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Ampeg svt cl fan question

#81
You might try some rubber washers (I used rubber bushings) between the fan and the front panel on a CL.
When I replaced my fan (it got really noisy as it got old) I thought I'd try and see if mechanically isolating the fan made much difference. It made my CL a little quieter and it is working great.
 
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#82
MattZilla said:
I love this original post. The obvious answer is “SVT’s are industrial tools like 2179ft/lbs JD 9R 640’s, get a PF20/50T+2x115 or a refurbed B15n on a matching extension cab to use for being at home bathed in bass in the comfort of a nice chair.”

I can’t believe the idea has been posed to un connectify the fanny thingy ma doodle pop on such a thing. It was designed to carry the bass for large outdoor festivals.
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Haha, I know, right? I love it when the fan of my Ampeg starts blowing, it means we're ready to ROCK!
 
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#83
agedhorse said:
It's not just the warranty. The fan is part of the safety certification and is required to carry specific UL and IEC/VDE certification in order to be able to even be used in a 60065/62368 certified compliant amplifier. Ampeg/Yamaha chose to follow the regulations, some (usually larger or more established) companies are rule followers and other companies not so much.
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A fan from a reputable manufacturer will have the certifications displayed. I worry about people using the junk that’s out there. Some even fake certifications or put reference numbers that have nothing to do with the certification at hand.

Fender used to put patent numbers on their schematics that nothing to do with the amp’s design. I think it was more about dissuading people from cloning their product. But this isn’t the same as fake safety certifications.

Many players complain about fan noise and wish that quieter products were used. It’s a common complaint.
 
#84
agedhorse said:
That's not a surprise, since their safety certifications require a specific fan. That's what was required to pass the safety certification testing so of course they aren't going to tell you otherwise (and for good reason IMO).

If the amp doesn't work for you because it's the wrong tool for YOUR needs, that's just the way it goes. Just find something that works better for you.
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Fair enough, and I have. But not before the headache of buying three ampeg heads only to discover that the fans all compete with the instrument, and on two brand new Heritage amps. Not the right tool for my needs doesn't quite seem to understand why the thread exists or why people complain about ampeg fans or why people mod their stuff and ask for help on how to mod. A forum of people telling you to do nothing and just accept the status quo offer nothing to the conversation. Thanks anyway though.
 
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#85
Grossthing said:
Fair enough, and I have. But not before the headache of buying three ampeg heads only to discover that the fans all compete with the instrument, and on two brand new Heritage amps. Not the right tool for my needs doesn't quite seem to understand why the thread exists or why people complain about ampeg fans or why people mod their stuff and ask for help on how to mod. A forum of people telling you to do nothing and just accept the status quo offer nothing to the conversation. Thanks anyway though.
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Actually, it offers good, accurate, factual advice even if it’s not what you want to hear. It’s pretty simple actually.
 
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#87
jimmydean said:
Just bought a Ampeg Micro amp/cab and the fan is annoyingly loud and runs constantly . Rather than returning the amp , I installed a heat/fan sensor module which solved the problem .
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Which of the multiple points did you sense? If just sensing the air without the fan actually running, you just opened the thermal control loop.

IME, this is a DIY fix with significant pitfalls.
 
#88
I don't understand the above comment from aged horse: Let's say, as the OP stated, that he wishes to use
his SVT in a quiet environment w/o noise. OK.... At low "bedroom" levels, it would seem that heat would be a fraction of
what it would be under performance/live conditions. So if a certain temp is safe without a fan, then instead of risking
damage, why not have a "thermostat" control the fan on/off and perhaps fan speed?

Please tell me what is wrong with that- if it makes things quiet, does not mess with the CFM of the ORIGINAL fan what
could be wrong?

Would this be an easy thing to do?
 
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#89
stevensivak said:
I don't understand the above comment from aged horse: Let's say, as the OP stated, that he wishes to use
his SVT in a quiet environment w/o noise. OK.... At low "bedroom" levels, it would seem that heat would be a fraction of
what it would be under performance/live conditions. So if a certain temp is safe without a fan, then instead of risking
damage, why not have a "thermostat" control the fan on/off and perhaps fan speed?

Please tell me what is wrong with that- if it makes things quiet, does not mess with the CFM of the ORIGINAL fan what
could be wrong?

Would this be an easy thing to do?
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Because with some designs, some parts of the circuit operate hotter and light or no load. For example, the PWM switching frequency increases at light loads and no load which can increase the temperature of some components.

Also, there are multiple locations that some designs sense temperature at, if you sense the wrong component, you can create a failure point.

Some designs have enough protection to just shut down, but some definitely do not. Therefore, the accurate advice (even if you don’t like it) is to leave it to the designers who generally know a lot more about this than you do.
 
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#90
agedhorse said:
Because with some designs, some parts of the circuit operate hotter and light or no load. For example, the PWM switching frequency increases at light loads and no load which can increase the temperature of some components.

Also, there are multiple locations that some designs sense temperature at, if you sense the wrong component, you can create a failure point.

Some designs have enough protection to just shut down, but some definitely do not. Therefore, the accurate advice (even if you don’t like it) is to leave it to the designers who generally know a lot more about this than you do.
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Can a high output bass make an amp heat up? Let’s say the amp doesn’t have the passive/active pad. May be a stupid question but I’ll ask anyway
 
#91
Cory rich40 said:
Can a high output bass make an amp heat up? Let’s say the amp doesn’t have the passive/active pad. May be a stupid question but I’ll ask anyway
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Not directly. The signal produced by a bass is going to be a fraction of a watt and be dissipated in the input circuit. It's not going to make much of a difference at that point.


However, a hotter input may result in more power developed at the output of the amp. Normally you would turn the input gain down a bit to compensate, or perhaps engage a pad in order to keep the output power in the desired range.
 
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#93
stevensivak said:
So instead of a "smart" fan they design a dumb fan.... which is an easy CYA decision....
Are you saying that off the record, you would not know where to place a sensor switch and
at what temp it would be set to?
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On the record, I absolutely would not know where to place the sensor(s) because each design is different. For example, the power supply and power amp each have different limiting parameters, so at a minimum 2 sensors might be required.

The reason that "dumb" fans might be a better choice is because some (or many) designs benefit from a constant low level air flow that establishes quiescent thermal operating conditions with a "design by intent" gradient. Sometimes, this is an essential part of the performance and it can be done via air flow, mechanical thermal spreaders and often using the PCB copper itself. This is ESPECIALLY when there are thermal protection sensors sensing a thermally critical components, which is the case of many ICEPower modules... and in fact I am the designer of record for a patent that deals with exactly this issue, and specifically with one of the ICEPower module platforms. Getting this right greatly improves reliability.

Since I don't know what Ampeg is doing in their amps (pre-ICEPower specifically), I am not qualified to make the assumptions that you have made because I KNOW BETTER, and I won't give advice that endangers a players amp (because I do know better).
 
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#95
cymbop said:
Not helpful to the OP, but when I take my SVT out to a gig, I'm fond of the following absurd-brag:

The fan that cools my amp is louder than your amp. 😁
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Just note that my comments and answers relate to the SVT micro, that was posted by @jimmydean which is class D.
 

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