Sorry bout the title, got carried away...

Wondering if anybody has experience with placing amps under the front seats, and has that caused overheating problems?

As can be seen by the two photos, there is very little room under there.

I think I'll probably need to add a couple small brushless cooling fans (Radio Shack type), but then I'm also wondering if this is going to noticably "heat up" my seat, which in the winter could be okay, but will definitely suck in the summer.

YOur thoughts and experience appreaciated :thumb:

 

mtx amps do a good job of dispursing heat so you might not have a problem with them overheating. the true test will be in the summer at high volumes. goodluck!

 

I have always installed my non-sub amps under the seat. No problems so far. I will see how the JL does in a few months when it gets warm.

 

cool. i think what will really help is the small fans, kinda like in the computer....tech at MTX said, "Well, the fans make noise, that might be a problem." I'm thinking, "Yea right, like I'll ever hear the fans."


I think this little blower fan looks pretty cool, dont know if it'd blow good enough tho





[Modified by greyzone, 2:22 AM 1/10/2003]

 

it may not be the location of the amp but the wire you are using. try using a heavier gauge wire and see if that helps. if you change the power wire change the ground to the same guage too. a friend of mine had the saem problem...he was running 8 gauge and i put in some 4 guage and he never had the problem again.

 

what he ment by the fan making noise was not hearing the actual fan motor, but the system picking up the noise and hearing it through the speakers.

 

those are computer muffin fans. They are used inches from a processor running at probably simular frequencies as an amplifier. Those muffin fans should be no problem. I use them on amps ALL the time

 

Killer...i went to Computer Circulation Center and found 3x3 fans for $3.00 each...picked up five for 16 bucks...screw Radio Shack!

 

You will be able to hear the fans for sure. At least have been able to in the past. I had 4 2.5" fans installed in the trunk of an E46 coupe, and could easily hear them even with the system on low volumes. If you can, get a cage fan, like the first one...they are quieter then your typical fan.

Make sure that they are DC brushless. Also, if you do decide to go the fan route, make sure that they are powered via a relay and are properly fused.

 

yea, i was wondering about the wiring...how would you suggeset doing it and what source should i use to get them to come on with the stereo? And if you could really spell it out that would help cause im a real rookie...like what kind of relay (what does the relay do anyway?) hows it get wired, and then how do each of the wires go to the fans?

The ones i got are brushless, but look similar to the second one pictured.


[Modified by greyzone, 7:56 AM 1/11/2003]

 

http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/

Go there, there is asecion about relays and wiring fans etc.

A relay is a type of switch. There are 4 basic pins on the relay (some have 5). There is one for the ground, one for the power in, one for the power out, and one for the trigger. You set it up so that the amp remote on your head is the trigger, so when your head is on, the relay passes the power from your battery to your fans. That's a real quick and dirty explanation of what one is....I think you get the point. Check out that site, and it will tell you everything you need to know about wiring one of these things up. There are a few calculators that explain how to determine wire size and fuse size...you just gotta look for them.

 

Dude, you are the man, thanks for the help.