Fan mounting in boot to cool amps, advice please

[Heffer_Slayer]

Gday guys, with summer coming up my amps get really hot!!
Seeing as they are mounted on the back seat of my car (VT) and they do not have any fans just heatsinks. My amps are suppose to be mounted on a flat surface Horizontally, doesn't work so well when they are hanging.

Just wondering if anybody can show me a good place to get some fans to cool these babies down for summer! Or some cooling tips would be great to!

[Haydz]

computer shop

[Heffer_Slayer]

What sort of fan should be looking for? any reccomendations how i should mount them?

[holdenboy]

A good way for your application is to mount fans above the amps on the underside of the parcel shelf, facing down onto the amps. You may want to go a step further and cut holes in the parcel shelf for the fans to suck air from.

A good type of fan would be ones available from Jaycar.....

Jaycar Electronics

Or these.......

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...=&SUBCATID=725

[PRH]

i would think mount them vertically in the boot,coz by mounting them wif the fins vertical the heat rizes drawing fresh cool air from below them,and i would also try to get some air from ya cab in there as mentioned coz all the fans in the world are gunna do jack if you have a high ambient temp to start,how hot do they get ? coz if your pumping heaps of power out of them their gunna get hot no matter what ya do,do they actually shut down from over temp ?
Phillip

[50LTRv8]

Just a quick question about this, what is the wiring setup to power them? Just connect to the amp power lead or something else?

[Haydz]

depends how you want it to run?

1. you can just hook up the positive to the remote on the amp. and negative to ground.

2. hook up a relay from the remote wire and run it from the battery + wire for power feed.


depending on how skilled you are.

[SweetWagon]

this should give you an idea..you can connect as many fans as you want this way:

[Heffer_Slayer]

i would think mount them vertically in the boot,coz by mounting them wif the fins vertical the heat rizes drawing fresh cool air from below them,and i would also try to get some air from ya cab in there as mentioned coz all the fans in the world are gunna do jack if you have a high ambient temp to start,how hot do they get ? coz if your pumping heaps of power out of them their gunna get hot no matter what ya do,do they actually shut down from over temp ?
Phillip

No they have never shut down on me, just im worried about them thats all. Rarther spend soem $$$ to protect them and have them warm other then so hot if you touch them they burn your hands!

[Heffer_Slayer]

Just a quick question about this, what is the wiring setup to power them? Just connect to the amp power lead or something else?

I have a distrobution block on my boot for the 2 amps.

[bezz]

I have a distrobution block on my boot for the 2 amps.

You wouldn't want to run them off a constant 12v supply unless u want them running 24/7 hey?

[holdenboy]

Nah wire them up like vn6pwr suggested, wiring them straight off the amps remote terminal will overload the remote output on your head-unit.

If the amps are getting too hot to touch then thats not good at all, much hotter and you'll start buring internal parts. I would imagine the amps dont have a thermal protection circuit as they probably should have gone into protection.

Take some pics of the amp setup and we might be able to help you out abit more.

[Heffer_Slayer]

Ill get some pics up tomororw fellas!

[TheyDontWantMusic]

A good way for your application is to mount fans above the amps on the underside of the parcel shelf, facing down onto the amps. You may want to go a step further and cut holes in the parcel shelf for the fans to suck air from.

seeing as hot air rises, it would make more sense to have the fans moving the air the other way.

[holdenboy]

seeing as hot air rises, it would make more sense to have the fans moving the air the other way.

Got any better ideas? or do you just want to say "no that wont work, or, you cant do that"

If he was to cut holes in the parcel shelf for the fans to suck air from, he would get cooler air from the cabin, granted...not cool as its air getting heated up from the window but theres really no other option except turn the fans around and have them suck the air out the boot.

Youre really about 16, arent you TDWM?

