise ratio, even if it's a small amount.

Thanks for the feedback.

John

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kirkilj

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 2, 2009

I'm off to my cable shop...

jstjohnz said:
It's not just for Winter, even during Summer the A/C will cycle on and off, there will be times when the attic is very hot but the A/C isn't running.

The couplers shouldn't cause you any issues. Especially since it is a managed switch, with more power consumption thus more heat, I still say try to get it out of the attic.

I've decided to do as you suggest. For $90, I can extend all 10 runs with shielded couplers into a nearby closet that will serve my purposes just fine.

The risk of screwing something up is much lower this way.

Thanks,

John

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kirkilj

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 3, 2009

ScottR,

Thanks for your suggestion and for confirmation that I'm not completely out to lunch for considering such a solution. I went to Fry's and bought the necessary cables and couplers. The funny thing is that they had a sale on terminated hot-pink Cat5e cables from Cables Unlimited in the exact lengths I was looking for. They even have fake diamond jewels on the hoods! The slogan on the package reads, "Ka-BLING, where cables and bling come together!" They would be perfect for wiring a human-sized Barbie house. They'll be in the attic and in a closet, so they won't be a source of embarrassment until we ever decide to sell the house.

Regards,

John

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