[22]

Wouldn't it be better to plug it, and have the air drawn through the GP3? I've actually had the GP3 on now for 2 hours in this case, and it's still bearable to touch, so in reality it should be considered a 3u pre-amp since it definitely needs the space above it for cooling :lol:

I guess you could look at it 2 ways, the top cover for it could be like a heatsink, dissipating heat, and draw air over it to cool it....or plug it and try to have the air sucked through the GP3...

 

[darren]

The Valvulator only has that one tiny vent on the front, so i doubt fans in the back of the rack case are going to draw very much air through the Valvulator's enclosure. Is the VHT fan-cooled at all?

 

[22]

Nope. That's why I'm building the fan panel to exhaust air out the back to try and create more airflow. I actually e-mailed Fryette support about the thing getting hotter than a motherfucker and they said it was normal :shrug: They said because the front panel is aluminum, and the knobs are metal, it transfers heat really well. They told me to put fans in the back of the rack to exhaust air which is what I'm doing. Fans should be here any day now, the panel will probably take me a week.

Like I said though, it having that one extra space has already made a huge difference. Going on 3 hours now that it's been turned on and the front is hot, but not ridiculously so. It got ridiculously hot after 1 hour of being turned on in the 6u case.

 

[darren]

I think pulling air across the top of the enclosure will probably help a lot.

 

[22]

I'll have to keep an eye out for a slotted one then. I wish I could find one in brushed, black, smooth metal to match up with the power conditioner. I kind of have a black/chrome/black/chrome thing going on :lol:

 

[96]

like this?

Rack vent

 

[Josh]

My Budda is an all-aluminum chassis too, and it has the same problem as the whole chassis conducts heat very well. It is almost painful to touch after a few hours of running, but the Budda guys I called up said that that was normal.

Dunno how I'd feel about having that in a tight rack next to a bunch of digital devices though.

 

[22]

Doesn't have a brushed finish, but the price is right. I'll keep an eye out for one and if I can't find one I'll probably snag that, or something similar from a Canadian store. Thanks :yesway:

 

[22]

My Budda is an all-aluminum chassis too, and it has the same problem as the whole chassis conducts heat very well. It is almost painful to touch after a few hours of running, but the Budda guys I called up said that that was normal.

Dunno how I'd feel about having that in a tight rack next to a bunch of digital devices though.

Yeah, I remember the Budda getting quite warm when I was there and we didn't run it that long. Since heat rises, I'm not too worried about the Axe underneath it. I figured better that than have my power amp underneath it and concentrate ALL the heat generating things in one spot :lol:

Actually, the funny thing is is that the Carvin doesn't heat up at all. I wonder how the VHT power amps are...

 

[Tom]

That's a whole lot of win packed into one rack case. :yesway:

 

[darren]

Middle Atlantic makes brushed silver anodized 1U vent plates.

Vent Panels

Part number EVTC-1

 

[budda]

But at least I have a kick ass rig :lol:

There's a few kickass rigs here :squint: lol

 

[22]

I didn't mean others weren't, I just meant it's good to at least have a decent rig even if I'm not a crazy ass player :lol:

I'm fucking awesome, everyone else is playing through shit.

 

[Stitch]

I'll have to keep an eye out for a slotted one then. I wish I could find one in brushed, black, smooth metal to match up with the power conditioner. I kind of have a black/chrome/black/chrome thing going on :lol:

Like this?

Middle Atlantic Products EVT1 1 space 1.75" economy vent panel | Full Compass

 

[22]

Basically yeah, can't see if it has that brushed finish though. Not like that's a deal breaker for a $10 panel though :lol: I've never heard of any of these stores though, and after my experience with guitarpartscanada.com I think I'm going to stick to more well known stores.

 

[darren]

L&M carries Middle Atlantic stuff, so if you want that panel, just go in with the part number and they can order it in.

 

[Zero]

when that's in place, you could take off the top of the GP3...

My knowledge of thermodynamics is middling at best, but I do know that the more airflow you can have on the tubes themselves, the better the cooling will be. now, the main trouble is designing the system such that the amount of dust buildup is negligible. I'm probably gonna run my Classic 50/50 with no top, along with a rear-panel fan rack I'm building. Thing cooks like a motherfucker with 4 EL84s per side, plus the 4 12AX7s, in addition to the 2 12AX7s in the preamp.

 

[22]

Well I ran my GP3 a few nights in a row even when I wasn't playing, and it takes about 4 hours of being left on to reach the point it was at before with the heat. I figure once I throw the fans in the back I should be good. I'm considering using that last space for my Bloody Panties OD, but I haven't decided yet.

 

[Tom]

I'm considering using that last space for my Bloody Panties OD, but I haven't decided yet.

I say try it. If you don't like it, of course you can always take it back out. Like I told you yesterday, I'm still going back and forth between my modded Bloody Murder and tweaked overdrives in the Axe-FX.

 

[22]

Only thing I'm worried about is the possible cooling situation. That free rack space did a lot for the cooling. I got the fans in today for my rack cooler, but the panel is on back order and waiting for that to ship.