Whats the best way to lay out multiple amps?

[FilthiestCasual]

For my whole home setup I want to have all the amps in a centrally located networking closet, but now I'm wondering what the best way to organize everything would be. I would love to put everything in my network rack but unfortunately it's already full.

I assume these amps would get pretty hot so stacking them wouldn't be great, so as far as I'm aware the three options I'm left with are:

1. Get additional shelves and have 2 per shelf with breathing room above.
2. Lay them all on their sides
3. Make a 3d printed (or otherwise DIY) bracket to space them out.

Does anyone have experience dealing with a setup like this?

 

[Burnside]

I'd get a couple of small hifi stands and have two amps per stand. You probably would be able to fit two stands side by side. I've seen mention of the fosi stand being suitable, but check its dimensions.

 

[Wiimer]

How about the IKEA GREJIG?
Width: 58 cm

 

[FilthiestCasual]

These are some great ideas! Thank you both!

 

[DazST]

Honestly if it were me I'd just buy a piece of white mdf and cut it to size to make another shelf.

 

[mrehorst]

I wouldn't stand them on their sides. They are designed to work sitting on their feet. Other positions might affect the heat dissipation. If you leave a few inches of vertical space between them you can stack them up.

 

[hoohoohoo]

I wouldn't stand them on their sides. They are designed to work sitting on their feet. Other positions might affect the heat dissipation. If you leave a few inches of vertical space between them you can stack them up.

They'll still function on their side, but unintended heat dissipation patterns will likely shorten the lifespan of internal circitry.

 

[GeeTee]

maybe something like isolating rubber feet for each unit then you will have bigger airgap between stacked units

 

[FilthiestCasual]

I ended up going down quite a rabbit hole with this. I've seen a lot of YouTube videos on these 10" mini racks for networking/ raspberry pi setups and I decided to pick one up to test. These mini racks fit the amps perfectly, the one I got would fit 6 amps in one contained space.

Since they're kinda close together I plan on monitoring the temperatures for the first while. If things get too hot I'll be adding some pc fans which would run above a certain temp.

If anyone is interested in this particular setup, this mini rack is the DeskPi RackMate TL1

 

[DazST]

I ended up going down quite a rabbit hole with this. I've seen a lot of YouTube videos on these 10" mini racks for networking/ raspberry pi setups and I decided to pick one up to test. These mini racks fit the amps perfectly, the one I got would fit 6 amps in one contained space.

Since they're kinda close together I plan on monitoring the temperatures for the first while. If things get too hot I'll be adding some pc fans which would run above a certain temp.

If anyone is interested in this particular setup, this mini rack is the DeskPi RackMate TL1

View attachment 37862

Looks good. If you can place the whole rack in the middle of the shelf that will allow more air circulation and probably help to contain temperature.

 

[mrehorst]

Since they're kinda close together I plan on monitoring the temperatures for the first while. If things get too hot I'll be adding some pc fans which would run above a certain temp.

Nice rack!

I wouldn't bother with a thermostatically controlled fan. It won't turn on until things have already heated up. Better to run fans continuously and prevent the temperature rise in the first place. You can run a 240V fan on 117V and it will turn slowly and quietly but keep the air moving. You won't be able to hear it running. I built a 3D printer with two such fans and they're still going after 9 years (no, not continuous!).

Keep in mind that any time you run a fan the electronics will accumulate dust at a faster rate than with no fan.