FG Amp Rack Attempt

[hempy 10+ year member]

I got bored doing ht projects all summer, so I'm kaing sawdust for my car again. I picked up a couple of amps and now I'm attempting a fiberglass amp rack for them to match my box. Hopefully it'll make it to completion without any major headaches.

Now I've got to start working on cooling. I was thinking about a single 90mm exhaust fan in between the amps, but I'm not sure if that will be enough. I want to keep it looking relatively clean, and without a bunch of fans everywhere. Any suggestions? I think if I had to, I could put two intake fans on the two ends, or maybe just some air intakes with grille cloth over them.

Who makes quiet case fans? I've used one before under my seat and it annoyed me when everything was turned down.

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[tRidiot 10+ year member]

Stinger makes some squirrel cage fans, don't they? That's an option. I'm interested to see how this comes out, as it's not too dissimilar to what I'm planning for mine.

 

[hoxie08 5,000+ posts]

you mean like PC case fans? If so, check out newegg, they have some that are completely silent and plenty of sizes as well.

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

No they are long cylinder shaped fans that that don't have blades but fins.They push the air more in a side ways direction or horizontilly.

 

[hempy 10+ year member]

I cut the intake vents and fan ring today. I decided to go with 80mm, because that's what I had to test fit with. I may change my mind when i get everything glued and mocked up.

So far everything has been cut with a jigsaw, apart from the fan ring. I'm pretty happy with the results. I must say that rounding over 1/4" MDF with a 1/2" roundover bit does get interesting.

I also moved the amps over about and inch to each side. With the extra space I may go with the 120mm... I just don't want it to look weird with a big fan in the middle. Even the small one looks odd to me. Once I have a strong enough fiberglass layer, I'll cut out the base to about an inch from the edge so I can run the wiring and everything.

 

[hempy 10+ year member]

ISN'T IT MANLY?

 

[mrbomb 10+ year member]

aww its cute

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

Nice fabric choice.

 

[hempy 10+ year member]

My mix last night wasn't hot enough, so it wouldn't dry overnight. The sun should take care of that today though. I like this thin fabric but it seems like it'll need a second coat to get full coverage.

 

[krouchchocolate 10+ year member]

ohh coool looking

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

Ok, I'm a little curious how you're going to get the amps in there?

It's hard to tell, but it looks like this is a whole unit, MDF floor included, right? Or is it just a 'cover'? Looks like the trim rings for the amps sit on the top of the amps, thus you couldn't drop the amps in once it was complete if the floor was attached... so I'm guessing that wood floor isn't part of the whole.

If so, how are you going to attach this 'cover' to the floor to make it solid and prevent rattling, etc.?

I think mine's actually going to be a reverse of what you're doing... since my floor is all convoluted and uneven, I'll have to make the fiberglass part the bottom, then add in a flat base, and make a flat wood cover, or a 'glass cover like yours.

Nice though. Not sure how much air movmt you're going to get, and it likely won't be even movement, anyways. More air will come from the left side, where the smaller amp is (less resistance), thus giving your larger amp (which I assume is the sub amp) less air mvmnt. It may not be an issue, but also it looks as if most if not all of your air mvmt will be around the sides of the amps, not on the top where most heatsinks are designed to dissipate heat. I could be wrong here, just trying to go off what I see without knowing what amps you've got.

Cooling is going to be a major factor for me, so I have to find a way to maximize airflow.

 

[hempy 10+ year member]

Once I have a stiff enough buildup, I'm going to route out the bottom about 1-2" from the edges.

It's basically just a cover. I'm going to put the amps down then wire them up, then mount the cover over them, screwing it down to the body where I can without interfering with my gas tank.

I also made the vent on the right larger and longer, hopefully that will help somewhat.

If this one doesn't work out, I'm not really losing much. I'll probably only wind up using a half gallon of resin at the most. I'll be doing extensive testing to make sure they don't overheat.

The way the heatsinks are on these amps, without the ends, there is a channel on each side that runs along the mosfets. I may come up with a way to channel the air through them, or maybe just block up the space on the sides.

Ultimately this will be a learning experience. I have an uncontrollable need to have some project going on at any given moment.

 

[tRidiot 10+ year member]

Ahhhh I see now. Gotcha. I also didn't realize you were planning on leaving the heatsinks OFF.... that should help with cooling a bit. You going to have 'em covered with plexi or something, or open to the elements?

I guess it's the bottom plates you have off, with the heatsinks mounted down?

 

[hempy 10+ year member]

Ahhhh I see now. Gotcha. I also didn't realize you were planning on leaving the heatsinks OFF.... that should help with cooling a bit. You going to have 'em covered with plexi or something, or open to the elements?

The amp base itself is pretty much the only heatsink. I'm only removing the top (1/8" molded aluminum top with stupid logo/leds/etc) and the plastic ends.

I've got 1/8" transparent grey plexiglass to go in the rings. I may actually put some leds inside... I'm not so sure though. But because of the leds on the stock top I have 2 3v plugs on each amp at my disposal. And I have about 50 leds laying around from various projects.

 

[hempy 10+ year member]