# Amp w/o heatsink..??



## undone1 (Sep 30, 2008)

Looking at doing hidden amps behind interior panels,to gain back interior space, after taken apart the amps I wish to use they will fit w/o the heatsink.
Has anyone done this with any luck (with fans) or am I looking at waste of time and possibly ruining the amps..?


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## benny (Apr 7, 2008)

undone1 said:


> Looking at doing hidden amps behind interior panels,to gain back interior space, after taken apart the amps I wish to use they will fit w/o the heatsink.
> Has anyone done this with any luck (with fans) or am I looking at waste of time and *definitely* ruining the amps..?


fixed.


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## undone1 (Sep 30, 2008)

haha!... I take it that you have tried this? or is this more of a common sense deal..?


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

I'm not saying it couldn't be done, but it would be extremely difficult and problematic. You've got to have some kind of heat sink, even if it's one that you make yourself. You could relocate the heat sink slightly further away or make a smaller one, but the heat must be transferred out of the output transistors somehow or they will burn up. They do not have enough surface area to disperse that much heat, even with fans. It must be spread out over a much larger surface area, hence the heat sink. I suppose it's possible to make a remote heat sink. I'm not sure how long you could make the leads for the output transistors.


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Try to find an article on Chad Klodners Mustang. He had RF amps liquid cooled without heatsinks... IF my memory is correct.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

imjustjason said:


> Try to find an article on Chad Klodners Mustang. He had RF amps liquid cooled without heatsinks... IF my memory is correct.


it was likely still heat sharing with the finals correct? so the finals were mounted on something or did he have a spider monkey with an eyedropper dropping water on each final?


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Here it is... not much detail.

pure bred 1.jpg

Two pages, use the arrow to see the second.


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Yes, the heat was all shared with the finals. No spider monkeys. (you know I'm scared to mention monkeys)

His underhood detail work was amazing!!! Not a single wire showing. No ECM, injectors, brakes, heat / A/C, stereo... nothing. Just looked like an old school Hot Rod under the hood yet it was a fuel injected 1992 5.0 LX.


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

imjustjason said:


> Try to find an article on Chad Klodners Mustang. He had RF amps liquid cooled without heatsinks... IF my memory is correct.


I suppose it wouldn't be that hard. You'd just have to mount the output transistors to a hollow aluminum bar with a coolant input and output. You could then remotely mount the cooling device somewhere else. There are several computer cooling systems that would work. I'm not sure if any of them use refrigeration systems or just Peltier diodes. If they are Peltier diodes, you still need a heat sink to cool those, but you could mount them under the car or something.


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

I think that's exactly right. There are several liquid cooled car pc's running around.

I've wanted to get some of those Kicker boards from GEO and try to do it myself. Just haven't had the nerve to start the project.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

The Bazookas do liquid cooling, but I've not investigated how or how well it works.


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## undone1 (Sep 30, 2008)

Mooble said:


> I'm not saying it couldn't be done, but it would be extremely difficult and problematic. You've got to have some kind of heat sink, even if it's one that you make yourself. You could relocate the heat sink slightly further away or make a smaller one, but the heat must be transferred out of the output transistors somehow or they will burn up. They do not have enough surface area to disperse that much heat, even with fans. It must be spread out over a much larger surface area, hence the heat sink. I suppose it's possible to make a remote heat sink. I'm not sure how long you could make the leads for the output transistors.



Nice detailed answer explaining what I was overlooking, knew it couldn't be that easy...so instead of using the good working amps,I found this board on ebay and have decided to give it a try

NEW Rockford Fosgate P200.2 Punch AMP - eBay (item 390173894657 end time Apr-22-10 07:52:50 PDT)

Now are the output transistors along the outer edge in pic?
If so, any idea on what mounting adhesive I would use for the sink?


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## undone1 (Sep 30, 2008)

imjustjason said:


> Yes, the heat was all shared with the finals. No spider monkeys. (you know I'm scared to mention monkeys)
> 
> His underhood detail work was amazing!!! Not a single wire showing. No ECM, injectors, brakes, heat / A/C, stereo... nothing. Just looked like an old school Hot Rod under the hood yet it was a fuel injected 1992 5.0 LX.


Awsome install,that's the kind of stuff I dig,creative,yet not over the top like most of the SEMA cars


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

it VERY evident that the amp has a daughter board .. does said daughter board have additional components...


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## undone1 (Sep 30, 2008)

So in theory I would be able to use an old heater core,transmission cooler,condensor,or any thing of the sort,pull it apart,and use the tubing for the coolant flow...sounds like this is going to be fun..!


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

The bazooka had a tube on each side that ran next to the outputs, it was threaded at the end iirc. It was in the case of the amp as in drilled in/etc not a tube added.

The MTX jackhammers use a CPU cooler looking thing to cool with an auto speed fan. They have no sink, just a V shaped thing about the size of two smaller older CPU coolers. The fan blows into the V of fins and out the ends, the transistors are clamped to the flat outside of the V that is mounted in the center of the board. The case is just stamped thin sheetmetal. I have a dragster amp that is 4x50, it has a tube down the rear that is fan forced inside it, like the HK300 did down the center.

Another issue is the transistor metal cooling tab is hot with power, it must be electrically insulated unless you have or can change to encapsulated ones. They are all black plastic with no metal tab and tend to handle less power.

Yeah the little trans coolers are cheap and ideal, plenty huge for that.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

fourthmeal said:


> The Bazookas do liquid cooling, but I've not investigated how or how well it works.


Craig Romero, who used to work for SAS, was one of the first installers that I knew of locally who was running a water cooled setup in the late 90/early 2000s.


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