Thread:

AMP fan help!

Well, obviously, something is wired directly to the battery(ies) AROUND the switch. I run my switch on all the time, as I have an on-board maintainer that keeps the batteries happy. So, I never shut them off.

However, I have two of the stinger horizontal cage fans. I haven't put them in yet, but when I do, I will wire them through one of these so they only run when they need to:

Link:www.sonicelectronix.com/item_12506_SGJ11.html

Stinger SGJ1190° - 130° Automatic Fan Control with Adjustable Temperature and 2 Amp Output


EDIT: The nice thing about something like this is - you could either power it from the amp remote line so that it's only available when the amps are on. OR, you could feed it battery power so that it would continue to cool the amps after the stereo is off. Those fans only pull about 200-milliamps (.2a) so, even two of them would take a month of Sundays to affect the battery(ies).

Originally Posted by fed4life

However......

With the fan running and the music playing there is a noticable wine coming from the speakers which is from the fan, soon as i unplug the fan, it goes away and the music sounds clean.

Any thoughts on this? or is it just the way it is?

I raised the amps off the side of the deck so theres about 1/2" clearence now between the back of the amps and the deck, hopefully that will be enough to keep them cool so they wont shut down after playing it for awhile in the desert heat.

Hook the ground of the fan to OTHER than the amp ground. Run a ground back to the battery for any peripherals. It may be finding a closer path to the amp for ground noise.

The cooling will definitely be greater with the space all the way around the amp(s). However, they shouldn't be running hot anyway. Make sure your bass amp(s) is (are) running at no less than 2-ohms. Running at 1-ohm is fine for inside a vehicle where AC can counter the heat. But out in Havasu, behind a seat, that is too much current. Also, most people run multiple satellite speakers off of each channel. If you want a "cool running" system, run one channel per speaker. So, let's say you have SIX 6.5s or SIX 6X9s - - run either a SIX channel amp, or a FOUR channel and a TWO channel. We just did this in a friend's boat that was running hot. Now the amps run cool to the touch. We switched out the subs to bring the amp to 2-ohm load instead of 1. We added a two channel to run a pair of 6X9s that were tagging along on the four channel that was already running four 6X9s. No more heat.

The fans MAY solve your problem without having to do this. But, they will keep the amps happier nonetheless. That's why I bought mine. I haven't shut my amps down from heat, but really ask alot from them. I figure the fans can't HURT and can only HELP.

Originally Posted by fed4life

I know my sub is running at 2-ohms and has its own dedicated amp, its just one 12" Kicker solobaric L7 sub with a Kicker 750.1 amp. Now, just like you had said, i have six 6x9's running off a Kicker 650.4 amp. The bow and mid-cabin speakers are hooked together and the rear speakers under the rear bench are on their own channels. This is where im probably building up most of my heat.

Im going to see how it does out at DS next week with just raising the amps up a bit. If the problem persists then i will have a couple of different routes to explore.

If you end up getting another amp for the spare two speakers....I suggest just getting another 650.4 - - A four channel amp is usually only a few more $ than the sibling two channel. Therefore, it gives you two more channels for expansion.

id suggest using a relay with the remote wire from the head unit. that wire is NOT meant to push really hardly any amps (fans use a decent amount of power) and its only function is to provide a low amp signal to turn the amps on. it might work now, but its a very easy way to damage your head unit... if you wired up a relay you can use the rem wire as the trigger for the relay and be fine. its probably the reason for your whine too...

Originally Posted by fed4life

There is a relay that is coming from the head unit to the REM wire on both amps, there's also relays for the ground wires and 12v wires coming from the batteries to the amps. The system was installed by Wired For Sound last year. Im going to call them later and see what they say.

if you're already using relays then you're good to go. i thought you just had it hooked up directly to the head unit REM. but perhaps theres a better way of getting rid of your noise.

Originally Posted by ka0tyk

maybe grounding the fan directly to the car chassis rather than sharing the amp ground or something.

The car chassis of his boat?

Originally Posted by Beer:30

The car chassis of his boat?

sorry brain fart. i post on a bunch of mustang forums too.

Originally Posted by ka0tyk

sorry brain fart. i post on a bunch of mustang forums too.

It's all good. Most of us know that thinking about Ford stuff warps the brain. Switch to Camaro forums and your brain will thank you for it.