What causes a head unit to get hot?

[DetroitSteel88 10+ year member]

long story short...

I had my local shop test my Clarion dxz855mp over the weekend, and they said it got hot after awhile.

Since that head unit has an AMP cancellation option (and I will be using external amp for door speakers and subwoofer), I am wondering if this may solve the problem.

I have just spent so much money recently, that I would like to use my old clarion unit since it was (and still is) a very nice unit.

Does the internal amp create all the heat?

Thanks,

Brian Nelson

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[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

any amp will create heat so yes

 

[Strangirs 10+ year member]

Anything will get hot..

 

[alec14 10+ year member]

is the heat causing a problem?

 

[DetroitSteel88 10+ year member]

is the heat causing a problem?

Not that I know of... I haven't use this head unit in many years it has been sitting around.

They had it hooked up in the shop, called me and said "it works, but is getting hot"

They were using the internal amp to make sure it put out music...

anything I should worry about? I figured that maybe it won't get AS hot if I use the amp cancellation option on the head unit.

I don't want it to cause any trouble. They seemed a little concerned by how "hot" it got, but I won't be using the internal amp, so I am hoping I will be safe.

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

As long as it sounds ok and doesn't clip in or out I wouldn't worry as it could just be the way it is. If it gives you 2nd degree burns after touching it than thats a different issue.

I would think that if the internal amp was shut off that it would indeed run cooler.

 

[alec14 10+ year member]

Not that I know of... I haven't use this head unit in many years it has been sitting around.
They had it hooked up in the shop, called me and said "it works, but is getting hot"

They were using the internal amp to make sure it put out music...

anything I should worry about? I figured that maybe it won't get AS hot if I use the amp cancellation option on the head unit.

I don't want it to cause any trouble. They seemed a little concerned by how "hot" it got, but I won't be using the internal amp, so I am hoping I will be safe.

Well.... It depends on how hot it's getting. Is it getting hotter than a normal one does during use? Think of where a headunit sits. They sit in your dash, with very little airflow, around a lot of wires. All of them get to some degree of hot, but if it's getting extremely hot, that can cause a problem. I'd suggest trying it out outside of your car (bench testing or something along those lines), and seeing just how hot it gets. If it's not too bad after a couple hours' use, you should be fine. Shops sometimes tend to overreact.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

my old hu would get so hot you couldn't even touch it if you pulled it out

didn't cause any problems that I knew of

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

All my headunits I've ever owned got got enough to where it would irritate my skin. No burn marks though. As stated above its the lack of airflow. It's like putting your speaker amp inside a box.