# Amp Cooling Systems



## Taented (Aug 29, 2016)

Hey guys, I'm brand new to this forum. I was wondering if anyone has any cool or creative ideas for cooling amplifiers. I heard about making plexiglass enclosures with push and pull fans and some light bars. I was just wondering if anyone has pictures of their own setups or links to others setups or any tips for making myself an amp enclosure.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

i just dump cold water on mine..


(sub'd, since im curious what others are doing)

but, your most likely going to want an all push fan system. your amp rack isnt air tight and will still have plenty of flow. make a vent hole if needed. but more pushing in would be better than some pushing and some pulling in most situations


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

I use the Push/Pull method. 2 fans in, 2 fans out. These fans move 17 cf of air per minute each. That's 34 cf of air movement I have in a 1 cf "enclosure". Plenty of air movement for what I need.

This is of the "air out" side.









The is of the "air in" side, as well as the completed rack.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

To add cooling fans, we need to know the flow and pressure of the fans going to be used. 
Under car environment especially on hot shinny places, adding fans won't really do any good, unless taking cool air from cabin.


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## subterFUSE (Sep 21, 2009)

Having air move across the amp will help it cool as long as the air moving across it is colder than the heat sink. It's the same principle as the "wind chill effect."

A warm body will create a heat envelope by heating the air adjacent to it. When the wind blows, it strips away that heat envelope and causes more heat to be exchanged between the body and the air. The result is you feel colder than you would if there was no wind.

Same thing with amps. They heat up and exchange heat with the air. If you move the air over them it will enhance the amount of heat exchange.


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## Justin Zazzi (May 28, 2012)

Pretty much what subterFUSE mentioned above. It's called forced convection cooling (forced fluid movement essentially). Also keep in mind that hot air rises so if you only have room for one fan, it might be best to put an exhaust fan near the top of the enclosure to force the hot air out (this is common on computer enclosures because it works so well).

It makes less difference if you're fans properly, but if you don't have any fans, then orient the equipment so the channels on the heatsink fins are vertical (smgreen20's heat sink fins on the amplifiers in the photo above are oriented horizontal for example). Also, if you must mount the equipment flat, try to put the heatsinks facing "up" instead of down. For example mounting an amplifier upside down attached to the underside of the rear parcel shelf inside a trunk would be the worst orientation if heat is your only consideration.

In the grand scheme of things though, it's not outrageously critical. But you asked for some details, so there you are


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## diy.phil (May 23, 2011)

@Taented, what brand/model amp are you thinking about? It's very good that you're asking all this. I have a pet peeve with people that block all the air around the amps but that's ok if the main fins are exposed at the top/somewhere. Some amps like mosconi and etc have fans built in and that makes the air routing easier. My old xtant long ago had a fan too and they already planned the proper cooling path for the mosfets. Then i just added another fan on the intake side and make sure they don't recirculate ... the exit points somewhere else. Only problem is i can hear the fan (very faint sound with the engine off, but enough to deduct points!!) If you can go fanless with adequate room around the amp it might be good. My current project (under construction, fanless amp) has some room around the fins/sides for cooling but i added some other visual features to kind of hide the gaps so that it doesn't look like large holes on the sides.


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## subterFUSE (Sep 21, 2009)

You can get computer fans that are 12V and ultra quiet. Like 14 dBa quiet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

I wanna see someone do a liquid cooled amp setup. and no... not fishman fish tank style, either. lol.


On a serious note, the stinger crossflow fans always piqued my interest.
http://amzn.to/2bQWing


What would be cool (no pun intended) is to have an arduino based fan system, where the fan kicks on once the amp(s) have hit a particular temperature.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

ErinH said:


> I wanna see someone do a liquid cooled amp setup. and no... not fishman fish tank style, either. lol.
> 
> 
> On a serious note, the stinger crossflow fans always piqued my interest.
> ...


I've done one for a computer. Wasn't hard as you just place a cooling block over the hottest components & run an external radiator. Problem with amps is the whole thing heats up. You would almost have to weld in tubes across the top of the heat sinks. Also us northern guys would have to use some serious anitfreeze :laugh:


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## Blu (Nov 3, 2008)

ErinH said:


> I wanna see someone do a liquid cooled amp setup. and no... not fishman fish tank style, either. lol.


