I have 2 amps mounted in the trunk and both get REALLY hot. Maybe I play the music too loud, I dunno, but today one of them overheated and shutdown. I couldn't even touch the thing because it was going to burn me.

So, what are some solutions for cooling off amps in the trunk without turning the music down? My friend suggested computer fans, but that's a little ugly looking. I can't think of any creative solutions that don't involve putting some fans in unsightly places though.

Thanks.

 

Dont they sell car audio fans?

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-KCFuH...495BCT1&o=M&a=0

 

Fans are the simplest way to go, but realize that if the amps are in a (semi-)closed off trunk, you'll only be pushing around hot air after a while. Granted, the air in the rest of the trunk will be a few degrees cooler than that directly around the amp, but the difference will quickly shrink as time goes by.

What kind of power are you pumping through those things? Numerous people here are running amps in the trunk (some in REALY tight spaces) and so far no one else has complained of this problem. Are you running them bridged/low-impedance? If so, they're going to run significantly hotter than standard 4 ohm impedance setups.

 

It would also be helpful to know what type of amp you are running. I run my precision power at 2 ohms and no problem.

 

Another installation-related item to check... do you have sufficient guage power wire with both positive and negative the same guage? Inproper installation (not that you improperly installed it... I am just generalizing) can cause amplifiers to run hotter than normal...

Just some other view points.

 

Well, one amp is a PPI 2360, which has I think about 300Wx1 since it's bridged to an Eclipse 10" aluminum cone sub. I know the sub needs more power, but I didn't run into any heating problems in my other car with this configuration, which was a hatchback. The other amp is a soundstream lil' wonder, which drive the Diamond Audio components. I'm not sure the specs on it because soundstream didn't officially publish them. This amp gets really hot, but hasn't shut down yet. The PPI is the one that overheated.

I'm thinking of making an amp rack that goes in the well thing, and then perhaps getting a hose or make some kind of vent that would go from the fuel tank area to a fan (or 3) that would blow air onto the amps. I'm assuming the area around the fuel tank would be significantly cooler than the trunk, as long as I kept it blocked off.

Thanks.

 

You have an amp that you don't know what the specs are?! That can't be right...for all you know the thing is a 10W Optimus from Radio Shack...come on, you gotta know SOMETHING about the power

If you have an amp that gets so hot it can burn you, I would NOT place it near the gas line. I won't quibble with "But gas doesn't ignite until it hits temp X...", it just seems like a bad idea from the get-go. Go with the vent tubes, or place a safer amp near the fuel line.

 

If you can fry an egg on your amp its wired improperly. Especially if your just running one 10" speaker. Is it a dual 2 ohm speaker? Or a dual 4 ohm speaker making it run into 2 or even 1 ohm mono?

This can not only make your amp run hot as a frying pan but can damage the circut board! If the wire running to and from the amp is to small it can heat up the amp, heat up the wire, or in a worst case melt the plastic wire cover and ground out the car. I have see burn marks going up a carpet from that way of installation.

You really shouldn't need fans in an install. Im running 1/2 a 4 channel amp at 2 ohms mono off a 4 aug wire and its never shut down(inside the spare tire).
jim.

 

1) soundstream didn't officially post specs for the lil' wonder because they say it's plenty powerful enough for most systems, save for the competition. Some places say it's about 50Wx2, and it's american made. http://www.soundstream.com

2) I was only going to run a vent to the area where the fuel tank resides, the amps are going in the trunk "well" area...I mentioned that already.

3) I'm using two 8 guage wires, that both run from the battery to an amp. So each amp has it's own 8 gauge wire. They are both grounded to the chassis but at different places with 8 guage wire, less than 3 feet long. I realize I could have used a 4 guage wire like in my previous car, but I felt that's overkill.

4) The eclipse sub really needs like 600W. It's a 6ohm, SVC sub. It's bridged on the PPI amp, and the PPI amp says 360Wx1 brigded mono 2ohm, so I'm not sure how much it's putting out at 3 ohms. The eclipse sub has an extrememly heavy, but EXTREMELY rigid cone. without a line driver, I can max out the gain on the PPI amp, and the sub still doesn't clip or distort.

5) I'm using a Phoenix Gold line driver feeding into the PPI amp so I don't have to put the gain to max. The line driver is set pretty high, but the gain on the PPI amp is at 2/3.

I've lowered the gain on the PPI till I sort this out. I've noticed the high end amps, like ones costing $500+ have built in fans. If I didn't need a fan on my amp, then why do more expensive amps have them? I just think our trunk is small, and since I have two amps that both get really hot in there, the air just heats up too much. I noticed that when I open the trunk after a drive, I can just feel the hot air escape.

I see a PG ZX600ti in the near future...

[Edited by Dum Dum Head on 05-22-2001 at 02:12 PM]

 

Maybe you need a trunk "Cool Air Intake"!