[Coco] Heat management 101

[gene heskett]

On Friday, April 15, 2011 01:02:21 PM Rogelio Perea did opine:

> Was doing my daily Ebay stroll and came up to this:
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/5ts8rls
> 
> How bad could it be inside that CoCo to have the case "modded" like so
> for ventilation? That is an avant-garde vents job.
> 
> I have a similar CoCo with the full 64k setup and while it gets warm
> during regular use, I have not seen through all the years something
> that would concern me to try something to manage heat build up. The
> CoCo in the auction seems to have a video adapter board, even so I
> don't think such expansion would make the CoCo run way hotter... could
> be wrong.
> 
> While on the subject of ventilation, years ago I added the second drive
> to my FD-502 system and as it was a self procured upgrade it didn't
> came with the cooling fan as the Radio Shack package did. I remember
> back then keeping a close watch at the disk power supply the first
> weeks of use, eventually I saw no need to install the fan and it has
> been like so ever since - even under heavy OS9 LII use the power supply
> manages with room to spare.
> 
> The only mod I have done on heat concerns was in the CoCo 3: which after
> installing the 512k RAM expansion there was a noticeable increase in the
> heat output through the top vents, so I added one thin fan underneath
> the keyboard to help in bringing in some air circulation from the
> bottom vents. It has helped.
> 
I mod'ed a later coco2 with a fan in the top of the case, which since it 
was located in a 19" rack with a solid top to its shelf, helped.  It sat 
there for 13 years imitating a Grass Valley Group accessory for the 300 
series video production switchers in the 300 series.  The GVG gismo sold 
for $20,000, but the coco2 was 4x faster, and gave the ops english language 
names for their 'bags of tricks' files.

If I was to do that to an older coco1 as shown, I probably would mount it 
on my milling machine and drill in a more controlled pattern.

But the ultimate mod I did to my main coco3.  Neither it, nor the MPI that 
goes with it, have any power supply components in them as everything, 
drives and all, is being run via common 4 pin trailer connectors out the 
back, plugged into a very geriatric old AT power supply sitting in the 
bottom of my drive tower behind the MPI.  With a 63C09, and a 2 meg  disto 
memory expansion kit, my coco3 runs about 2F above ambient even with 
furniture blankets covering it.  Heat is simply not a concern anymore.
> 
> 
> -- RP
> 
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-- 
Cheers, Gene
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