I've done some tests with cooling. Just sitting on a flat surface playing and running visuals, my empeg reaches 46C/103F Deg. With a 100mm fan placed on top with a bit of a spacer (small CPU heatsink), blowing air into the top holes and over the case the temp drops to 37C deg.
With the same fan blowing down a funnel into the side holes it drops the temp to 37-38C.
It appears that if the case itself is cooled, the internal temp is assisted.

Hugo, there's a little fan header pin set near the PS input. is that permanently on or can it be switched?
I'd like to try internal cooling if possible. Need to find a quiet fan though.

ISTR it may be controlled by the amp remote line. Can't remember though - both pins are fan power, you'd have to get ground from the case.

Hugo

neat. I just have to find a quiet fan now. I have one the right size but its noisey as a mack truck.

I just have to find a quiet fan now. I have one the right size but its noisey as a mack truck.

Perhaps a resistor in line to slow it down? If it is that noisy, probably it is moving a lot more air than is really needed for something as small as an empeg.

tanstaafl.

Yes, I'm considering that and the possibility of a tiny thermistor circuit.
The good news is that it wen in well with a pair of carefully bent paper clips. is there anything that paperclips, donuts and gaffer tape can't fix?

the bad news is I had to delicately solder the lead to the fan pin and screw the neg under a PC board screw. (dont tell hugo or the support dept)
AND I had to take out the display board to give the lid enough clearance to slide in with the fan attached .
but it works , and is noisey.
from a cool start at 19C it has risen to and stayed at 33C for about an hour of constant playing

If you don't mind, could you run some tests with the unit plugged into the car? The sled looks like it will severely restrict your air flow. I'm curious what the delta will be for temperature reduction. Of course if you wanted to be really thorough, you'd have to test with and without the fan. :)

You could always avoid doing mods to the empeg and make mods to the sled instead by attaching the fan externally. Of course this way the fan is permanently installed in your car and you can't make use of it when playing the unit at home.

Just been out in the car and back!
I had parked my car in the sun, but had the windows down a bit so it wasn't baking when I got in. Today's temp is about 29C with a slight breeze.
The unit was 33C when I set off. I had the aircon flat out and it took about 15 mins to really cool down. The player gets no direct air, (my next project). it stayed at 33 for 5 mins and then rose to 34C and stayed there for the remainder of the 35 min drive. I parked the car in the sun again but with the windows up and left the unit in the car. When I came back about 10mins late, the temp was 39C but it stayed there for the rest of the drive.
When I pipe some aircon over the unit, I would expect that to drop significantly.

My dash setup has a Alpine CD player at the top, a 12mm gap filled by a piece of aluminium angle to hold the alpine and empeg docking cages; and the empeg cage below it. There is a bit of air between the two units to allow circulation.

Overall I'm quite happy with the results, I can't hear the fan too much inside the dash.

What resistor should I put in to reduce the voltage to 8 or 6 volts?

Make sure you will not have problems with condensation if running A/C by the empeg...

Also, where are you that the temp was so nice today? I'm jealous. It was bloody freezing (for me anyway) today here in Toronto.

Brisbane, Australia. Wish that was Gold Coast or Noosa or Byron Bay. Just had some much nneded rain and everything is looking great.

I dont think that would be a worry for me even in winter, it doesn't get cold enough and I don't plan to leave the player outside to chill and then bring it inside.

Resister values anyone.

Oh yeah, once I get hold of a digital camera or something, I'll document my installation in laborious detail and include few pics of the fan installation. I really need to get hold of a graphics card low profile fan...

If you choose to pipe the air conditioning over the unit, make sure you can shut it off as well. Because you wouldn't want to blow hot air from the heater onto the unit when you're in cold weather.

I'm going to look at inserting a pipe into the air duct after the aircon and before the heater. Yeah, last thing I'd want is to have hot air blowing into it in winter. Ive had it overheat just because the heater was on in the car on a long trip.

