Do you leave a 1U cooling space above your AXE FX III??

Gene

Inspired
Hi, I was wondering do you need to leave a 1U cooling space above your AXE FX III??

Is it ok to put it in a 4U rack with a power conditioner in the top slot above the AXE fx 3 (no spaces)?

Just wanted to get some opinions. Don't see anything in user guide, but I may have missed it perhaps.

Thanks all,

E
 
Is it ok to put it in a 4U rack with a power conditioner in the top slot above the AXE fx 3 (no spaces)?

Yes. I also have a 2u Matrix amplifier in there as well - no heat issues. (I’m not in a hot area or in the sun.)
 
If the unit needed cooling space above it they would of designed it into a larger chassis or utilized other means of thermal management.

Designing rack gear to a certain size and then saying it needs an additional 1u of empty space above it would be signs of a very poor design.

Looks like he guys in Def Leopard are stacking three III’s on top of each other, no empty rack spaces between them
 
If the unit needed cooling space above it they would of designed it into a larger chassis or utilized other means of thermal management.

Designing rack gear to a certain size and then saying it needs an additional 1u of empty space above it would be signs of a very poor design.

Looks like he guys in Def Leopard are stacking three III’s on top of each other, no empty rack spaces between them

RME is considered to be a good outfit but they gave directions to leave a rack space empty above and below the original RME UFX...
 
RME is considered to be a good outfit but they gave directions to leave a rack space empty above and below the original RME UFX...

Then it’s the sign of a bad design, imo. If they require the added space they should of designed it into a 2u space, or with other means of thermal management.

It would be rather frustrating buying a unit you think will fit into your existing rack, because it’s a 1u unit and then reading they want you to leave a space.

What if the Axe III was sold as a 3u but then said in the fine print to leave a space ? Suddenly tons of people who have 4u cases and a wireless, or people that bought a 3u would have to ditch them.
 
I also put mine in a 4U, with the Furman underneath. This was mostly for ergos when sitting at the desk, but my Furman (M8X2) at least, probably wouldn't cover a third of the top of the unit, so you would have quite a bit of free space above it.

The case I'm using, SKB 1SKB-R4S 4U, has some space between the Axe and the top of the case. I haven't been worried about it, and the unit doesn't seem to get hot. I have the back open as well as well as the front.
 
matrix 2u 1000w + furman + axe iii in a 6u, no problems. If it needed another 1u for cooling, it would be a 4u unit.
 
For context, and regardless of limited airflow, temps under the hood of your car routinely reach 220F in the summer. In that area, there are many circuit boards, fuses, wires and electronic components (batteries, relays, alternators, etc.) that work just fine and last many years. An AFX3 in the average 70F room with proper humidity should be just fine. If a piece of gear has obvious slots in the case designed to disperse heat from multiple heatsinks, I will pay attention to that. In such cases you could simply and very easily (with the right tools- circular saw drill bit) cut out a notch or two in the case hence creating nice airflow that allows the heat to get out. Heat rises so be sure to plan your cut(s) not only at level but also slightly above. If it keeps you up at night, concern, simply buy a larger rack and add a 1u cooling rack but I think it is wholly unnecessary.

The chip and GPU are usually the biggest culprits for heat but again, I do not see this being an issue with the FX3- at all. Think of small laptops- they have almost no cooling vents and arguably they run more processing power and a large display. Playing HD videos and multiple monitor set-up will use a lot more CPU intensive than simply processing sound and a small built in display. Your amp/head and heat-sinks on your studio monitors do need good venting.
 
Right, but the engineers designed the box with cooling vents on the side for a reason. I agree that it probably doesn't get that hot as compared to a PC, but it will warm up. Racks are probably designed to leave a little airflow on the sides which is probably perfectly adequate. They were also thoughtfully designed. I just would not completely enclose it with zero air circulation. Even if it survived one day at 112 degrees- it could shorten the lifespan of the more heat sensitive components and also make it run slower. As far as it being a large box- my oven is large too but trust me, it gets plenty hot. Having a few more cubic inches of air inside will only buy you an extra ~5 minutes or so until it reaches max. temp.
 
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