Just wondering anyone have any guidance on fitting cooling fans for this AMP? Size, location etc? cheers
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Texas Star 500V fan retro fit?
- Thread starter Limeybastard
- Start date
Flip it upside down and plaster the outlet side of the fan against the heat-sink fins. This will remove heat most efficiently.
Positioning it near dead-center should work best. The bigger the fan, the bigger the area that will get airflow. I would use a 5-inch 'box' type fan, rather than a smaller size.
73
Positioning it near dead-center should work best. The bigger the fan, the bigger the area that will get airflow. I would use a 5-inch 'box' type fan, rather than a smaller size.
73
Hmmm. 14cm = 140mm.
Divided by 25.4 is five and a half inches, more or less.
73
Divided by 25.4 is five and a half inches, more or less.
73
Here is what I did with a Texas star 250.
Internally I soldered wires from the amps on/off switch to a 2.1mm jack I drilled out and installed on the amps back panel. I then soldered a 2.1 mm plug on the Fan wires. This gave me a quick fan disconnect if needed while using the amp's power switch to turn the fan on and off.
The fan I used is a brushless bearing type typically used for computers. These can be purchased from Mouser.com if you can't find them locally.
The fan was attached to the heatsink by using the blue size drywall anchors and screws. This held it securely in place.
Internally I soldered wires from the amps on/off switch to a 2.1mm jack I drilled out and installed on the amps back panel. I then soldered a 2.1 mm plug on the Fan wires. This gave me a quick fan disconnect if needed while using the amp's power switch to turn the fan on and off.
The fan I used is a brushless bearing type typically used for computers. These can be purchased from Mouser.com if you can't find them locally.
The fan was attached to the heatsink by using the blue size drywall anchors and screws. This held it securely in place.
For fan size, just measure your heatsink's length and width and note the center of the length's spacing between the heatsink grooves. This is where your anchors go between the grooves so you need to find a fan that fits these measurements. The fans listed on Mouser.com have exact specs including mounting holes in metric too so you should be able to find one that fits.
Jolly? Before I know it, we will be discusing trash over tea and scones!
There has been a fair volume of debate on mounting fans on amps on cb forums, people making cases brackets etc fixings between fins drilling & bolting, sucking, blowing, fitting thermal switches etc,
Debating with CCM caused me to buy one of these https://www.instrumart.com/products/722/raytek-raynger-mx4-infrared-thermometer,
a laser pen and some cigs for smoke to see where air flows happening,
i also monitored bias thermal tracking to see what was actually going on at the heatsink right beside the transistors inside the amps,
here's what i found,
heatsinks should face upwards,
blowing air onto the heatsink beats sucking every time,
two & three fans on the same heatsink channels fight each other, one large fan works best,
if you must use small fans don't put them on the same channels,
fans with smaller hubs have a smaller dead spot under them,
not all fans are equal, some make more noise than others of the same flow if noise is an issue,
the fan should be on wherever the amp is in use, wire it to the power switch,
thermal switches cause deeper thermal cycling that you don't want,
brackets & cases & things like screws poking down the fins only look better,
if you have CMC you can smoke a fan with rf,
wrap a few turns of the fan wires through a ferrite core & put a .1uf cap across the wires both near the fan,
a burning fan in the mobile smells ACRID, REALLY BAD PROBABLY POISONOUS,
the most effective mounting method i have used since the early 80's looks shit but works great & costs next to nothing,
damps vibration & never marks the amp,
roll 4 x 1/2" ish blobs of bluetack & put them on the fan mounting holes,
look where the transistors are & make sure you don't have the fan hub over them,
place fan on heatsink & fire the fan up,
listen to the fan and slowly start pressing the fan down evenly at the 4 corners until you just start to hear a small increase in speed STOP right there,
the fan is at the optimum distance & working into a slight positive pressure,
almost all the air will flow straight down the fins & off the ends.,
don't use big blobs that block the fins.
Debating with CCM caused me to buy one of these https://www.instrumart.com/products/722/raytek-raynger-mx4-infrared-thermometer,
a laser pen and some cigs for smoke to see where air flows happening,
i also monitored bias thermal tracking to see what was actually going on at the heatsink right beside the transistors inside the amps,
here's what i found,
heatsinks should face upwards,
blowing air onto the heatsink beats sucking every time,
two & three fans on the same heatsink channels fight each other, one large fan works best,
if you must use small fans don't put them on the same channels,
fans with smaller hubs have a smaller dead spot under them,
not all fans are equal, some make more noise than others of the same flow if noise is an issue,
the fan should be on wherever the amp is in use, wire it to the power switch,
thermal switches cause deeper thermal cycling that you don't want,
brackets & cases & things like screws poking down the fins only look better,
if you have CMC you can smoke a fan with rf,
wrap a few turns of the fan wires through a ferrite core & put a .1uf cap across the wires both near the fan,
a burning fan in the mobile smells ACRID, REALLY BAD PROBABLY POISONOUS,
the most effective mounting method i have used since the early 80's looks shit but works great & costs next to nothing,
damps vibration & never marks the amp,
roll 4 x 1/2" ish blobs of bluetack & put them on the fan mounting holes,
look where the transistors are & make sure you don't have the fan hub over them,
place fan on heatsink & fire the fan up,
listen to the fan and slowly start pressing the fan down evenly at the 4 corners until you just start to hear a small increase in speed STOP right there,
the fan is at the optimum distance & working into a slight positive pressure,
almost all the air will flow straight down the fins & off the ends.,
don't use big blobs that block the fins.