2. tech-talk
  3. 169560-1294

Heat

Hi All,
I have a friend who was telling me how he keeps a fan turned on, facing towards his amplifier, to keep it from getting too hot. I told him that it doesn't matter because the only heat that will affect his amplifier comes from internally. I'm now wondering if I could be wrong. So I'm wondering, if a stereo is in an attic during the summer and it's being played to the point of getting hot, will the temperature in the attic effect the amplifier?
goofyfoot
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,425 posts
 
If you have ever tried to cool a hot food liquid in a spoon (in order to taste it) inhaling the steam/heat is much more effective/faster than blowing on it.

Because of this in the few instances where I've used fans to cool tube gear I implemented the fans to draw heat away from the unit (VS blowing air on the unit).

DeKay
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,512 posts
 
Motron looks like AC Infinity with less features for more money.
sns
3,005 posts
 
I use two computer fans underneath 845 SET amp, tremendous current and heat from these transmitter tubes. Don't bother with my other tube amps and pre.
goofyfoot OP
1,342 posts
 
Then if the room is cooler, the heat s being drawn through the heat sinks with greater efficiency?
pauly
1,012 posts
 
Then if the room is cooler, the heat s being drawn through the heat sinks with greater efficiency?

Yes. Cold air consumes more energy (heat) from the cooling than warmer air can. 

Two factors come into play. 1.) The colder the air, the more heat it can absorb before it reaches a temperature where it will no longer absorb heat from the sinks. 2.)The faster the rate you can replace the air that has already absorbed heat from the sinks with cold (room temperature) air, the faster the rate that heat can be transferred away from your amp.
More to discover