Customer Reviews

Coolerguys Cabcool1202 Dual 120mm Fan Cooling Kit w/thermal control for Cabinet or Home Theaters

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have an entertainment stand that is all enclosed with glass doors. There is no ventilation anywhere within the cabinet, and I have an Xbox 360, cable box, receiver, and modem/router all running within the confined space. I noticed upon playing Xbox that the temps inside the cabinet skyrocketed, to the point of red rings and equipment overheating and acting funny. Well, not even 6 months after purchasing the console, the Xbox fried, so I knew I had to add some sort of cooling product to alleviate the problem or else I would fry my new Xbox in another 6 months. Enter this product from [...].

The product is exactly what I needed. Using a jigsaw, I cut out the opening in the back panel of the entertainment stand (the thin wood that covers the back... this would be a tough install on a solid thick backing). One tip I learned is that you have to cut out a rectangle a little smaller than the supplied panel cover. I tried to just cut the circles out for the fans, but this made it way too hard to install easily. I went back and cut the full rectangle shape out and voila, went together as easily as everyone else's reviews said.

It took me about an hour to put together and cleanup. I turned on the Xbox, receiver, cable box and modem and played continously for 2 hours. Normally, the Xbox would sound like a 747 taking off at this point, but no, it was very quiet. I opened the glass doors to feel inside. What normally felt like an oven (no joke, probably usually 120 degrees plus) was now very comfortable and only felt slightly warmer than room temp. This thing works! In addition, it is truly silent. I just cannot hear it. The Xbox is way louder than the fans, even when the xbox is running low speed. In all, these work as advertised and aren't terribly difficult to install for anyone handy with some power tools. It will certainly cool your components when the furniture design is a dud to begin with. It does seem pricey, but I do believe it will lengthen the life of my components.

This kit is less expensive than other kits out there, so I rate it a good value. It arrived in good order very quickly, was easy to install, and so far is working well. The fans are VERY QUIET and cannot be heard. They do not move a lot of air, and I am sure this contributes to the low sound level, but I can tell by placing my hand over the exhaust grill that air is indeed moving. One note: the parts as shown in the picture are all the parts that you get. You should note that they do not include any instructions on how to assemble and install the kit. You will need to navigate to the vendor's website to find the instruction sheet. That is the only reason I don't give this product 5 stars.

October, 2010 Update: after I had this product for less than 1 year, one of the fans quit working. I contacted Coolerguys and they sent me out a replacement module. That one worked for less than one week. I was very discouraged at this point. However, I found a little button on the back of the module that appears to be an override for the temperature probe, and sets the fans to "always on". So now they run constantly, but I think that is ok because it gets pretty warm inside the cabinet so I like that there is constant airflow. The fans are so quiet that I have to shine a flashlight on them to see if they are operating.

I was looking for a quiet cooling fan for my A/V equipments in an enclosed cabinet and came accross the coolerguys product on Amazon website. I read some good reviews on this thread which helped me pull the trigger. The price is reasonable, fast shipping,easy to assemble and work flawlessly. The temperature sensor is a nice feature-you don't have to worry about turning on/off the fan. The only complain I have is the noise. I can hear the noise from 12 feet away when music stops or during a movie quiet passage. This is kind of annoying! If noise is not your issue, then look no more, otherwise look elsewhere.

I got this kit to cool off my DVD player, DVR Satellite receiver, and CD changer located in a relatively small cabinet. I use this unit to blow air out of the cabinet and onto the underside of my AV receiver (located on the top of the cabinet). The fans are in a "layed down" position on the top of the cabinet. Initially, these fans made a great deal of noise whenever they just first started up or were running at a slow speed. I contacted [..] about it and they sent an email back the next day about having a defective thermal unit (the unit that turns on and modulates fan speed) and asked me for my address so they could get a new one out. maybe 2 or 3 days later, i received my brand new unit!!! They're incredibly helpful, and you probably won't have to get a new thermal unit because they said they had them phased out.

Incredible response time if you ask me for any company. Definitely recommend this as the solution for cooling any cabinet. By the way, instructions were included in my unit but are accessible online as well.

These fans work incredibly well. The face plate is surface mounted and VERY thin so it is not noticeable. The fans are VERY quiet even when they spin up. The controller works as described (kicks on when it begin to get too warm and turns off when it is sufficiently cooled off). The thermostat sensor wire is long enough to place just about anywhere in the cabinet.

The internal fans on my PS3 and satellite DVR no longer kick on because these fans keep the entire cabinet cool. This means it no longer sounds like a jet taking off when the PS3 begins to get too hot.

The customer support from this company also sets them apart from most other vendors. I had some questions regarding the kit and they answered quickly and with the proper information (no back and forth and back and forth).

I am VERY happy with the purchase and the pre- and post-purchase support.

This product seemed expensive to me at first, but I could not find something that would be quiet (to cool a A/V receiver inside a small cabinet), and temperature controlled for less $. I also wanted to buy something that was at least positively reviewed by a few people.

I was not impressed by the packaging and the instructions where not very easy to follow. I used instead a video in youtube to install it, but it was removed some days ago.

The instructions describes an installation process where the fans go inside the cabinet. I could not do that because this would take away precious inches of space. Instead I reversed the installation so that the fans are outside the cabinet (while keeping the direction of the air flow going out of the cabinet as intended). It worked great!

I give this product 5 stars because 1) It works great and 2) It allows for some installation creativity :)

Does what it says. Needs to be assembled, but if you think you can cut a hole in your entertainment center to install it, you probably won't have trouble assembling it. Keeps everything nice and cool. Absolutly no noise. Wish I could say the same about my PS3.

Fan kit worked great. I had my components in a built in cabinet. My Apple TV generated so much heat it caused the glue to go soft on the lamination of the shelf and caused the lamination to lift. Research several options for cooling and decided on this kit.

Fan kit was easy to install. Kit was only a little more expensive than trying to piece the parts yourself and it went together easily. Cut the hole in the side as directed and installed. Thermostat control works great so fans are not always running. After three days and no more heat issues.

Highly recommend.

Got exactly what was listed. These fans are very quiet and the thermal control works great. I actually split thes fans apart (can only go about 2 feet apart - and the connection to the power box is hard to connect at arms reach) but this let me put one on each side of my AV cabinet. Would recomend these anyone.

Very quick shipping, good packaging. Only slightly difficult to install this on back panel of TV armoire cabinet. Product is quieter than I expected and I can feel the pull of air through the slightly open door (child locked). Good purchase.