[DarkKnyte]

It's about 95* today, and one of my amps shutdown, I assume due to overheating because the entire trunk was almost too hot to touch. I have most of the trunk still taken apart while I'm working on the audio, so it's not covered up or insulated.

Do any of you have heat related problems or what measures have you taken to keep your amps cool in the summer?

[SomeGeoffGuy]

Originally Posted by DarkKnyte

Do any of you have heat related problems or what measures have you taken to keep your amps cool in the summer?

I was thinking that it would help to put some insulation on the bottom of the compartment, but that wouldn't really get the heat out. The other thing i was thinking was to get some amps that are massively oversized for my application, then they won't run super hot. Also, aren't some of the old PPI amps pre-drilled for water cooling? LOL

But yea, there is some heat in that well.

-Geoff

[keep_hope_alive]

Originally Posted by DarkKnyte

It's about 95* today, and one of my amps shutdown, I assume due to overheating because the entire trunk was almost too hot to touch. I have most of the trunk still taken apart while I'm working on the audio, so it's not covered up or insulated.

Do any of you have heat related problems or what measures have you taken to keep your amps cool in the summer?

I do both acoustical and thermal insulation in my vehicles. The thermal insulation on the floor reduces heat gain from exhaust. The thermal insulation in the quarter panels, rear deck, and trunk lid reduce heat gain from the sun. This material also provides acoustical benefits. I prefer working with Ultratouch products, the radiant barrier and the loose batts.

Adding a fan to blow air across the heat sink(s) is a good way of boosting high temp handling. Best way to accomplish this is to let the remote turn-on control a relay then use the relay to turn on the amp as well as any fans. This prevents overloading the remote turn-on signal.

[DarkKnyte]

Originally Posted by keep_hope_alive

I do both acoustical and thermal insulation in my vehicles. The thermal insulation on the floor reduces heat gain from exhaust. The thermal insulation in the quarter panels, rear deck, and trunk lid reduce heat gain from the sun. This material also provides acoustical benefits. I prefer working with Ultratouch products, the radiant barrier and the loose batts.

Adding a fan to blow air across the heat sink(s) is a good way of boosting high temp handling. Best way to accomplish this is to let the remote turn-on control a relay then use the relay to turn on the amp as well as any fans. This prevents overloading the remote turn-on signal.

I hadn't considered that there might be heat gain from the exhaust. Have you noticed any cooling issues in the summer time after insulating? I don't really want to pull that flipping stealthbox out anymore, but I'll do what I need to.

[mariojas]

That makes my wonder when car manufactures will start adding some serious insulation in to cars. Think about it - with ICE engines we have heat for free, because we need to cool engine, AC isn't that bad because compressor (and losses in the cabin) has much better efficiency in comparison to the engine - meaning that losses to the running engine (and driving AC compressor belt) are so much higher that no body cares (as we won't win much by insulation right now).
But then EV comes... We have energy efficient motors, but any additional load from heating or cooling cabin greatly impacts cars range (motor efficient, "fuel" density low). I think insulating cabin would help on range

[keep_hope_alive]

Originally Posted by DarkKnyte

I hadn't considered that there might be heat gain from the exhaust. Have you noticed any cooling issues in the summer time after insulating? I don't really want to pull that flipping stealthbox out anymore, but I'll do what I need to.

Insulation greatly helps the A/C efficiency by reducing heat gain. For example: my headliner is always cool in the summer, even after the roof has a day in direct sun and 100 deg. F.

[ctrlz]

A couple of ideas:
1) See which way your amp is meant to be mounted. On some amps the case is the heat sink and typically gets mounted over the heat generating parts.
2) If amp is mounted to a solid surface consider standoffs and possibly some vent holes on the underside.
3) Consider cutting the top of the case (Dremel) and mounting a cooling fan to blow on the heatsink. Hard drive cooling fans work off of a 5V supply which can typically be tapped from the amp itself. There are usually 2 small fans on these cheap units. You can wire them parallel or series depending on how much airflow you need. Series wiring slows them down and there will be less noise from the fans.

[DarkKnyte]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

A couple of ideas:
1) See which way your amp is meant to be mounted. On some amps the case is the heat sink and typically gets mounted over the heat generating parts.
2) If amp is mounted to a solid surface consider standoffs and possibly some vent holes on the underside.
3) Consider cutting the top of the case (Dremel) and mounting a cooling fan to blow on the heatsink. Hard drive cooling fans work off of a 5V supply which can typically be tapped from the amp itself. There are usually 2 small fans on these cheap units. You can wire them parallel or series depending on how much airflow you need. Series wiring slows them down and there will be less noise from the fans.

Good advice, but I'm using a JP95 amp. Meant to be mounted face up, with standoffs, includes a fan on the bottom. Has like 5/8" clearance between the bottom and amp rack. Honestly, the trunk decking was so hot, I think heat soak from the exhaust was a big contributor. I'm looking at heat insulating products like Dynapad now.

I also have a JBL Club A754 for the front mounted directly to the amp rack, and it did not shut down like the 95 did. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Any recommendations for good quality heat insulation?