Black amp, direct sunlight.

[qtipextra 5,000+ posts]

I have this stupid little 2 ch amp, 140 watts MAX. I am going to have it power my 6x9's. My question is, as the subject says, my amp is black and where I would like to mount it gets direct sunlight during the day. Would it get too hot to turn the amp off due to temp overload, or do you think it will be allright, or do you think I should paint it white? Or would paint just keep the heat in the amp?

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

put some computer CPU fans on it, should help immensely...

 

[qtipextra 5,000+ posts]

Should I have them running all day, that would run my batt down.

 

[kungfoojesus 10+ year member]

I wouldn't reccomend putting your amp in view of sunlight/the public for security reasons! Last thing you need to worry about is a overheated amp when some kid smashes out your $300 window for a $80 amp.

 

[qtipextra 5,000+ posts]

I only paid 3 bucks for it at a yard sale, its old, its ugly, I dont think people would take it.

With that considered, wut do you think?

Will it be fine in the heat?

 

[boister77 10+ year member]

being in direct sunlight may affect the performance of the amp. keep in mind that an amp stays cool by using the metal cover as a heatsink. therefore, a sun baked heatsink won't allow the amp to cool efficiently. i would sand the black paint to bare metal. you can then brush the metal, which most likely is aluminum, and give it the brushed aluminum effect. then again, like you said, it is cheap and ugly so i don't know if you want to go through all of this trouble.

 

[qtipextra 5,000+ posts]

Maybe I should just put it in my trunk?

Tho I have light wires running right where I need to put it in my trunk.

Hell, i'll find sumthin!

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I wouldn't reccomend putting your amp in view of sunlight/the public for security reasons! Last thing you need to worry about is a overheated amp when some kid smashes out your $300 window for a $80 amp.

some of us don't have a choice...in my van, for example, the only place I could get enough flat space on the wall was right across from the side window, so the amps are in plain sight. Nothing i could do about it...

to the original poster, run a relay off the remote wire, so the fans are switched along with the head unit.

 

[Berry47 10+ year member]

It is also very easy to run a toggle switch to turn the fans on and off.

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

yeah, toggles are easy as hell to do, I have one on my HU fans... only on when I want them....

 

[TomZ keren 10+ year member]

it doesn't really matter actually.But if you want to keep it [/i]safe you can put some extra external heatsink (like 2mm aluminium) on the body...