Amplifier Ventilation

Due to space constraints on my MC-209, I have all of my amps fairly close together in an enclosed area. I would like to add some fans to increase circulation since my equipment has been getting rather hot. My amps today do have fans, but they don't seem to be powerful enough to keep the temperatures at an optimal level.

Do you have any recommendations for 12-volt fans that can be installed to help increase circulation around my equipment? I would love to see pics if possible for installation reasons....

Stinger makes some nice amp cooling fans. How quality are your amps ? I find amps overheat more from wrong gain settings-low battery voltage-or running too low of a ohm load.

I'll second the stinger "squirel cage" fans, expensive but push alot of air.

I agree with KG 100% ......Check all the above mentioned possibilities then go back to fans, if need be...

vent the hot air out of the storage compartment, not just blow more air on the amps

They are Arc Audio amps, but they appear to be configured correctly, as this is a new move for the equipment and I didn't have this problem before. I just have a lot of amps in an area that doesn't "breathe" very well.

"G" suggested taking a blower (similar to the one in my engine compartment) and blow cool air into the compartment. That seems like a good solution to my problem. Thoughts? Would it be better to vent the hot air out or blow the cooler air in?

Would it be possible to have the blower hooked up to a thermostat so it would keep the compartment at a certain temperature but not run all the time?

I would lean towards sucking out the air. You could rig up something similar to the engine compartment blower already in your boat. It is too bad the boat blowers are so noisy, because that would be an easy solution to move a decent amount of air.

I have some Arc amps as well....and I've been told by the guys that installed it that it's ok for them to run pretty damn hot. my larger Arc FD4150 runs very warm...almost hot to the touch....but you can keep your hand on it....

Lets just say that I had a little episode last weekend that required a fire extinguisher. I am not sure what exactly happened, I am going to tear it apart this weekend.....could have been the amp that burned up or some of the wiring, but those amps were too hot to touch - even the ones away from the flames

General rule of thumb,flames=NO BEUNO. Would not be a bad idea to get some fresh air piped into that area also. Keep in mind if it is mostly sealed, you are just moving around hot air with fans. Best of luck

Amps will always run warm when put under a high load, this is from the Driver Mosfets disapating the heat off the Chips. As long as you are not running a ohm load under what the amps are rated you should not have a problem. However I suspect your pushing them very hard, or running them at too low of an ohm load.

A fan is nice to have and can help lower the temp however if your running bridged and running a ohm load under the specs of your amp your more than likely going to burn the internal insulated windings in the speakers or do damage to the channel, only a matter of time (i.e. fan will not prevent this from happening)

yes, how do you have the amps running to the speakers? In this day and age setting an amp on fire would seem pretty extreme

Your my hero if you did actually catch an amp on fire but i'd be willing to bet you melted a wire touching your amp or just had too small of a conductor with too big of a fuse.
Now for the cooling problem: my experience has been electronics, no matter what they are capable of, run longer when not overheated. This is generally comparable to derating electronic components to extend life. If your sealed that good, fans will help but you need to get cool air in or the hot air out. A buddy did use a bilge blower on his system in the past and it did great as you can imagine, at volume, you cant even hear the blower. Amps are very inefficient and ABSOLUTELTY DO need ventilation. I opened one of the manuals on the arc audio site and it stated " Position the amplifier in an area that receives sufficien airflow for proper heat dissipation".

Nah you dont need fans or a blower??

We run car amps in very small closed spaces at higher volumes and gains for extended periods. Get some ventilation and youll be happier and your gear will last longer.