You're making some possibly unwarranted assumptions. Have you measured the temperature? Electronics are designed to run at elevated temperatures. What leads you to believe that you need to cool the clock?
What makes you believe the fact that it's multiplexed has anything to do with the heat build up? It sounds like you are going to create an ugly Frankenstein out of what is likely a proven design. And you'll have to live with the fan noise and additional load on your 12v supply. Simply venting the top of the case will likely cool the enclosure considerably IF that is needed at all. PCB design - good PCB design (I am an expert in this area) -- can be made to draw heat away from hot components, but the warmest spot will still be the hot component. I suggest you revisit your assumptions about the source of the heat, and the location of the heat. And "trace erosion" ???? Really? I've never heard of it, much less of having it caused by airflow. Other things can degrade traces, poor processing, chemicals, acidity, but airflow? MAYBE compressed air over the course of decades... MAYBE. On Tuesday, October 7, 2014 8:18:59 PM UTC-5, Dman777 wrote: > I have a 6 digit Nixie ZM5660 clock that I got from pvelectronics that is > beautiful and super cool. Everything is perfect about it. However, since it > is multiplexed there is one spot that has a very high concentration of > heat. I want to place a fan underneath the clock to draw out this hot air, > otherwise the life of the clock will not be as long as it will without the > heat. > > I will be taking dremel and drilling a large area underneath the case and > placing a fan against the case surface(outside of the case) to draw out the > hot air. I will then wire the 12v fan to the power supply connectors. When > done, I will be placing the clock case on two blocks so there will be about > 3 inches of area between the bottom of the clock(with the fan) and the > shelf it sits on. I addition, I will drill some small holes for cool air > intake on the sides and on top. > > A few questions come to mind, please: > > 1) The case is only 3/4 of inch deep. Should I go for a 2 inch fan or 1 > inch fan? Typically, a 2 inch fan will draw more heat out. But since* > there will only be able 3/8" of space between the fan and circuit board*, > I am not sure which would be more effective in drawing heat out. > > 2) The source of heat is in the center middle of the clock. If I place the > middle of the fan directly underneath the heat concentration, will that > heat just sit since it won't be above the blades but instead above the > rotor? Should the fan be off center to the actual heat concentration? > > 3) I would like a fan with a good ratio of not to loud but move enough > heat out. Not sure which would be a good cfm. > > 4) I don't understand why, the heat concentration is in the dead center of > the clock, but the source of what I think is the source of the heat...the > 7805 voltage regulator... is of to the side of the source of the heat > concentration area. > > 5) Do I need to worry about trace erosion from air flow and friction? On > my old Xbox I had the fan running high in it and one of the traces eroded. > > Here are some of the fans(Would like to stick with ball bearing) I have > been looking at. I am big fan of Sunon: > 1 inch: > > http://www.jameco.com/1/1/2967-kde1203pfb2-8-ms-dc-brushless-tubeaxial-fan-bearing-type-ball.html > > http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_1708465_-1 > > 2 inch: > > http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?refineValue=Ball&refineType=1&langId=-1&position=1&productId=1950446&refine=1&catalogId=10001&history=6fqaemmj%7CsubCategoryName~DC%2BBrushless%2BFans%5Ecategory~3715%5EcategoryName~cat_37%5EprodPage~15%5Epage~SEARCH%252BNAV%401bnairch%7Ccategory~371530%5EcategoryName~cat_3715%5Eposition~1%5Erefine~1%5EsubCategoryName~DC%2BBrushless%2BFans%2B%252F%2B2.00%2522%2B%252850mm%2529%5EprodPage~15%5Epage~SEARCH%252BNAV%40dnogx9g3%7CrefineValue~SUNON%5ErefineType~1%5Eposition~1%5Esub_attr_name~Manufacturer%5Erefine~1%5EprodPage~15%5Epage~SEARCH%252BNAV&sub_attr_name=Bearing&storeId=10001&ddkey=http:StoreCatalogDrillDownView > > Thanks, > -Darin > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/b04bf604-581a-4105-9d60-7b4df26c9ef0%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
