Heat Sink vs Fan?

[ahpook]

11 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Ok - my solid state with no fan came out in 2015, it’s discontinued now (not for any reliability of issues of it being rubbish) - I would call that modern - but it is a 2U rack size

Interesting, what make and model is it ?

[Cuzzie]

Tech21 dUg Ultrabass 1000 - basically it’s quite expensive (I got a great second hand deal on mine!) and niche so sales were never going to be great, and the DP3X pedal has probably killed it as you can get nearly all the way there with that and another amp

[ahpook]

7 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Tech21 dUg Ultrabass 1000 - basically it’s quite expensive (I got a great second hand deal on mine!) and niche so sales were never going to be great, and the DP3X pedal has probably killed it as you can get nearly all the way there with that and another amp

Nice amp.

I envy the lack of cooling fan noise....and the tone !

[Cuzzie]

18 minutes ago, ahpook said:

Nice amp.

I envy the lack of cooling fan noise....and the tone !

Cheers - it’s tone for days and not just dirt - clean is wonderful too as well as just a little break up.

I have mine in one of those trolley Dolly Gator wheelie semi hard cases - the 2U one has space for a rack tuner, I I need nothing else and it’s very easy to transport, which one do you have?

Edited August 22, 2020 by Cuzzie

[ahpook]

15 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Cheers - it’s tone for days and not just dirt - clean is wonderful too as well as just a little break up.

I have mine in one of those trolley Dolly Gator wheelie semi hard cases - the 2U one has space for a rack tuner, I I need nothing else and it’s very easy to transport, which one do you have?

Which amp ? The only fanless set-up is what I have going at home, which is an EBS Microbass II running into a 100W power amp. It's very quiet (and also not very loud) hence my interest in slightly more elegant solutions to a fanless amp.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by ahpook

[agedhorse]

9 hours ago, fleabag said:

Yup, i would assume people would check the parameters first

You might be surprised

 

[BassmanPaul]

Y'know the more I visit sites such as this the more I think that musicians will always find something to complain about. Fan noise is a trifling thing to worry about. To me it just means that the amp is on and being kept cool no matter how I'm pushing it.

[agedhorse]

4 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Y'know the more I visit sites such as this the more I think that musicians will always find something to complain about. Fan noise is a trifling thing to worry about. To me it just means that the amp is on and being kept cool no matter how I'm pushing it.

As long as the noise from the fan is REASONABLE, but Paul, you know my feelings on what real world reasonable are. Everybody has a different take on what's reasonable.

[ahpook]

12 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Y'know the more I visit sites such as this the more I think that musicians will always find something to complain about.

So it seems...

Edited August 24, 2020 by ahpook

[PaulWarning]

12 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Y'know the more I visit sites such as this the more I think that musicians will always find something to complain about. Fan noise is a trifling thing to worry about. To me it just means that the amp is on and being kept cool no matter how I'm pushing it.

not sure it's complaining, more of a discussion about personnel preferences really, fan noise has never bothered me, it's got to be bloody loud before it can be heard while I'm playing, but there is a chance the fan could stop during a gig and then the amp will overheat

[casapete]

I still have my GK 800RB amp, which has a large heat sink and no fan. On long loud gigs in the summer it does get a bit warm, but it's never tripped out - in fact it's been 100% reliable all the time I've had it. Probably my favourite amp head, but I also love my GK1001RB which is fan cooled and fairly quiet too - I'm not sure the fan is even running all the time when not running at louder settings. 

 

[agedhorse]

7 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

not sure it's complaining, more of a discussion about personnel preferences really, fan noise has never bothered me, it's got to be bloody loud before it can be heard while I'm playing, but there is a chance the fan could stop during a gig and then the amp will overheat

There is always the chance that the AC mains could fail too, resulting in the amp stopping at a gig. Putting things like this in their proper perspective helps identify real problems versus perceived problems IME.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 18/08/2020 at 23:29, Undertone said:

The main context here is in fact a 90's Trace Elliot SMX 300W head.

I wouldn't want to run that amp hard with passive cooling.

[Stub Mandrel]

17 hours ago, agedhorse said:

As long as the noise from the fan is REASONABLE, but Paul, you know my feelings on what real world reasonable are. Everybody has a different take on what's reasonable.

If you can hear the fan on a 300W amp, why have you got a 300W amp?

[Sparky Mark]

4 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I wouldn't want to run that amp hard with passive cooling.

The SMX 300 watter is forced (fan) cooled. 

[agedhorse]

10 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

If you can hear the fan on a 300W amp, why have you got a 300W amp?

Some players find the need to use an amp for multiple applications (including practicing alone). 

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, agedhorse said:

Some players find the need to use an amp for multiple applications (including practicing alone). 

Appreciated but if you need a 300W amp and have to use it for practice, then you can probably accept a bit of fan noise as a consequence of that. But if I was short of cash I'd get  a cheap practice amp from Crack Convertors or if short of space a Blackstar Fly Bass.

[Skinnyman]

On 20/08/2020 at 12:57, fretmeister said:

I have great sympathy with this despite me personally hating fan noise completely.

I don’t mind a bit of fan noise. Not that we have many fans if I’m honest, but a ripple of warm applause is quite encouraging.

 

[stevie]

51 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Appreciated but if you need a 300W amp and have to use it for practice, then you can probably accept a bit of fan noise as a consequence of that. But if I was short of cash I'd get  a cheap practice amp from Crack Convertors or if short of space a Blackstar Fly Bass.

Or get a 300W amp that has a properly designed fan cooling system.☺️

[agedhorse]

17 hours ago, stevie said:

Or get a 300W amp that has a properly designed fan cooling system.☺️

Agreed, fans don't have to be loud to be effective.

[Quilly]

My current Ashdown spyder has 2 fans and they’re barely audible (my laptop is louder) . I had an Orange terror bass once and it was like an air conditioning unit. I think fans are the way to go if you want to keep the weight of your amp down so long as you get the right fan !

[PaulWarning]

heat sink models don't suck all the dust and fluff into the amp

[mcnach]

On 24/08/2020 at 18:45, Stub Mandrel said:

I wouldn't want to run that amp hard with passive cooling.

 

If it's designed properly to be cooled passively, it should not matter.

[mcnach]

On 25/08/2020 at 10:09, Skinnyman said:

I don’t mind a bit of fan noise. Not that we have many fans if I’m honest, but a ripple of warm applause is quite encouraging.

 

 

end of thread  !!!

[mcnach]

On 26/08/2020 at 08:32, PaulWarning said:

heat sink models don't suck all the dust and fluff into the amp

 

and you can keep your mid-gig snack warm on them