What would be the benefit of a cooling fan for receiver? (1 Viewer)

[David Preston]

I was looking for a fan the other day but couldn't find a real small one so I am still looking. It would be mainly for receiver. Will it increase life and performance of the receiver?

 

[Frank Zimkas]

Will it increase life and performance of the receiver?

Generally speaking, excessive heat is the worst enemy of electronic components, although some gear does need to warm up in order to produce satisfying sound. Some receivers will go into the "Protect" mode(shut down) if the internal temperature is to high. This can happen if your equipment is in a closed cabinet or in a poorly ventilated area. Trying to drive low impedance speakers that the receiver is not rated for can also cause the receiver to run hot. Adding a small fan can help. Radio Shack, as well as computer/electronics shops should be able to set you up with a small fan to coool your equipment.

 

[Jay H]

You can also check out the computer and PC section of the HTF, the PC users will use fans that are pretty quiet for cooling their processors and CPU cases.

You might even be able to wire up some device that uses a +12vDC trigger if your receiver has one to turn on the fan when the receiver is powered on.

As far as increasing the life of the receiver? Perhaps but does that mean your receiver will last 1000 years as opposed to 500 years, I don't know. I would be surprised a mfgr would design their equipment without a fan if their environmental testing proved the equipment would run hot. But generally speaking, cooler equipment will last longer.

Jay

 

[David Preston]

I have the Marantz 7300 I think it does have a outlet in the back. Thanks for the advice headed to the PC area now.

 

[Steve Owen]

A word of warning...

While a fan sounds like a great idea, be careful of adding a fan to venting on non-fan-cooled (natural convection) component. If the manufacturer has done their homework, the component should be capable of cooling itself through natural convection so long as the vents are not impeded and there's enough free air around the component. Adding a fan may cool areas of the component, but depending on the size and direction of the fan, may cause "dead spots" in other areas, or it may pull warm pre-heated air over areas that otherwise would have had cooler air.

Keeping the air circulating around a receiver/amp is always a great idea, but I would be careful if you plan on sticking a fan over any of the vents on the component.

-Steve

 

[John Garcia]

Not to mention the potential for electronic interference from the fan...

Just having sufficient room above and around the receiver should provide more than enough cooling.

 

[Jay H]

The "outlet" you have on the back is more likely an AC outlet, either switched or unswitched, now yes you can use that but you would need an fan that runs on AC. Most of the PC cooling fans that you would use would be 12v DC fans. Do not mistaken that and try to wire up the DC fan to the AC outlet!

What I mean by a +12v DC trigger is that some units have terminals on the back which produce a +12v DC current to say remotely trigger an amplifier (say if you didn't want to use the amp in your receiver). It's more common in preamplifiers than receivers but hey, ya never know. I think it's not a constant +12v that it just sends a current to turn on and again to turn it off, but with some electronics or another device, one could rig something up that was automatic. X-10 or something similar. It depends on how resourceful you want to be.

Jay

 

[JamesHl]

All in all, it's probably not worth it. If it works, it works, and it will probably work for a long time, and if it does break down it will not be due to heat, unless this was a design or manufacturing flaw or you're running the equipment in a 100+ degree environment, in which case a fan will not help anyway.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

David,

I concur 100% with what Steve said. Basically, the only reason to use a fan is if your receiver is in an enclosed cabinet that prevents the natural convection cooling. In this case, the fan would be attached to the cabinet to exhaust hot air out.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[MikeNagy]

I have never even heard of a DC fan causing electronic interference of any kind, and I've seen and used some pretty hefty fans with computers and electronics. Is this something one should be concerned with?

 

[Glenn Overholt]

You can go to Radio Shack and get a fan and an AC-DC adapter. Some have a voltage switch from 12V, 9V, 6V etc.
If the fan is too noisy at 12V, 9 will usually quiet it down enough.

If this is in a cabinet you can just screw the fan to the cabinet back (after maybe cutting a hole) - and plug the AC-DC adapter into your receiver.

If you'll read the instructions for your receiver, it will tell you how much air space it needs, and if you are stuck with less, then a fan may help.

Glenn

 

[Steve Owen]

I have never even heard of a DC fan causing electronic interference of any kind, and I've seen and used some pretty hefty fans with computers and electronics. Is this something one should be concerned with?