Mark Eldridge did it in his 4-Runner

Mark Eldridge - 1987 4Runner - 1998 CarSound


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## subterFUSE (Sep 21, 2009)

ErinH said:


> What would be cool (no pun intended) is to have an arduino based fan system, where the fan kicks on once the amp(s) have hit a particular temperature.


My Sinfoni Grave amp has a fan 12V trigger output, and an internal temp sensor. If the amp gets hot, it triggers the 12V to activate cooling fans.

I'm sure this is not the only amp on the market with that feature, however.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

Blu said:


> Mark Eldridge did it in his 4-Runner
> 
> Mark Eldridge - 1987 4Runner - 1998 CarSound


The amount of equipment used back then is staggering compared to a simple processor.


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## Frijoles24 (Apr 19, 2010)

I haven't set mine up yet, but my fan will be pushing to amps, but sucking from a vacuum filter to prevent my amps from becoming too dusty. The exhaust will be going towards the rear cabin vents, so it wont heat up the inside of my car. Its a hidden install, so its enclosed. Needed a fan setup.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

ErinH said:


> I wanna see someone do a liquid cooled amp setup. and no... not fishman fish tank style, either. lol.
> 
> 
> On a serious note, the stinger crossflow fans always piqued my interest.
> ...


ive been toying with the idea, but idk if ill have enough room to make it viable.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

ErinH said:


> I wanna see someone do a liquid cooled amp setup. and no... not fishman fish tank style, either. lol.
> 
> 
> On a serious note, the stinger crossflow fans always piqued my interest.
> ...


Years ago I had issues with a RF 360a2 installed under the passenger seat of my Dakota shutting down when I cranked my system in the central California summer heat. We installed one of the Stinger cross-flow fans and I never had another shut down. So, at least in that application, it seemed to work well.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

Nice thing about heat is it creates convection on its own, so if there's open air flow and the heatsink is properly made, you just need to get that heat out by creating a path. Positive pressure would be how I would do it, just like a modern computer case. That means probably 2 fans pushing, and one fan pulling, or similar. If you add filtration media to the push fan intake, then dust shouldn't be a big problem over time, due to the positive pressure. Of course, that's when the system is powered on.

edit: On the topic of lights, I've landed on my new favorite way to do it: if you are using one color, consider using high density / double density 3528 type LED's. They are denser than a standard 5050 type, so it looks more like continuous light. Example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-High-Den...394932?hash=item3d22f39974:g:vGQAAOSwjMJXC3xI

They aren't as bright as 5050's, but the light is really uniform, and that's what I'm using now. If you are going multi-colored, they have higher density type RGB strips that work great.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

Boland Audio supposedly is doing liquid-cooled

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...489-boland-audio-new-usa-made-amp-option.html




ErinH said:


> I wanna see someone do a liquid cooled amp setup. and no... not fishman fish tank style, either. lol.
> 
> 
> On a serious note, the stinger crossflow fans always piqued my interest.
> ...


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## seafish (Aug 1, 2012)

I AM curious as to how quiet that stinger crossflow fan. Of course "quiet" involves running it within proepr staic pressure range.

One of the nicer things about using computer fans is that you can simply buy a larger 24volt version and run it on 12 volts and it will run slower and quieter. Of course you need to make sure that you are getting the cfm you want at the slower speed, but with the larger fan that should be no problem.

IMO, push-pull with a filter on the push fan is the way to go if you have the room for two fans, otherwise, pulling from higher up is the way to more effecient vent an enclosed space due to static pressure of trying to push only.

FYI, while certainly not an expert on airflow, I installed my first computer cooling fan as I teen home "audiophile" running NAD amps and MXR equalizers and other equipment in a small enclosed cabinet to power some of the early Infinity refernce speakers over 30 years ago.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

Antec sells a 3 speed select-able computer fan, and it is very quiet at all levels. I recommend those.



seafish said:


> I AM curious as to how quiet that stinger crossflow fan. Of course "quiet" involves running it within proepr staic pressure range.
> 
> One of the nicer things about using computer fans is that you can simply buy a larger 24volt version and run it on 12 volts and it will run slower and quieter. Of course you need to make sure that you are getting the cfm you want at the slower speed, but with the larger fan that should be no problem.
> 
> ...


