Customer Reviews

CabCool 802 Lite Dual 80mm Fan Cooling Kit for Cabinet & Home Theaters

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this fan kit to keep the cabinet housing my home theater equipment from getting too hot. Upon opening the package and inspecting the components, I called CoolGuys because I thought I was missing a connector - my bad for not reading the instructions beforehand. They answered the call quickly and explained how the unit needed to be connected - so, no missing part. I assembled the kit in about 5 mins. All the materials seem to be sturdy and of good quality. Some posters here have complained about mounting holes not be properly aligned. I did not experience this at all. I installed it in my cabinet in another 5 mins. The fans are absolutely quiet - you can't even hear them at arm's length. Great product and excellent customer service. I definitely recommend this kit.

The assembly was a snap and it installed in about 20 minutes. I tried the fans before I cut the opening and was shocked that I couldn't even hear them running 10 inches from me! They work great.

When I got this and plugged it in to test it I thought the fans may be lacking in ability to move air but once I mounted them in my media cabinet I realized they work very well. My cabinet consist of a Power Conditioner, Receiver, Satellite TV receiver, PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, Apple TV, Wireless Router, and Modem. If I had more than one thing on at a time it would get very hot. Not since I installed these quiet fans.

This fan kit has everything you need to bring your media cabinet temps down. I ordered these because my DVR was overheating to the point of becoming non-functional. It would actually give me a message saying it was overheating.

Anyway, installing these fans was a snap, and now my cabinet temps are way lower. Nice and cool in there.

Best part about these fans is that they are completely quiet. I run them 24/7 since my DVR is always recording stuff, and these things are literally silent. Even when you get up close to them you can't hear them at all. They push a reasonable amount of air, too, so the silence is surprising.

My only problem is that the screw holes on the fans are very weak. When attaching them to the mounting bracket, at least 3-4 of the screw holes broke open as I was putting the screws in. They are still snuggly mounted though, so I don't mind much. Just be extra careful when screwing them in.

I plan on buying another one of these kits to cool the other part of the cabinet.

Recently, my satellite DVR started having overheating problems. It sits in an enclosed stereo case. To alleviate the problem, I had to leave the glass door open and put a laptop cooling pad underneath the DVR. This helped some, but it would still heat up to 145 degrees after 3 hours or so of watching TV. At this point, the unit shuts down and I have to wait for it to cool down, which is obviously very annoying.

The CabCool arrived yesterday and I installed it today. I have removed the laptop cooler and closed the glass door, and my DVR now has settled into about 120 degrees, which is only 5 degrees warmer than the same model in my bedroom that sits on top of a dresser with no obstructions. This is an amazing difference. I am truly impressed.

The unit took a couple minutes to put together. Some of the earlier reviews (including the "most helpful" critical review) indicated that the holes weren't aligned properly or something like that. This has been fixed, the unit assembled without problems and quickly. The wood screws they included easily went into the particle board back of my entertainment center and held the assembly to my cabinet securely. I didn't use the included zip ties, but I guess they are there in case you need to bundle any cables.

The sound isn't quite silent, but certainly quieter than my laptop's fan and not noticeable unless the TV is muted and I'm standing a foot or two away. This product is a keeper.

(I uploaded four images of my installation, which will hopefully help folks understand my description.)

My AV equipment is in a cabinet that is built into a false wall in my living room. It has no ventilation so I've had to leave the doors open all the time and it still gets pretty warm in the rear of the cabinet. Enter the CabCool. I read many reviews and selected the 802 Lite.

Some assembly is required ... basically, they send you all of the required parts and you get to put it together, which gives the user the flexibility to change the direction of air flow ... the assembly was quick and easy, and the modular plugs made the electrical hook-up a snap (literally).

I considered getting the unit that has the temperature sensor, but I didn't think it would matter (i.e., I believe it would be running almost all the time anyway), and if I decide later that I would like it, I can pick up a 3rd party temperature controller for about $20.

I installed the unit vertically on the left wall of the enclosure, exhausting the warm air into the space inside the false wall ... the fans straddle the top shelf, with the upper fan pulling from behind the receiver and the lower fan pulling from behind the DVR (the two primary heat generators).

As for the air intake, the cabinet doors are naturally offset from the front of the cabinet, providing a small air gap all the way around. In an earlier attempt to allow the space to cool by natural convection, I had added some "bumper" spacers to keep the doors just slightly open, but it didn't work nearly well enough. I may be able to remove the spacers now, but will probably leave them since they really aren't noticeable.

As others have noted, the fans are amazingly quiet ... you honestly can't hear them when you're holding them in your hand, so the amount of noise they make when installed will depend on how resonant the mounting surface is. In my case, I could just barely hear them when I plug them in, but not once I closed the cabinet doors.

This is a perfect niche product, and was an excellent solution for my situation. Based on this experience I would not hesitate to purchase similar CoolerGuys products.

My stereo components are mounted in a home entertainment center with glass doors. I'm driving 12 speakers throughout the house on this system. My zone 2 Onkyo Integra amp stated popping the breaker after about 30 minutes when all the speakers were turned on. At first I thought it was a bad speaker or volume controller, but after a month or so of troubleshooting I eliminated that possibility and focused on the heat in the cabinet. I ran the system with the door open and a fan blowing on the amp, and it never popped the breaker, so that kind of confirmed the diagnosis.

I looked at buying individual cooling fans and wiring them to a switch, but those fans are very expensive and noisy. I saw these fans advertised on the Amazon site, and read the reviews, and figured what do I have to lose for $30 and free shipping? I ordered them, they were delivered in 5 days, I assembled them in about 15 minutes and it took me about 10 minutes to install them in the cabinet, because I just screwed them on the the backside of the shelf and didn't have to cut any holes.

I plugged these fans into a switched outlet on the receiver so they come on when the sysytem is on, and they are whisper quiet. They are oriented so they blow air into the cabinet, and since I have installed them no more popped breaker. Looking at their size you wouldn't think that they would move that much air, but the do the job...very well.

I don't think that one pair of these fans would provide enough cooling for an entire cabinet, but for cooling a couple components, I give them 5 stars and a big thumbs up!

This fan kit was easy to install and very quiet. After 8 months the fan bearings got noisy. After one email they informed me that they had improved the quality of the product since my order and replaced the fans at no charge. Knowing this I will definately use their products in every custom cabinet I build!

Product requires some assembly but it was very easy. The fan is so quiet you cannot hear it at all. I initially plugged it in and had to hold it to my ear to make sure it was on. The fans are extremely quiet. As far as the air flow, my cabinet was right around 98 to 100 degrees, constant. This was shutting down my cable box and causing other problems with my receiver and blu-ray. I installed the fan and it now maintains a temperature of about 78 to 80 degrees, approx 20 degrees drop in temperature. The fans do not seem very powerful, but they do the job, and do it extremely well. I installed them at the top of the cabinet in the back. Now I can shut the door and not worry about my components. Great product.

Works well at circulating air and is quiet to boot (truly...so quiet that we don't even notice it, even when there's no TV or other media on and our home has a zen stillness). Fair price, too. Recommended if you need this sort of thing.