Depending on the quality, DC fans generate all kinds of electrical noise. If they're integrated into a receiver/amp (or computer for that matter), then I'm sure the designers have isolated them with noise filters. I know that in the computer field where I come from, fans were very often a cause of electromagnetic noise that needed to be filtered and contained.

-Steve

 

[RickMo]

My receiver and other components are in a closed cabinet so I need a fan to exhaust the heat. I just bought one from Partsexpress.com (delivered for ~$20). It runs on 120v and makes a world of difference in keeping the receiver cool.

 

[John Garcia]

I have never even heard of a DC fan causing electronic interference of any kind, and I've seen and used some pretty hefty fans with computers and electronics.

Some types of fans are less prone to noise than others, and it also depends on the specific application. When you are taling about audio amplifiers, the type of noise generated by an AC or DC fan is a very real concern. Having said that, there are a few manufacturers who directly incorporate fans in their receivers, such as some Harman Kardon and previous Pioneer models, so it can be done. These fans are designed into the system though, so any noise is either filtered out and/or the fan was chosen by design to have as little noise as possible.

120vac fans should not be too hard to come by, many PC fans meet this criteria.

 

[Ernest Yee]

Why on earth would you want to add a fan just to prolong the unit's life? I mean, the additional noise would be so annoying. I've spent a good deal of time just trying to get the PCs noise free, there would be no way of convincing me to create some noise on the HT...

But back to your point on the fan - I think most of the well designed units today that do not require fans should last you for years and years to come. Personally I would be completely happy if my equipment lasted 20 years.

Take my newly acquired DA4ES - I'd like it to last 20 years b/c say in 3-5 years, I decide to upgrade and sell the thing for something better. Then that person has it for another bunch of years, he can probably sell it to someone else as well who'll get some good use out of it. I guess my point is, unless you decide to keep something till it's completely obsolete, you shouldn't worry about such things.

 

[David Preston]

Man I never thought I would get this many responses. The more the better. My receiver is in a cabinet with a glass door on the front and it's on the bottom shelf. I had to cut the back out of it to make it fit so it has a little ventilation but I don't think it has enough on the sides and bottom. I wasn't going to put it right on the receiver I was going to mount it to the back of the cabinet about a foot above the receiver where it sticks out. Just to get a little air but not over do it. Still not sure what I will do yet if I can't find a quiet one I will do without. Thanks everyone.

 

[SteveKNJ]

My kenwood receiver seems to run very hot to the touch. It is in an "entertainment center" with about 8-12" of space on top of the unit but no more than a couple of inches on either side and a solid wood shelf below. There's also about 6 inches to the back of the entertainment center, and a shelving unit above and the TV is below in a different section. I'm concerned that it is generating too much heat and the unit will die. WOuld a fan help in this type of setup?

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Steve,

If the entertainment center is fully enclosed with a back and front doors (you didn’t mention whether or not it was), then an exhaust fan will help. If the front and back is open, they you should be alright.

If you do need a fan, install it in the back of the entertainment center as high in the compartment the receiver is in will allow (i.e., just below the shelf above it). It should be oriented to exhaust heat outward. Other posts on this thread will tell you how to deal with powering it, switching it, and controlling the speed.

Keep in mind, however: anytime you start forced-air cooling, dust will become a problem.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Bobpaul]

I have dual:

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...Silencers running off an old Motorola phnne transformer under nominal power (half the voltage, even quieter) off the switched power on receiver.

They work superbly. The old Sony ES really needed them but the Denon hardly ever heats up. I kept them because the also circulate air for the other components in my 20 year old Technics glass front rack.

Hope this helped.

Bob

 

[RickMo]

>> SteveKNJ. I've an entirely enclosed cabinet with a glass door. I was running an old Proton receiver in it and the receiver got so hot that I literally could not touch the top of it. I used a 120v fan and placed it right on top of the vents. In earlier threads, some had mentioned that this is a no-no, but it worked well and didn't damage the Proton (I'm still using the Proton but now it's connected to my computer's sound card). Later, I cut a hole out and vented the heat out of the cabinet.

The fan noise is audible but you have to strain to hear it and when listening to HT, it's negligible.