- 5 stars: 1 (100%)
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Bought this solidly built fan kit to cut down on heat build up inside an A/V equipment cabinet that houses a 5.1 receiver and DVD player. Ordered using standard (free) shipping and received in 3 days, Unit is well packaged with good instructions for mounting. Clear plastic template for cutting the mounting hole and drilling the mounting screw holes is included-- a thoughtful touch.
Installation was straight forward. I mounted the fan near the top back of the cabinet facing out to pull the hot air out. Existing openings allow the fan to pull cool air in from the front/bottom of cabinet. If the cabinet was sealed tighter, I would buy a 2nd kit, use the USB daisy chain to power it, and mount it facing in on the bottom of the cabinet to really move some air through.
The only challenge was installing by myself: How to turn a screwdriver on mounting screws outside the cabinet at the same time as holding a pair of pliers on the mounting screw nuts on the inside of the cabinet?! A pair of vise grips locked on the nuts held them in place so I could tighten the screws from outside, thankfully. Otherwise, you may need a 2nd person for a few minutes.
Fan can be powered either by USB or AC power. Fan also has a 2nd, short USB "dongle" for daisy-chaining additional fans: Another thoughtful idea. I plugged the fan into the switched AC outlet on my receiver, so the fan starts automatically when the receiver is powered up. Fan also has an easily removed foam filter. Kudos for a well thought out, well built unit.
Most importantly, the fan keeps things cool-- even with both the receiver and DVD player running. With the sound off on the receiver, I can just about hear the fan if I put my head right by the open cabinet door. With the doors closed and with the sound on, there is no discernable noise from the fan. I'll be buying another for cooling a computer enclosed in a cabinet in my office. Highly recommended. The storage and design are exactly what we needed.