The end of the (upgrade) road?

[Jimbo]

Job is done.
I actually had 4 sheets, so the BB3, CD player and 686 have been done.
Having checked the specs of the silent coat, it seems safe enough to use on the 686 heatsinks, so a strip was fitted on both.
The lid and base have been done, as were the front panel, and a few small bits fitted on the rear panel, as there was not much room here.

I have turned the system on, and a) it still work, b) it still sounds good.
Was it with it? Not at the listening levels I use when the family is home, as there is very little sound pressure to cause vibrations.
When they go out, I will wind the wick up a bit.

Keep us posted.

[Pigmy Pony]

A question:

While heat sinks are responsible for the lion's share of heat dissipation, some of this heat will also be lost through the casework. If the amp's case feels warm to the touch when in use, this must mean that some of the heat escapes this way. In which case applying the silent coat may be insulating the amp to some degree?

[struth]

A question:

While heat sinks are responsible for the lion's share of heat dissipation, some of this heat will also be lost through the casework. If the amp's case feels warm to the touch when in use, this must mean that some of the heat escapes this way. In which case applying the silent coat may be insulating the amp to some degree?

think the 'to some degree' is the point. the heat syncs should dispose of the vast proportion of it. heat syncs no doubt are bolted to the case so will heat up a bit, but the case is big enough to stay just warm with the air around it

[Barry]

Agreed - the sound deadening material is, I assume, applied to the inside of the case.

[Macca]

There's going to be some insulation effect from lining the inside of a case, I don't see how there can't be. Whether it will raise the internal temperature enough to reduce the service life of the components inside I don't know.

Putting it on a heatsink is inevitably going to reduce its ability to dissipate heat, again hard to say if that would eventually cause a problem.

[CageyH]

The heatsink forms part of the case.
It looks a bit like this -

Adding a small strip of the Silent coat to the internal face of the heatsink is going to have very little affect on the operating temperature of my amp.
There are holes in the top that will vent the case, and the fins on the side will have a better dissipation affect than the vertical inner surface of the heatsink.

[Barry]

The main source of heat will be the output devices.
The heat from them is largely conducted to the fins of the heat sink where it is dissipated by convection (and to a smaller extent by radiation).

Any radiant heat produced within the case is in turn dissipated by radiation and convection from the exterior of the case. All the sound deadening material will do is to absorb the heat which will eventually be conducted through and dissipated from the exterior of the case.

[Pigmy Pony]

The main source of heat will be the output devices.
The heat from them is largely conducted to the fins of the heat sink where it is dissipated by convection (and to a smaller extent by radiation).

Any radiant heat produced within the case is in turn dissipated by radiation and convection from the exterior of the case. All the sound deadening material will do is to absorb the heat which will eventually be conducted through and dissipated from the exterior of the case.

Well this Silent Coat does look rather like that stuff people put behind their radiators to reflect heat back into the room, but at the end of the day I trust you guys' judgement on this more than my own

[CageyH]

So it will reflect heat back into the heatsink and make the amp cooler?

As the amp does not run hot, I don't think it is an issue.

[struth]

So it will reflect heat back into the heatsink and make the amp cooler?

As the amp does not run hot, I don't think it is an issue.

it shouldnt do much really. the fans may cool more slowly but it wont be an issue unless it runs very hot, in which case i wouldnt advise it.. ie, on a mf a1000.... that amp doesnt look to be a hotty