Cooling your amp
|
Bronze Member Username: Jaguar600Post Number: 68 Registered: Jul-05 | does anyone know of any fans or anything to use to cool your amp? I want to run it at 1 ohm but after a while it over heats, I was thinking about using some computer case fans do you think that could work? |
|
Silver Member Username: Killer44Ontario Canada Post Number: 633 Registered: Dec-04 | http://www.bcae1.com/coolfans.htm http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Shop/Control/fp/scat/28046/SFV/30046 http://www.electronixwarehouse.com/car/accessories/fans.htm those are some rite there, but unless that amp is 1ohm stable the fans shouldnt help too much the amp will prob eventually cr@p out...unless its a quality amp which is known to be 1ohm stable but isnt recomended....but if its 1ohm stable then maybe your gains are set too high, well hope that helps out... |
|
Gold Member Username: IlluminatorUSA Post Number: 4437 Registered: Apr-05 | Computer fans work great, in fact, I'm using them on my front stage amp, it's a class heatsink, er AB, so it becomes hot rather quickly sitting under the seat. For the issue on running the amp at 1 ohm...it sounds like the amp isn't supposed to do it from your post. Even running the amp at its bare minimum impedance isn't always recommended, in addition to heat problems(and ruining the amp, haha), these additional concerns will materialize: Increased Line Losses: As the speaker impedance is lowered, more of the audio signal is lost (in the form of heat) in the speaker cables! This can become significant if you run long cables. Speaker wires have resistance (the value depends on the thickness and length of the cable); if the speaker impedance becomes very low the resistance of the speaker wire may no longer be insignificant. To prevent this problem, the cross sectional area of the speaker cable conductor must double for each halving of speaker load impedance! In other words, running [low] ohm loads means using VERY heavy speaker cables.[12ga about] Damping Factor Degradation: Using super low impedance loads on an amplifier will degrade the system's damping factor (discussed in detail below). Degradation of damping factor means that the amplifier will have less "control" over the speaker system, possibly resulting in "boomy" bass response. Source: http://www.wickedcases.com/caraudio/amplifiers.html |
|
Silver Member Username: Van_manBoston South, MA Post Number: 836 Registered: Mar-06 | High tech cooling made affordable from Peltier http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/peltier.html http://www.penguinslab.com/peltier.html |
|
Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfWisteria, Lane USA Post Number: 11589 Registered: Dec-03 | PC fans work werll, though I use the rat cage style fans for my amplifiers. PAC Audio makes a good one, model number CF-1 it's a long tubular an that sits at the end of the amp to draw air over the surface. pretty quiet too. |
|
New member Username: PscheoverdriveMD USA Post Number: 5 Registered: Aug-06 | Mmm... What kind of amps do you guys have? B/c I'm thinking about replacing the Audiobahn one in my car b/c of the whole overheating thing. But, if most amps overheat after being moderately pushed for an hour, I think I'll just save money and go for the fans... Unless of course, the fans only prolong how long the amp will go before overheating. Then I'll just get both.  I want something between 600-800W RMS @ 2ohms, priced under $300... That doesn't overheat! Haha... |
|
Gold Member Username: CtmikeCt. Post Number: 1434 Registered: Feb-06 | a kicker kx1200.1 will do that and brand new it's about $350-360 shipped. |
|
New member Username: PscheoverdriveMD USA Post Number: 6 Registered: Aug-06 | Mmm... Any other suggestions? I'm kinda shying away from Kicker (and Audiobahn :P)... Maybe an Alpine, RF...? |
|
Gold Member Username: CtmikeCt. Post Number: 1436 Registered: Feb-06 | i would take a kicker over those two brands. not sure on rf amps, but i think the only alpine that'll do 600-800wrms @ 2ohm is there new pdx 1000.1 amp, but good luck finding it under $300. |
|
New member Username: PscheoverdriveMD USA Post Number: 7 Registered: Aug-06 | Interesting... I'll look more into Kicker, then. Thanks! |
|
Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfWisteria, Lane USA Post Number: 11597 Registered: Dec-03 | I'm using some Orion 2250SX amplifiers. circa 1991 |
Main Forums
Today's Posts- Home Audio Forum
- Home Video Forum
- Home Theater Forum
- Car Audio Forum
- Accessories Forum
- All Forum Topics