Hmm, use caution with that scheme. Often the air conditioner gets run when the heater is on, because A/C dries the air. It's mostly useful for the defogger and preventing your car interior from getting moist in cold weather. You don't necessarily want to freeze the empeg, either.

I was only going to run the pip up to the empeg, not straight into the guts. That way the air wont freeze the player. thinking about it now, I might need some sort of condensation knockout chamber, like a small plastic container with some cotton wool in it. the pipe could go in and out at the top so the air has to change direction, dropping any water into the cotton wool.
Hmm. bit more planning needed.

BTW the fan is going well, anyone got a resistor value to reduce the speed?

Approximately:

deltaV / Current

where deltaV = Supply voltage minus wanted voltage across fan

Let's say 13-8= 5V

For Current you'll either need to read the spec sheet, markings on the fan or measure it. Let's assume 200mA (0.2A)
This value of course will be at rated voltage, resulting current after applying the resistor will probably be somewhat lower - some experimentation might be required

R = U/I = 5/0.2 = 25 Ohm

Needed power rating: P = deltaV x Current = 5 x 0.2 = 1 Watt
I'd select the next higher value available, probably 2 Watt

/Michael

Sweet. Thanks.

How large is the fan you're currently using? (Diameter of blades or simply the width of the square surround)

I have some small ones here at work and will see if I can find the manufacturer and specs...

Bruno

40mm (l & w) 10mm d. I want to find something shallower, like 5mm if possible to clear the display board

I'll hook you up with some info when I get back to work on Monday. I just hope the fans I'm thinking about have enough markings to identify. Have them as small as 3/4" (19mm) LxW and no more than 5mm thick (in a couple of laptops).

Bruno

If you have access to them easily, fantastic. Getting hold of them through regular channels is a PITA. I had a suggestion from a retailer that I should buy a cheap video card with a fan and use that. Expensive option when the card is over 50$AU ex tax.

If you are able to get hold of them I don't know how cheap it would be to get one to me anyway!

I don't know what you are using as an amp but if it is the apline those things can get damn hot in the dash so drawing in air from near the amp circuits in it might make things worse as the heatsink for the amp circuits is normally the case.

I had an alpine that used to get very hot indeed too hot to touch occasionally when running hard even got the high temp trip to activate on it once and i live in scotland air con ain't very popular here.

It might be better to blow out the top holes where the hot air will rise to anyway, sucking air in through the side vents. makes more sense in a heat flow type of way.

You will probably have to cut some holes in the cage/sledge but they are overly beefy any way so that won't harm it. But be warned stainless can be pain to deal with at times.

I don't know how much room you got but you might be able to fit a fan in the dash to help circulation.

Well there is 12mm gap between the two. That's also why I want to pipe in cold air. If I draw in air from the top of the unit and pipe in cold air, it doesn't much matter whrer the exhaust goes after that. It is definately expelled out the gaps in the top cover of the case and out the vents at the back.
just need a quite small fan and it should be good.

ISTR that 486 CPU fans are the right size. See if your local computer shop has any old stock?

Hugo

What a coinsidence, I run a computer shop at the moment! intel/AMD cpu fans are too big, only 40mm fans will do. I cant even get the case mod group in OZ to recommend a supplier of chipset or graphics card fans. hmm, I think they're fictional.

486 fans were 40mm, it's only the later ones than that which moved up to 50mm and beyond...

Hugo

I can get you part numbers for graphics card fans if you'd like. Should be able to get you supplier info as well. Hell, I can get you the fans too, but that might be a bit of a hassle. :)

Anyway, I got the details of the super-small fan I was talking about before. It's a fan used in a certain Titanium computer. Ahem. :)

This is everything written on its label:

SuperRed
DC5v 0.07A
CHA2505CBS-A
Cheng Home Electronic Co.

So, the obvious small catch to me is that you have to take the step of lowering the voltage from 12. If you get prices for this part, let me know. This would easily be able to fit inside the empeg. Some of the fans used on graphics chips would only fit outside the empeg on the sled. And some of them have an integrated heat sink that makes up most of the fan's frame as well.

Bruno