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11-15-2005, 04:51 PM
|  | There's more music in the nuance than the notes.
Staff, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Central Illinois | |  The "Quiet Mesa Walkabout" project...
I posted this in the Mesa Walkabout Mega(?)thread, but it's kinda' buried there, so here it is for others...
Ok, so the AcoustiFan AFG80 fan gasket and washer kit was a wash, because I didn't want to change the orientation of the fan by moving it up against the back panel (away from the output components).
Instead, what I did is cut some small grommits in half (to essentially make them thick rubber washers) and sandwiched the back panel between them. In other words, grommit, back panel, grommit, standoff, fan, and the screw passes through it all.
The idea is to try and isolate fan vibration from transmitting to the case, making it louder.
To be honest, with this fan, the vibration is so minimal I'm not sure this step has any real benefit, but it couldn't hurt, so I went ahead with it.
Here's a back view so you can see the screws up against the grommit halves. 
Conventiently, the screws threaded nicely right into the fan, so I didn't even need to put the original lock nuts back on (which you can sort of see in the background in the second picture below).
Here's an internal view so you sort of see the standoffs holding the fan closer to the components. 
The results were quite good. Of course you can still hear the fan, but it's quiet enough now that it's no longer annoying at all. Further, while it doesn't move as much air as the original fan (28CFM vs 36.5), it does seem to move a good amount, so I'm not very concerned about overheating.
Total cost, about $20.00 including shipping for the fan. These fans are kind of expensive (relatively speaking) at about $14 each. Most 80mm case fans are about $5. http://www.silenx.com/fan_pro_54.asp 
I'm going to run with this for a while, but if, under some load conditions, it seems to struggle, or especially if it ever shuts down on me, I'm going to go a different route. Tri-cool. Basically, a switchable fan, so I can run it slow/quiet for home/studio, and fast/loud for gigs (where it wouldn't matter anyway).
In any case, so far so good. |
11-15-2005, 04:53 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philadelphia | | | Is there a reason why amp makers haven't started to use liquid cooling systems instead of fans (besides the expense)? I'm just tossing this out there because i've seen LC systems put to good use in computer towers. |
11-15-2005, 05:12 PM
| | There's more music in the nuance than the notes.
Staff, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Central Illinois | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Fretless5verfan Is there a reason why amp makers haven't started to use liquid cooling systems instead of fans (besides the expense)? I'm just tossing this out there because i've seen LC systems put to good use in computer towers. | I'd imagine it's because they have to cool more than one chip with a heatsink, and the affect on the selling price.
In many amps, you have a bunch of small heat sinks, so each one's dissipation isn't affected as much by others, and/or a HUGE heatsink like in the Walkabout. I'd imagine a $3 fan is a way more attractive option to a cooling system that might add 100's of dollars to the selling price. Plus, in particular with tubes, I don't think it's possible to use anything besides air safely and economically. |
11-15-2005, 05:15 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philadelphia | | Very interesting...
now i know...and knowing is half the battle  |
11-15-2005, 10:08 PM
|  | BGM Issue #11 now available!
Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Off to scout camp with my son | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Fretless5verfan now i know...and knowing is half the battle | Go, Joe!  |
11-15-2005, 10:40 PM
| | There's more music in the nuance than the notes.
Staff, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Central Illinois | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by tombowlus Go, Joe! | Welcome back, Tombo! You should have a very special delivery Thursday.  |
11-15-2005, 10:47 PM
| | BGM Issue #11 now available!
Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Off to scout camp with my son | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Vic Welcome back, Tombo! You should have a very special delivery Thursday. | Oh, I am still in Austin - just now with Internet access!  |
11-15-2005, 10:50 PM
| | There's more music in the nuance than the notes.
Staff, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Central Illinois | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by tombowlus Oh, I am still in Austin - just now with Internet access! | DOH! Ok. |
02-26-2008, 09:43 AM
|  | Moderator
Staff Reviewer; Bass Gear Magazine Moderator | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbia MO | | bump
my fan's getting noisy, i needa replace it.
i run mine at 2 ohms enough that I'm concerned about the cfm deficit...which is about 20% or so...
do you run yours hard? fan holding up?
There are many variants of case fans here: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...name=Case-Fans
but I dunno what bearing type necessarily= quiet operation; and haven't spent the time i need to with their search engine-which is pretty advanced with search options...
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Last edited by Chef : 02-26-2008 at 10:10 AM.
