New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

DIY home theater receiver cooling

post #1 of 11
6/9/05 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
When I first got my amp like 5 years ago I noticed it would get extremely hot at the levels I would run it at. My friend got one of these for me:



I wired it up to a switch I got from Home Depot. So every time I'd listen to music at really high volumes, I would switch it on. It was loud, but the music would cover the noise.

I've always wanted to improve on this cuz the fan is oversized (120mm and moves air at 105cfm!) and made too much noise. I also wanted to be able to control the fan speed.

So, I measured the clearance between the heatsink and the receiver cover and I had about 20mm of clearance. I bought some 60x60x10mm fans that are used on Athlon CPU's and zip tied them together with some packing foam sandwiched between them. I did this:





They don't make as much noise as the 120mm fan nor is there any interference.

All I need to do now is wait for my fan controller to come in the mail, run some wires, and mount the fans on the heatsink.

What do you guys think?

Oh, I also bought a 120mm, pretty much silent, 12v fan for my sub's amp (I was able to get the thermal protection to kick on once, oops). Its also going to be connected to the fan controller.
Reply
post #2 of 11
6/9/05 at 11:57am
Thread Starter 
BTW, I'm not going to use that computer power supply to power them, that was just for testing purposes.
Reply
post #3 of 11
6/9/05 at 8:30pm
well that sure is a pretty good way to keep the receiver cool. However does your receiver really get that hot that there is any benefit to doing that?
Tho i guess it does give you peace of mind knowing its being cooled.
Reply
post #4 of 11
6/9/05 at 9:47pm
Thread Starter 
It gets pretty hot. It hasn't cut out from running it too hot (hasn't really had a chance to). With the fan controller, I can have the fans running at whisper quiet speeds, so I'll be able to switch them on at lower volume levels without having to hear the noise.

Whether all this work will make a difference or not, I don't care, I just like to tinker around with stuff
Reply
post #5 of 11
6/10/05 at 11:23am
Quote:
Whether all this work will make a difference or not, I don't care, I just like to tinker around with stuff


The best part!
Reply
post #6 of 11
6/10/05 at 1:38pm
Looks like fun!

Just yesterday I was wondering if anybody had done liquid cooling for their amps. Computer freaks do it all the time, but I don't know if it really helps. It seems like transistors would be happier at room temperature.

The 7500 watt power supplies for our lasers at work are cooled by chilled water running through a 1/4" tube soldered right onto the passbank heatsink. It gets a bit scary when condensation forms there.....
Reply
post #7 of 11
6/11/05 at 11:14am
Now.. get some dry ice and really crank that thang!
Reply
post #8 of 11
6/23/05 at 3:54pm
Thread Starter 
I'm finally done with school, so I had some time to work on it...





Speed controller:



I used 1 1/2" screws to hold the fans to the cover. I couldn't find any small rubber grommets at the local auto parts store, so I just asked them for the smallest vacuum line they had and I cut that up into little pieces and made my own grommets I had to enlarge the slots where the screws would go. Once I got the fan assembly on, I applied some thread lock on the threads before tightening up the nuts. When I went to put everything back togther, I learned that the screws were a bit too long, so I had to dremel off the unused portions.

There's no interference whatsoever and its waaaaaay quieter than the 120mm fan I had on there. No vibrations either. At the slowest setting and high volume, everything stays pretty cool. When I crank up the fans at high volume, the heatsink feels like its at, or slightly above, room temperature.
Reply
post #9 of 11
6/24/05 at 2:23pm
i think you should add some fans to that router for when you are surfing the web hardcore

Sounds like another successful mod, congrats.
Reply
post #10 of 11
6/25/05 at 9:53am
It will help if you don't stack items (such as your router) on top of the receiver. Also, the heat from the receiver is not good for your router. Even if you stack something on top, but not directly over the internal heatsinks, it will impede airflow a bit. All the cooling slots in an equipment enclosure are carefully designed by a thermal engineer. That said, now that you've got those internal fans cranking, you shouldn't have any problems.
Good tinkering!
Reply
post #11 of 11
6/25/05 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
Yea I know

I wish I could put it somewhere else... but I don't have anywhere else to throw it

hmm... I think linksys makes a vertical wall mount for it...
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home