Mounting Amps Upside-Down...good idea?
500 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 866
^hundreds and thousands of amps eh.. wow I would bet that with my years of experience and many others I.E dukk, Tim,DWVW, I would say that none of us have even installed thousands of amps!! [img]smile.gif[/img]
As far as the question, It depends of the amp design. For example MTX amps they can be mounted upside down with no problems,, but the heat sink is design that way..
RF forget about it, unless you want to use the warranty. Over time of course
As far as the question, It depends of the amp design. For example MTX amps they can be mounted upside down with no problems,, but the heat sink is design that way..
RF forget about it, unless you want to use the warranty. Over time of course
Guest
Posts: n/a
Um, Speak for yourself, I have installed <dr. evil voice> ONE BILLION <end voice> amplifiers.
Like slow/n\low said if you look at the design of the heatsink you can usually figure out if it's possible. On the MTX amps all the heatsinking is at the sides so it will be effective either way. Other amps like Rockford have the heatsink over the top and trust me, the designers do not put a heatsink on for cosmetics, heat should rise into the heatsink and if it doesn't you risk damage to the amp.
Like slow/n\low said if you look at the design of the heatsink you can usually figure out if it's possible. On the MTX amps all the heatsinking is at the sides so it will be effective either way. Other amps like Rockford have the heatsink over the top and trust me, the designers do not put a heatsink on for cosmetics, heat should rise into the heatsink and if it doesn't you risk damage to the amp.
Guest
Posts: n/a
hey hey hey... I'm only 22 [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Most amps that I have taken the bottom off of have revealed the component side of the circuit board. IMO an upside down amp would allow the heat from inboard components to rise quickly rather than pooling on the board
As for the outputs and power devices where 90% of the heat comes from, they are mounted directly to the edges of 'most' amp heatsinks and about 70% of the cooling comes from radiation rather than convection but that roughly 30% may be the difference in a cooked amp if you ran it hard.
Depends how hard you run your gear [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
Most amps that I have taken the bottom off of have revealed the component side of the circuit board. IMO an upside down amp would allow the heat from inboard components to rise quickly rather than pooling on the board
As for the outputs and power devices where 90% of the heat comes from, they are mounted directly to the edges of 'most' amp heatsinks and about 70% of the cooling comes from radiation rather than convection but that roughly 30% may be the difference in a cooked amp if you ran it hard.
Depends how hard you run your gear [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,770
Originally posted by slow/n\low:
^hundreds and thousands of amps eh.. wow I would bet that with my years of experience and many others I.E dukk, Tim,DWVW, I would say that none of us have even installed thousands of amps!! [img]smile.gif[/img]
^hundreds and thousands of amps eh.. wow I would bet that with my years of experience and many others I.E dukk, Tim,DWVW, I would say that none of us have even installed thousands of amps!! [img]smile.gif[/img]
and 5 years as a hobbie before that
do the math and let me know how many amps's i've installed if i only do one a week
Yankee
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
Gents get on your physics hats time for some thermodynamics.
The heat sinks are in direct contact with the outputs (via thermal grease). The method of heat transfer is conduction which is the most efficient technique for thermal energy transfer. The heat sinks are made of aluminum which is second only to copper in its ability to conduct heat. The heat sinks use either heat sink mass or a large surface area with small fins (to max heat transfer to air) to remove the heat from the aluminum. Now, since the primary heat producing component is the transistors (no tubes) than the energy in the form of heat rising from the transistors will be transferred by convection (OK for heat transfer but air stinks as a heat transfer medium) or radiation (low efficiency). Bottom line, the mounting of an amp should have minimal affect on any temperature sensitive components in the amp (most designs don’t have many petite components at all for this reason).
Now not letting air get to the heat sink is another matter … how much room between the amp and the carpet?
I like to follow manufacturer recommendations BTW so I would give the owners manual last say. Most likely there is a physical (vice thermal) reason the amp shouldn’t be mounted past a given angle (glue holding on a choke, flimsy mother board, stress on a fitting or mounting point).
The heat sinks are in direct contact with the outputs (via thermal grease). The method of heat transfer is conduction which is the most efficient technique for thermal energy transfer. The heat sinks are made of aluminum which is second only to copper in its ability to conduct heat. The heat sinks use either heat sink mass or a large surface area with small fins (to max heat transfer to air) to remove the heat from the aluminum. Now, since the primary heat producing component is the transistors (no tubes) than the energy in the form of heat rising from the transistors will be transferred by convection (OK for heat transfer but air stinks as a heat transfer medium) or radiation (low efficiency). Bottom line, the mounting of an amp should have minimal affect on any temperature sensitive components in the amp (most designs don’t have many petite components at all for this reason).
Now not letting air get to the heat sink is another matter … how much room between the amp and the carpet?
I like to follow manufacturer recommendations BTW so I would give the owners manual last say. Most likely there is a physical (vice thermal) reason the amp shouldn’t be mounted past a given angle (glue holding on a choke, flimsy mother board, stress on a fitting or mounting point).