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02-26-2008, 10:25 AM
| | Moderator
Staff Reviewer; Bass Gear Magazine Moderator | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbia MO | | | Also, am I seeing 2 wires on the mesa end, and three wires from the fan?
Anyone know what db the stocker operates at?
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Last edited by Chef : 02-26-2008 at 10:32 AM.
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02-26-2008, 10:46 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NC | | | there is a 32 cfm fan by silenx at 14dB. I don't know how loud the stock fan is, but these are about 1/2 as loud as average. Many manufacturers will post some specs (cfm, dB, etc.) on their fans, but I don't know if these are any more reliable than speaker and amp specs....
Some fans have variable speed that is controlled by a third wire/voltage. That might be what you're seeing, but I don't know for sure. It's really pretty easy to wire one of these in, though |
02-26-2008, 11:02 AM
| | Moderator
Staff Reviewer; Bass Gear Magazine Moderator | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbia MO | | | I'd be curious for that part number, the silenx ones I found that moved more air than Vics were a bigger case size.
the stocker is a sunon KD1208 PT S1; 2.6 watt; at least in mine...two wire unit.
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02-26-2008, 11:11 AM
| | Moderator
Staff Reviewer; Bass Gear Magazine Moderator | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbia MO | | Allied electronics closest match to the stock fan:
KDE 1208 PTV2.13
80x80x25; 12v 1.6 w 36.5 cfm 33 db "vapo bearing"
and this seems close to stock http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999027
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Last edited by Chef : 02-26-2008 at 11:24 AM.
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02-26-2008, 11:35 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NC | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Chef  I'd be curious for that part number, the silenx ones I found that moved more air than Vics were a bigger case size.
the stocker is a sunon KD1208 PT S1; 2.6 watt; at least in mine...two wire unit. |
IXP-54-14
I think he used 54-11 http://www.silenx.com/ixtremaprofans.asp?sku=ixp-54-14
either way, if you went from 36 down to 11 or 14 dB that would be a huge drop, no? |
06-02-2011, 02:05 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Portland OR | | Resurrecting an old thread here, about to pull the trigger on a replacement fan for my Walkabout. Anybody have comments on using the Silenx IXP-54-14 fan or an alternate fan in their WA? Newegg.com - SilenX IXP-54-14 80mm Case Fan
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06-02-2011, 03:06 PM
| | There's more music in the nuance than the notes.
Staff, Bass Gear Magazine | | Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Central Illinois | | Quote:
Originally Posted by koobie Resurrecting an old thread here, about to pull the trigger on a replacement fan for my Walkabout. Anybody have comments on using the Silenx IXP-54-14 fan or an alternate fan in their WA? Newegg.com - SilenX IXP-54-14 80mm Case Fan | 32CFM, and at the same noise rating (14dBA) as the 28CFM Silenx I used, that seems like a good choice to me.
Again, the original fan is 36.5CFM, but I'm not really sure all that was needed anyway, and I replaced mine with a 28CFM model, and had no problems with it. Admittedly, I didn't push it hard/long on a hot sunny day, but still.
I assume no liability on this, but if it was my amp, I'd go for it.
Last edited by Vic : 06-02-2011 at 03:21 PM.
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06-02-2011, 03:09 PM
| | Moderator
Staff Reviewer; Bass Gear Magazine Moderator | | Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbia MO | | | "By law, I can't promise you a million dollar settlement....but, I promise you a million dollar settlement!"
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(should be fine, as long as you're not dogging it at 2 ohms, I'd think)
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06-02-2011, 03:50 PM
|  | passionate hack | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: NE US/CAN line | | | Thanks for exhuming this. I think I may well finally get around to it.
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06-02-2011, 04:43 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Vancouver | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Fretless5verfan Is there a reason why amp makers haven't started to use liquid cooling systems instead of fans (besides the expense)? I'm just tossing this out there because i've seen LC systems put to good use in computer towers. | Aside from the amount of heat it needs to dissipate, we move amps around a lot more than we do our computers. |
06-02-2011, 06:36 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Georgia | | Me too. I even have the same Silenx fan ready to go. Only hitch is that as far as I can tell from a brief look, the WA has a red wire and a black wire soldered to the stock fan. The Silenx has 3 wires going into a plug type thing - all three wires look just alike, i.e. no red/black. Any suggestions for installation appreciated. Quote:
Originally Posted by lomo Thanks for exhuming this. I think I may well finally get around to it. | | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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