Axe-Fx heating

kabong

kabong

Inspired
Being a newbie to the forum, I don't know if Cliff has discussed this before, but why is the Axe-Fxe enclosure not vented? Heat is one of the main causes of failure with electronic components. It just seems to me that adding venting along with the fan just gives a better margin of safety.... how many laptops have you seen with no venting?
 
This has been discussed before, but it's often hard to find back postings. The basic story seems to be that the TigerSHARC DSP doesn't really generate all that much heat - much less, for example, than the CPU of a personal computer - and therefore does not require external venting in order to dissipate its thermal output.
 
My Axe FX sits mid rack, and I've had it out on outdoor gigs where it was hot as hell..............................no problems at all.
 
I have thrown my Axe into thermal shut down befor. But It was my fault I had it racked up sitting ontop of a Peavy 50/50 it only took a few minuets for it to happen. Once I relized what was going on I unracked the Axe pulled the lid off let cool down and I was up and running again with in a few miniutes. No other issues sense then.
 
I think that even if the Sharc isn't a heat monster, cooler is always better...not to mention that improved ventilation could mean using a smaller, :mrgreen: quieter fan & still keep unit cooler than at present.
 
kabong said:
I think that even if the Sharc isn't a heat monster, cooler is always better...not to mention that improved ventilation could mean using a smaller, :mrgreen: quieter fan & still keep unit cooler than at present.
Click to expand...

No, the fan on the Axe-fx is merely to take the heat from heat sink and disperse it. Ventilation would not help that matter terribly. The ambient temperature inside the case isn't high a present. This isn't a laptop, so the comparison is not valid. Besides running a hotter cpu in tight quarters we have the hard drive, larger amounts of memory, and a hot battery to contend with. All this in a very small air space. How many laptops do you know that have that airspace in the case the Axe-fx does.

As you have read already put in a quieter fan and keep the unit cool. The reason the axe-fx has what it has is due to price and availability in mass quantities. At least Cliff has hinted at that.

Regardless, the Axe-fx is rated at 32 to 122 °F and can probably take wider extremes than that.
 
Perhaps the 8db fan that Godprobe mentioned in the fan replacement thread would do if there were some vent slots...

(Mr. Mackie voice) "Quiet is good, Um'kay?"

Edit: Great answer java. Nevermind...
 
I'm far from an expert on these things, but it occurs to me that blowing air out of the case means sucking air into the case (passively or actively), which presumably means inevitable dust ingress. I know you can get filters, etc, but my point is that there's at least one advantage to a sealed design.
 
Fikealox said:
I'm far from an expert on these things, but it occurs to me that blowing air out of the case means sucking air into the case (passively or actively), which presumably means inevitable dust ingress. I know you can get filters, etc, but my point is that there's at least one advantage to a sealed design.
Click to expand...

It also means the fan will sound louder.
 
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