Cooling your Rack

[MarshallJMP]

Even with air gaps the mp-2 gets hot. Maybe it has got something to do with the mains voltage which is quite high at my place. It goes from 237V at night to about 246V in the daytime.

Hey G maybe I should go on tour with you as your guitar tech/roadie  :lol:

[vansinn]

The MP-2 always gets hot. It's all that discrete electronics, the many voltages each needing a regulator, and the mains transformer not being a torroid or double-D construction, so it gets awfully hot.
Small-diameter mini fans can be installed inside at both sides or outside via clips.

[Griphook]

So, should the MP-2 be cooled "Front-Back" or "Top-Bottom"?

[vansinn]

Do what works the best for your specific rack. As long as heat is taken away.
Now, as most racks are closed boxes except front and rear, and given that the heat should be moved from the inside of the rack and out to the surroundings, and given that mounting fans on the front looks kinda weird while also preventing operating knobs'n'dials, I'd say rear-mount fans to suck from the front through the box exhausting to the rear ;)

If you're thinking of blowing from rear through the box exhausting front, I think trying to push air through will cause more air-short-cycle around the fans that when sucking rear-out.

[rabidgerry]

Even with air gaps the mp-2 gets hot. Maybe it has got something to do with the mains voltage which is quite high at my place. It goes from 237V at night to about 246V in the daytime.

Hey G maybe I should go on tour with you as your guitar tech/roadie  :lol:

Man I would love that so much, not only would I have expertise on hand, but a good friend who I could talk with about equipment and sound and all that shit that no one I know likes to talk about.  And I know you'd do a stellar job.  I actually reckon having a roadie/tec in the wings would give you a lot of confidence as a performer as you know you would be covered should an emergency arise.  Only time I experienced anything like that was at the Bloodstock festival where the stage hands where totally at our mercy.

Hey Van, you're right, just do what my rig requires  :thumb-up:

I'm going for the 6", I shall buy an ebay special.  I doubt there is much room between the units for the air to be pushed from the back of my rig to the front.

I figured the fan blowing on it would just cool it down.

[Dante]

Dante, so you just use a regular big fan, like a desk fan and have it positioned at the back of your rack?

Yessir! Here's a pic of the one on the floor, with my pedal board for an idea of the size. I just measured it, and it's 8" in diameter

It works fine, which is why I have two. That said, i may grab one of those small clip on dealiebobs too.

[rnolan]

I mount my MP-2 at the top, this provides a bit of space above it for the heat to dissipate and I ensure a gap  (albeit small) underneath it so air can get into the vents around the tubes.  Also I mount my QV under the MP-1 as it is a shallow unit which also allows air around the preamp.  So far I haven't needed a fan, and Australia get quite hot in summer.  But a clip on fan just blowing in air at the "open" rear of the rack will assist in keeping the air moving.

[MarshallJMP]

Before I made those "rack fans" I used a 12" fan sitting in front of my rack which also worked great, but now we have a few gigs I don't see myself carry that thing around and I'm sure out drummer would steal it from me right before the gig.

Dante I must say I really like your "art" that you did on your pedal  :thumb-up:

[Dante]

Dante I must say I really like your "art" that you did on your pedal  :thumb-up:

Thanks buddy, I get crafty with tape and pens - lol. The white numbers are vehicle wrap material I took from work, it's the excess stuff. I just cut the numbers out by hand, no templates, just scissors. The MXC is covered in low-tack painter's tape, then black gorilla duct tape. I used the low tack stuff to keep from getting a bunch of glue on the unit, the low tack stuff peels right off.

The quad switch is covered in low-tack painters tape, then decorated with a black and silver sharpee pen. BTW: #4 and #9 are dedicated solo patches, which is why they're outlined in silver.

[vansinn]

Oh dear, Dante even has an infinity setting!
And a fan big enough to blow back the hair; should be standard for every metal player..
I'd angle it a Bit down to cool my pants - I mean, those chicks in the pit :nono: