Let's Get Technical > All PREAMP Tech Tips & Support

Cooling your Rack

(1/5) > >>

rabidgerry:
Ok guy's who here uses the clip on fan idea to cool their rack?

I believe it was Soloist who gave me the idea to try this, so I'm only getting around to trying out the idea now that I have an amp that gets hot and a preamp that gets hot.

If any of you guys do this, what size of fan are we talking about here?  I think a 6" fan may be too large, I dunno.

All cooling tips welcome, particularly regarding a clip on fan powered via power conditioner  :thumb-up:

MarshallJMP:
Well I used a rack blind plate like this one  https://www.thomann.de/be/adam_hall_87221vr.htm?ref=search_rslt_rack+blind+plate_251513_0
And I installed 3 40mm fans (they just fit to the inside) and powered them with  9V.You can install these on the front like I did (between my mp-1 and mp-2) or on the back.

Kim:
I've used one whenever I felt it might be necessary.   A 6" fan would probably be about perfect, IMO as long as you have a good place to attach it easily.   I've experimented with having the fan blowing directly into the back of the rack, and with attempting to suck the hot air out from the back of the rack.  The sucking doesn't work very good in that setup, unless you specifically design the rack to accommodate that type of airflow...meaning the fan has to be sealed to the rack and have a proper place for the incoming air to be drawn in through.  While that may be the best way scientifically the best way, it's not the easiest by far and probably overkill anyway.  Just having a small clip fan (not sealed to the rack) blowing into the back of the rack will move the air around plenty.  Or, a blind panel fan unit as MJMP suggests would be plenty good too.

My poweramp has it's own fan within its chassis, so I'm not worried about having another fan for that rackcase, but the preamp does get pretty warm on the front panel and top lid.

vansinn:
For a 3-4 unit rack, I would:
Mount each device with a tiny separation space for having an airflow passing over and under.
Fully close the back, and install two large-diameter (120/140mm) 12 volt fans, powered through a 7809 regulator.
This will create an airflow from front to rear surrounding all devices.
The rack rails will likely need modifications in order to mount the devices with separation.

Harley Hexxe:
   I believe a 6" clip on fan is fine for what you want to do. I've used them for years, clipped to the back of my Fender Twins. I'll probably use them again in the RMC Rack heads, if I can find a suitable place to clip them onto. This is because those head cases are too shallow to mount rear rack rails on them to install rack mounted cooling panels on.
   My 22U rack has front and rear rack rails for this purpose. Like Kim, my power amp also has a cooling fan in the back of it however, my preamps do not. For cooling those down, and I may use up to four preamps in that rack, (minimum two), I choose AC Infinity T7 cooling system, because it's quiet. They are a bit pricey at $100 USD each, and Pyle makes similar ones at half the price, I chose those because this rack is mostly in the studio, and I need to keep the noise down. The nice thing about those is, I can flip two of the fans over, and have them blow cool air into the rack while the other two, blow air out. I have small rubber pads that I stick to the underside of the preamps on the back corners, to give the air a chance to get in there a little bit, (much like Sinn suggests).

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page