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Fans on amps.

Ive been checking out some posts about fans by amps but cannot find anything about them being good or bad for the amps. This is what I would like to know. Ok. I have a Krell Fpb 600 and I listen to my music about a 28-30 volume on my ARC Ref 6 which is pretty loud most of the time depending on recordings. Tonight I felt my amp like a lot of times and felt very hot like u could fry an egg on top. This is the normal with a few hrs of listening. Anyway I put a fan on the right side of amp and about a half hour later I checked the right side and was significantly cooler I mean like a night and day difference between the right and left top and heat sinks. I was wondering if adding 2 fans one on each side to cool the amp down would do more harm than good. Would I get more life out of the amp with fans ? Or are amps designed like that without using fans and just heat sinks to get rid of the heat. Btw my amp has plenty of ventilation as it is on the floor. Thanks. 
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millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Way back in the day when the party was rocking and the Phase Linear was getting hot like that I went out on the deck scooped up some snow put in in a bag put the bag between the heat sinks. Well I figure anything helps it run cooler is better. Worked like a charm. 

Couple years later up in Lynnwood ran into Bob Carver asked the man himself about it. Bob Carver said anything helps it run cooler is better.

So there you go.
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anotherbob
344 posts
 
I’ve got a very nice fan unit off of Amazon specifically made for audio or video equipment.  It’s a AC Infinity AIRCOM T8, Quiet Cooling Blower Fan System 17" Rear-Exhaust for Receivers, Amps, DVR, AV Cabinet Components.  It keeps my AVR very cool and is virtually silent.
fasteddie199
32 posts
 
There are platforms made for laptops that contain two fans that are silent and run on USB. I believe you could just mount your amp on top of one of these and you would be good to go.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/targus-dual-fan-chill-mat-cooling-system-black/8848369.p?skuId=8848369&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1260666&ds_rl=1266837&ds_rl=1266837&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpavpBRDQARIsAPfTwixn45XaJ4ELGdElULWcMFBYZZ90Bd4uvc7UvxWW8f9mIQPxks7HKOkaAtGNEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
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jerroldls
33 posts
 
I use a Bryston, in the 4B series at 300 w/c. It sits on the lower shelf of an antique Chinese piece of furniture. The rest of the gear is above it on a second shelf. Not much room for convection air circulation. What I did was utilize a pair of 4" computer case fans (Antec btw). They are 12v and dead quiet. I did some minor insulation on the fan frame so it does not make direct contact to the wood shelf. I was able to power the fans from my Bryston Pre Amp power supply. The pre amp turns on the amp using the Bryston trigger feature and when it does the fans come on as well. Even slight air movement will aid most amp cooling. My point is that there are many computer grade quiet fans available and most can run off any run of the mill wall wart ps. I recommend looking at them as a solution for air movement. Oh ya their costs are very low as well.
puu
23 posts
 
I cool my vintage fisher CA 880 (have not replaced the heatsink jet) with a laptop fan. I elevated the amp with rubber feet and the fan is placed underneath and blows air through the holes at the bottom. Fan is almost noiseless and only to hear right at the amp. The fan got some resistors to run at lower speed and a switch to turn it on and off.Works flawless!  
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