[kopper69]

I would start by wiring them up as described above, relay from the remote signal BUT dont worry to much about mounting the fans. Just mount them roughly so that you can give them a test run. If the amp is getting as hot as you say I cant really see the fans doing much at all. You really need some good heatsinks to carry the heat away from the amp and maximise the area for the fans to draw away the heat. Not a pratical solution though. Depends how much you love the amps, but you could consider drilling some carefully placed holes in the housing. The fans would work more effiently this way. Im trying to think of solutions for you, but I cant really see the fans solving your problem...

[Cobez]

Got any better ideas? or do you just want to say "no that wont work, or, you cant do that"

If he was to cut holes in the parcel shelf for the fans to suck air from, he would get cooler air from the cabin, granted...not cool as its air getting heated up from the window but theres really no other option except turn the fans around and have them suck the air out the boot.

Youre really about 16, arent you TDWM?

Yep, and cutting holes in the steel parcel shelf will leave his car un-roadworthy by legal standards. It's considered part of the cars structure. I was defected for it in my old car as the previous owner had cut through the steel to mount speakers with deep magnets on them or some crap.

Do it if you like, but if the cops manage to see it one day, you will get a form or a lovely yellow sticker.

[TIGER-VT]

the normal computer fans have potential but they are just gonna disperse the air...making some sort of tube with a slit in it to create a jet of air to fire directly on the amp would be a better option...

[TIGER-VT]

Yep, and cutting holes in the steel parcel shelf will leave his car un-roadworthy by legal standards. It's considered part of the cars structure. I was defected for it in my old car as the previous owner had cut through the steel to mount speakers with deep magnets on them or some crap.

Do it if you like, but if the cops manage to see it one day, you will get a form or a lovely yellow sticker.

its not illegal is it...because didn't the calais versions have free air subs mounted in there...

in the the standard ones they are just metal plates that are tack welded over perfectly shaped holes...so it's not 'cutting into' the parcel shelf

[TIGER-VT]

how about these...they are more of a blower than a fan???

maybe have a couple mounted there...

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productResults.asp?FORM=CAT

[holdenboy]

Yep, and cutting holes in the steel parcel shelf will leave his car un-roadworthy by legal standards. It's considered part of the cars structure. I was defected for it in my old car as the previous owner had cut through the steel to mount speakers with deep magnets on them or some crap.

Do it if you like, but if the cops manage to see it one day, you will get a form or a lovely yellow sticker.

Yeah thats true, but i you'd have to do something really wrong to have the cops looking for non standard holes in your parcel shelf.

You could always use the standard holes spot-welded into the parcel shelf...

Having tubes coming from the fans will be much more effective, just wont look that good, unless you put alot of work into it and use perspex or clear tubing.

[Heffer_Slayer]

Posting pics up now guys....

[Heffer_Slayer]

Pics are up!

[holdenboy]

OK well honestly if those amps are getting that hot i would imagine theres something else wrong with the system.....

* Ive noticed youve got 8awg running to each amp, are they dual runs back to the battery?

*Where have you earthed the amps out, and is the area youve screwed / bolted the earth cables to sanded back to bare metal?

*How are the amps wired (what amp is running what)?

Ive owned and installed a heap of those Response amps in the past, and not one of them heated up to what youre saying, i mean i ran the 800wrms mono at 1 ohm for hours on end and it didnt get more than warm. Even ran it at 0.5 ohms and didnt have any problems with heat (was mounted in the boot of a commodore sedan too).

[Heffer_Slayer]

You do realise this is only in summer, in winter and normal temps they are just "luke" warm.
But anyway

Ive got 4awg to the distrub block then 8 awg to each amp.
The clarion is powerin my 2 front splits at 130wrms, its a 4 chan but ive bridged it.

The response is powering the sub at a 500wrms bridged, its a 2 chan.
No i havn't sanded down where ive mounted the eath cable.

I thought i did everything ok....can you see somethin wrong?

when originally only had one amp, it was a ****ty fusion 200wrms powering a sub, that got real hot as well in summer.