Air flow over Amp

[[email protected]]

Hi all,

I'm looking to creatively install a 4x50 Phoenix Gold amp in my Mazda 3
Hatch. The idea spot would be on a board in the rear of the car above
the slimline sparetyre and the floor of the hatch.

Would installing 12v 5" computer fans to keep air circulating over the
amp be sufficient to stop any overheating issues? Could the amp get hot
enough to ignite the boot?

Thanks

Matt

[Stephen]

Yes, that 5" fan will keep the air circulating. The odds of a 4x50 amp
getting hot enough to start a fire is slim...very slim. I place Alpine V12
amps in trunks 'boots' all the time without a fan. V12 amps run hot and I
have not encountered a problem with them.

So, I would install the amp, and not worry about the fan.



--
WDW is a Way of Life
> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm looking to creatively install a 4x50 Phoenix Gold amp in my Mazda 3
> Hatch. The idea spot would be on a board in the rear of the car above
> the slimline sparetyre and the floor of the hatch.
>
> Would installing 12v 5" computer fans to keep air circulating over the
> amp be sufficient to stop any overheating issues? Could the amp get hot
> enough to ignite the boot?
>
> Thanks
>
> Matt
>

[ZoSo]

I'm pretty sure your amp would shut down via thermo protection before
igniting anything. Try running it without the fans and if it shuts down on
you then go for an outside cooling source.

Go Dawgs!

ZoSo

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm looking to creatively install a 4x50 Phoenix Gold amp in my Mazda 3
> Hatch. The idea spot would be on a board in the rear of the car above
> the slimline sparetyre and the floor of the hatch.
>
> Would installing 12v 5" computer fans to keep air circulating over the
> amp be sufficient to stop any overheating issues? Could the amp get hot
> enough to ignite the boot?
>
> Thanks
>
> Matt
>

[[email protected]]

Yeah, install the amp and run it a while. Check the temps. You may not
need a fan.

[MOSFET]

"ZoSo" > wrote in message
...
> I'm pretty sure your amp would shut down via thermo protection before
> igniting anything. Try running it without the fans and if it shuts down on
> you then go for an outside cooling source.
>
> Go Dawgs!
>
> ZoSo

This is good advice. You really only need a cooling fan if there is a
chance that your amp will overheat and shut down (almost all of today's amps
have some kind of thermal protection that will shut down the amp if it
overheats). So install the amp first and see what happens, if it ever shuts
down, then think about the fan.

And ZoSo, are you referring to University of Washington Dawgs? Are you a
student? Alum? I graduated there in '90 in Business Admin.

MOSFET

[ZoSo]

My daughter is a 2nd year student.

Fingers crossed for the final 4

Z

"MOSFET" > wrote in message
...
>
> "ZoSo" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I'm pretty sure your amp would shut down via thermo protection before
>> igniting anything. Try running it without the fans and if it shuts down
>> on
>> you then go for an outside cooling source.
>>
>> Go Dawgs!
>>
>> ZoSo
>
> This is good advice. You really only need a cooling fan if there is a
> chance that your amp will overheat and shut down (almost all of today's
> amps
> have some kind of thermal protection that will shut down the amp if it
> overheats). So install the amp first and see what happens, if it ever
> shuts
> down, then think about the fan.
>
> And ZoSo, are you referring to University of Washington Dawgs? Are you a
> student? Alum? I graduated there in '90 in Business Admin.
>
> MOSFET
>
>

[Sean Scott]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm looking to creatively install a 4x50 Phoenix Gold amp in my Mazda 3
> Hatch. The idea spot would be on a board in the rear of the car above
> the slimline sparetyre and the floor of the hatch.
>
> Would installing 12v 5" computer fans to keep air circulating over the
> amp be sufficient to stop any overheating issues? Could the amp get hot
> enough to ignite the boot?
>
> Thanks
>
> Matt
>

In a hatch it should be ok, I don't know much about car audio but in my
mind, your big problem would be if you were driving in a direction where the
sun was beating down right through the window onto the amp.

[[email protected]]

Speaking of air flow... I have a Kicker sub-amp that gets hot enough
that it goes into protection shutoff every so often. If I'm playing it
loud for 1/2 hr, thats usually enough to get it to click off for 60
seconds.. They're in the trunk with no air circulation whatsoever.

I mounted a 3" 12v fan on the amp board, but I get some alternator
whine out of it. I wired the fan leads right to the amp power screws,
since that was so convenient. Any suggestions? New fan? Re-run
wiring? Where?

[[email protected]]

What ga wire are you using? How long is your ground wire? Are you
pushing the amp into clipping?

[MZ]

It may not be alt whine. It's not uncommon for fans to produce a hell of a
lot of noise by themselves. From what I understand (sorry, not a fan expert
here), brushless fans tend not to produce as much noise. Or, if you insist
on using your current fan, hook it up to a different 12v source or even put
an inline diode and parallel capacitor in there to try to decrease the
noise.

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Speaking of air flow... I have a Kicker sub-amp that gets hot enough
> that it goes into protection shutoff every so often. If I'm playing it
> loud for 1/2 hr, thats usually enough to get it to click off for 60
> seconds.. They're in the trunk with no air circulation whatsoever.
>
> I mounted a 3" 12v fan on the amp board, but I get some alternator
> whine out of it. I wired the fan leads right to the amp power screws,
> since that was so convenient. Any suggestions? New fan? Re-run
> wiring? Where?
>