Hot attic solutions

Spizz

Spizz

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I've got an old house with wooden ceiling/attic floor and a corrugated roof. As you can imagine it's very hot up there in summer time and now I have put an ethernet switch up there to distribute the cables in several directions and am getting some problems. Problem is, the switch is obviously overheating as speeds have slowed down and I need to get the ladder out today and switch it off and on twice now. So maybe the switch is melting and I need a new one, but wondering if anyone has any clever ideas of keeping the place a bit cooler short of putting an attic fan through the roof.
 
Put the switch in the house and only run the cables in the hot part....
 
Magnum said:
Put the switch in the house and only run the cables in the hot part....
Click to expand...

I'm afraid that boat has sailed as there are a lot of cables to and from it including CCTV, and also not an option due to the layout of the house and location of ONT.

It's a stupid question I suppose, I probably need to get an extractor/ventilation fan through the roof. Just wondering if there's some 'hack' as I've just rubberised the roof and it's pretty delicate.
 
Spizz said:
I've got an old house with wooden ceiling/attic floor and a corrugated roof. As you can imagine it's very hot up there in summer time and now I have put an ethernet switch up there to distribute the cables in several directions and am getting some problems. Problem is, the switch is obviously overheating as speeds have slowed down and I need to get the ladder out today and switch it off and on twice now. So maybe the switch is melting and I need a new one, but wondering if anyone has any clever ideas of keeping the place a bit cooler short of putting an attic fan through the roof.
Click to expand...

FYI

 
Spizz said:
I'm afraid that boat has sailed as there are a lot of cables to and from it including CCTV, and also not an option due to the layout of the house and location of ONT.

It's a stupid question I suppose, I probably need to get an extractor/ventilation fan through the roof. Just wondering if there's some 'hack' as I've just rubberised the roof and it's pretty delicate.
Click to expand...
No matter what you do electronic equipment will not surrvive in those conditions. you need to bring temps down to 20-30 and add ventilation at those temps to keep internal temps to below 50
 
Spizz said:
It's a stupid question I suppose, I probably need to get an extractor/ventilation fan through the roof.
Click to expand...
The hot air has to eventually go somewhere. Your family is going to love you for doing this.

Best you can you to try to reduce the temperature delta on the equipment itself by bolting on some PC fans or something...
 
porchrat said:
Insulate the roof properly to prevent heat transfer?
Click to expand...
Problem is the equipment is in the roof, where the heat is. Best solution is to put in the work to move everything out of there...
 
Spizz said:
I've got an old house with wooden ceiling/attic floor and a corrugated roof. As you can imagine it's very hot up there in summer time and now I have put an ethernet switch up there to distribute the cables in several directions and am getting some problems. Problem is, the switch is obviously overheating as speeds have slowed down and I need to get the ladder out today and switch it off and on twice now. So maybe the switch is melting and I need a new one, but wondering if anyone has any clever ideas of keeping the place a bit cooler short of putting an attic fan through the roof.
Click to expand...
Is there enough slack in the cables to enable you to make a hole in the wooden ceiling and drop the switch below the ceiling into a box that you can put a fan into? Then you close the ceiling hole (just cable running through) - should make a difference without requiring a massive reorg of all the wiring

So you'll end up with a a little "server" box mounted on the ceiling
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
The hot air has to eventually go somewhere. Your family is going to love you for doing this.

Best you can you to try to reduce the temperature delta on the equipment itself by bolting on some PC fans or something...
Click to expand...

I've got a mini USB desk fan blowing at it at the moment :p

AfricanTech said:
Is there enough slack in the cables to enable you to make a hole in the wooden ceiling and drop the switch below the ceiling into a box that you can put a fan into? Then you close the ceiling hole (just cable running through) - should make a difference without requiring a massive reorg of all the wiring

So you'll end up with a a little "server" box mounted on the ceiling
Click to expand...

Not an option. The system has grown arms and legs since the initial install when we bought the place over two years ago, and needs a complete rethink and redoing, or somehow cool the whole attic down. It's a bit of a dogs dinner up there. I've got a friend coming tomorrow who did the waterproofing/rubberising of the roofs last year and he said he installs the roof extractor fans. So I'll chat to him and see what he suggests. I reckon some extractor and draw from outside will do the trick.
 
porchrat said:
I'm suggesting insulating the attic roof itself
Click to expand...

Not really possible the way it is now. I'd need to spend a fortune on some system to attach a rockwool type insultation on the inside or it'd probably be cheaper getting a whole new roof. The sheets are corrugate and pretty thin and I had them rubberised last year so I don't want to mess with them too much.
 
Yeah, extractor fans to take the hot air out with a fan on the thing itself will probably work.

I was also 'clever' with putting things in the ceiling - only the AP's are left there now as I was forced to move the switch and router when everything went fubar a couple of years ago
 
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