Integrated vs. Ala Carte Automated Control

A very common question is why our products do not have built-in automated control but the answer is simple.  It is not an effort to up sell but instead, the last time I checked, the basis of the custom electronics industry is ‘customization’.  Other companies that are far less committed to cooling, but yet claim to be professionals, dictate that your cooling solution should be run at the slowest speed possible just so they can call their products quiet.  To take it either further, with some products, they even dictate when your fans should turn on and off and if you’ll have variable speed control.   By integrating these features, they are taking away your ability to control the fans appropriately for your application.

Cool Components leaves these decisions to the professional installer while providing the widest range of control options.  While many systems are similar, the fact is that the cooling requirements are not.  We are the first to recognize that not all systems require a massive cooling system with all the bells and whistles, but at the same time, many do in the custom world.  Are you installing the same receiver and other equipment you use for a $5k system as you are in a $150k system?  Why would one think that you would install the same cooling solution as well?

The bottom line is that Cool Components provides by far the greatest level of options and control over your cooling systems.  This makes sense however as we are a specialized, truly professional and qualified cooling company.  We are seeing more companies offering a few cooling products to compliment their core line of products but do you want a company that is simply trying to add to their bottom line, or a company that is 100% dedicated to the category?  For this reason, some manufacturers have come to us to be an OEM or to simply partner with us over copying what we, or others, have already done.

The control options are pretty straightforward as there are two primary points of control.  The first is to control when fans turn on and then off.  The next control factor is fan speed as often times it is favorable to have fans blow more aggressively as the temperature increases.  This provides for a nice balance between keeping fan noise to a minimum but also providing more cooling as required.  CCI provides both manual and automatic control over both fan speed and on and off.  By using a variable output power supply, speed can be controlled by adjusting the voltage to the fans which is a very easy and cost effective way to put control in the dealer’s hands.  People sometimes ask why have this feature and another easy answer?  First, why not?  We have not reinventing the wheel with variable output power supplies, we have only utilized them in a way that no one else has.  Then the logic is that if you run a cooling product in a closet, noise is not as big of an issue but airflow is.  The opposite is true if equipment is installed in a listening zone, thus, let the application and installer in the field dictate the fan speed, not some supposed ‘professional’ sitting behind a desk...  The bottom line is that ‘one size fits all’ does not work effectively and is honestly senseless.  Other manufacturers kick down the voltage because they do not have magic fans, they simply reduce the voltage down to around 7V to make them quiet and you have no option or control.

Turning fans on and off is also accomplished many ways.  One is by simply plugging the power supply into a switched outlet.  In some cases may want to a fan run full time as is the case with some DVRs and other equipment that generates heat whether it’s on of off.  If or when you require control though, Cool Components offers several products to do just this.

So take control over your cooling.  While our industry is also all about ‘integration’, building in control features with cooling fans is integration that simply want to avoid.