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## bnae38 (Oct 3, 2015)

I ran the PAC cross flow fans and they were LOUD. Not the fans themselves, but the resonating noise they made when mounted. 

I tried dampening mounting points etc without much success, i returned them (thank you amazon). 

Running 7 Cofan fans from work that were in a junk pile (10cm?). Fairly quiet.

Have them wired to this controller with a big 8ohm resistor in series normally, and full on at 50C.


https://www.amazon.com/20-90â„ƒ-The...emperature+Control+Switch+Temp+Controller+New

Actually the link I got mine from was dead, this looks like the exact same thing though.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

The old PPI Art series amps were designed with the option of liquid cooling. 


Gary Biggs did a make shift system with Kicker amps in the mid/late 90's. Did liquid cooling in some of his subs too.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

smgreen20 said:


> The old PPI Art series amps were designed with the option of liquid cooling.
> 
> 
> Gary Biggs did a make shift system with Kicker amps in the mid/late 90's. Did liquid cooling in some of his subs too.


How the heck would you liquid cool a subwoofer???


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

He's shown pictures of it. From what I remember, the back plate and vent pole piece had tunnels in them to keep the magnet/motor part cool by flushing liquid through it. It wasn't your typical motor either. Huge square looking deal.

He had shown pics of the amps liquid cooled too.


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## Snake (Aug 28, 2015)

My recent install involved putting 2 inefficient jl slash amps in an 1 cubic foot mdf box. I used a fan very similar to that stinger one but it was 24v and had molded glass filled nylon fan blades. I also had a larger diameter one with metal blades and it was much louder, although this may be due to the larger diameter. Running on 12v, it was about the same sound level as a cheap antec fan running on the "medium" setting, and put out as much air as the antec on "high". It's barely audible inside the amp box when the key is turned and gets muffled out by the engine when it's running. It is a very good choice if you need something low profile coming in at just unde 2 inches on the short sides.

Interesting side note on how these work. As the rotor spins, air is flung out of the vanes by centrefugal force. Right away, this makes a high pressure on the output side, which is a gradually widening channel. This pressure, along with air induced into motion by the boundry layer at the surface of the rotor ca use this high pressure air to be ejected out of the exhaust. This now moving air has a lower pressure from the bernoulli principle, sucking air from the inside of the rotor, causing air on the intake to equalize the pressure. This cycle then repeates and builds until the motor reaches a constant rpm.

Interestingly, this geometry makes the fan more efficient as the back pressure builds, unlike a normal fan where it becomes more inefficient. This is do to the rotor spinning faster as the back pressure builds, do to the lower difference in pressure between the intake and exhaust, and extracting less energy from the motor.


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## juiceweazel (Jul 28, 2014)

smgreen20 said:


> He's shown pictures of it. From what I remember, the back plate and vent pole piece had tunnels in them to keep the magnet/motor part cool by flushing liquid through it. It wasn't your typical motor either. Huge square looking deal.
> 
> He had shown pics of the amps liquid cooled too.


I bet that wasn't just a weekend project...


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

He was sponsored by Kicker back then so I'm sure he had some help. But either way, yeah, I bet it wasn't a weekend deal.


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## Horsemanwill (Jun 1, 2008)

i've been looking at pc cooling systems that have multiple temp zones and fan controls. one per amp with a dedicated fan on it to circulate air.


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## bnae38 (Oct 3, 2015)

I just ran one controller to the amp that runs the hottest. Kept it simpler.

At 50 or 55C the fans all go up to full speed.


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## Horsemanwill (Jun 1, 2008)

i planned on mounting the amps in diff areas of the trunk


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## matdotcom2000 (Aug 16, 2005)

Some of the best fans are the typhoons I have used them for year extremely quiet... SMD makes a temp control module it 100 bucks but works great... The way it works is depending on the temp depends on how fast the fans are spinning... 
https://youtu.be/QoQjKRqDWuo


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