amp relay sticks

[groundwire]

well i got it all figured out and working thanks to and with the help of linear one. it turns out the keying circuit was made improperly and poorly. i completely removed it and installed a manual keying jack. the relay is operating properly now without the keying circuit. i am going to install a properly built keying circuit soon so if i want or need to rf key it i can do so. i will post a pic tomorrow of the install just for kicks. thanks for all the input guys on my quest to get this destroyed amp running again

here is the 32 in the mobile. its running good with no issues so far.

 

[groundwire]

i need some advice. 70% of the whole reason this 32pill got destroyed in shipping is because nate (hopper) used a VERY CHEAP super thin copper board and he did not secure the heatsink's to the case and reinforce it at all so it just slapped around, up and down, bending and flexing until the board snapped at every mounting point. I repaired and remounted the board, and i put an L bracket on the front of the board to the case and bolted it down. It worked perfectly and nothing moved at all. Driving around today i heard that damn slapping sound again, The heatsinks and board are flexing up and down and slaping the bottom of the case. The whole middle section is flexing and slapping up and down. How would you get everything mounted down solid so this stops happening? I cant think of an easy way to do it.

 

[Xracerx13]

One main question is this:
Is it 1 large heatsink, or 2 individual heatsinks side by side?
If its 2 that would explain why it didn't hold up to good.

I'm not an amp builder, just someone who works on amps, and went through the same thing you did once on a used 8 pill I bought. I have some suggestions.

Heatsinks are usually screwed to the back cover plate and the sides to the side plates if possible, or from underneath if need be.
Its obvious from your pics that he only used the copper board edges to screw through to hold the whole thing in place. That's a heavy heatsink and was a big mistake on his part. Also was not packed good enough for shipping with that big bend in the back plate where the wires go in. What was Hopper Nate thinking.

So on each end (front and rear).........
You could use 2 stiff steel L brackets on the front bolted to the bottom cover and screwed to the front of the heatsink, and 2 L brackets on the back bolted to the back cover and screwed into the top of copper/heatsink.
For the rear IF you can get some sheet metal screws to go into the heatsink from through the rear panel it would be better. Of course you would need to drill pilot holes first.

 

[groundwire]

One main question is this:
Is it 1 large heatsink, or 2 individual heatsinks side by side?
If its 2 that would explain why it didn't hold up to good.

I'm not an amp builder, just someone who works on amps, and went through the same thing you did once on a used 8 pill I bought. I have some suggestions.

Heatsinks are usually screwed to the back cover plate and the sides to the side plates if possible, or from underneath if need be.
Its obvious from your pics that he only used the copper board edges to screw through to hold the whole thing in place. That's a heavy heatsink and was a big mistake on his part. Also was not packed good enough for shipping with that big bend in the back plate where the wires go in. What was Hopper Nate thinking.

So on each end (front and rear).........
You could use 2 stiff steel L brackets on the front bolted to the bottom cover and screwed to the front of the heatsink, and 2 L brackets on the back bolted to the back cover and screwed into the top of copper/heatsink.
For the rear IF you can get some sheet metal screws to go into the heatsink from through the rear panel it would be better. Of course you would need to drill pilot holes first.

Thanks for the suggestion. I put an L bracket on the front but the back is hard beause there is not much room. I will get into it and see what i can do. Oh and yes, it is two seperate heat sinks. Nate does not build good amps if its bigger than a 6 pill. Even then its meh.

 

[Xracerx13]

Well then so there are 2 heatsinks....Somehow I had that feeling. Make sure you get L brackets on each heatsink.
On the rear you should be able to add one between the copper braid and RF connector. On the power in side you can try and squeeze one right under the remote turn on jack after you bend the rear panel out.
Good luck.

 

[brandon7861]

What if you stiffen the bottom of the case with a piece of stronger sheet metal by riveting them together, then install threaded standoffs wherever they may fit around the heat sinks to the board? And maybe even a few angle pieces to the heat sinks themselves also riveted to the bottom of the case and either bolted or pinned to the fins of the heat sink?

Edit: If you have the means, maybe machine out a few of the fins to accomodate some standoffs between the fins to the bottom of the case, but with these standoffs, threading them into the heat sink instead of bolting through them?

 

[Xracerx13]

Brandon
I never meant to imply of any drilling or machining into a fin, and NOT bolting through a heatsink to the bottom panel. Just in case that's what your thinking.
Take a look at 3rd picture in post #1
Were talking about a screw on the side of the thick part of the front of the heatsink. Attach an L bracket then bolt bottom of L to bottom panel.