Amplifier Cooling Suggestions?


My integrated amp sits on the middle shelf of my rack. It has reasonable clearance and gets adequate air flow. I'm not concerned about the amp overheating at my typical listening volumes. That being said, cool is always better. Do any of you guys supplement your amps' factory cooling solutions with additional cooling? If so, what? If I used supplemental cooling it would have to be quiet, non-invasive (no case modifications) and cheap. I was thinking about getting some high quality computer fans and velcro-ing them to the slots above the fins to draw more air out of the case (aesthetics be damned), but they use molex power connectors and I'm not sure it would be all that effective anyway. What do you guys think?
danoroo
There are surgical icepacks in soft plastic bags you can place on exposed heat sinks. They keep cold for long time.
As long as the spacing is the manufacturer recommends and the equipment isn't "hot", I wouldn't be concerned about this. If you get fans, you will hear them and unless your equipment is a good distance away from the listening area, that will bug you sooner or later. Even really good whisper fans have noise. I would only employ fans if the equipment is far enough away and my equipment is getting hot without them.

enjoy

One thing to be concerned about with drawing air through the case is that you will also be drawing dust into the case.
you could hire girls in bikinis to fan your equipment with enormous palm leaves!
B_limo I tried that one ...it doesn't work for long. I can't concentrate on the music...
Raise the amp a little by some form of footers or spikes. Keeping the amp away from the base enhances air circulation in the cabinet.
Here is the solution for your problem:
"Mega-fan Receiver/Amplifier thermoswitch-controlled, multispeed cooling fan unit" - Ebay.
Comes in different sizes and options.
01-22-15: Czarivey
There are surgical icepacks in soft plastic bags you can place on exposed heat sinks. They keep cold for long time.

Are you serious??? ICEPACK??? How about the drone or mini helicopter flying around the Amp.
I bought a small refrigerator, put my amp inside it and cut holes in it for the cables. Once the cables are through the fridge, I pack the holes with insulation that gets held in place with tape. You just have to make sure to plug the refrigerator into a power strip that isolates the outlet. And, of course, put some sound dampening material on the outside of the amp fridge so it doesn't mess up your room acoustics, and cones under the fridge and the amp both.

MOST IMPORTANT: Do not set the temp to low. If you do, you run the risk of water in the air condensing and getting in your amp.
Zd- I just tried your suggestion but it didn't work for me. My liquid cables got too cold and froze up ;-)

And people accuse me of being too sarcastic!
Hi there,I have a quadraspire sunoko t rack with bamboo shelves,they have stradegical cuts in all the shelves to let all the equipment breath.That's another option.
"01-23-15: Swampwalker
Zd- I just tried your suggestion but it didn't work for me. My liquid cables got too cold and froze up ;-) "

You bought fake cables. The only cables that I can think of that have liquid in them are from PAD and the liquid ceramic from Cerious. They both freeze at a much lower temp than water.
Outboard fans like O2Cool with cup of ice cubes placed directly in line of fire.
Zd-the ;-) is a "wink" emoticon, meant to indicate that it was said tongue-in-cheek. Sorry for the confusion.
I think you have taken reasonable precautions to keep your integrated cool. Even at higher volumes it still should be adequate unless you are driving low impedance loads. I have not had the concern lately about overheating since I've been using Class D switching amps which run very cool even under demand.
"01-23-15: Swampwalker
Zd-the ;-) is a "wink" emoticon, meant to indicate that it was said tongue-in-cheek. Sorry for the confusion. "

So you were kidding? You really didn't freeze your cables because you put your amp in a refrigerator? lol. I bet someone will try it this weekend and report back Monday on how great their system sounds.
"I never heard of anyone using a fan on an int amp."

If it has fins on it, then it is creating heat, and he wants to keep it cool. Not a bad idea, but I worry about dust. Dust in the cabinet can cause a lot of problems, including more overheating on parts that were not expecting it.
I have to use one on my Pass INT 30 because it is enclosed in a cabinet. Running computer fans at half voltage and cannot hear them two feet away
I used to run a computer muffin fan as well. 1/2 speed as noted above. I always had it set so it exhausted the heat from above, not actually blew on the amp. Reason was so it was a convection type heat removal. It would bring the cool air up from the bottom and not the dust. I had it set about 8" above the top of the amp. I never heard it running.
I don't use it any longer as the amp now has plenty of room to breath after a new setup.
Good luck, John
This is better option since you can adjust the temperature
and the fan actually sucks the heat from the Amp.

"Mega-fan Receiver/Amplifier thermoswitch-controlled, multispeed cooling fan unit" - Ebay.