HOW HOT DOES YOUR CLASS D AMP GET ?

[Makatak]

When I pack away my Ashdown Little Giant after a rehearsal/practice , i rekon I could almost fry an egg on the bottom of it , the top and sides are relatively cool , ive put stick-on feet to lift the chassis for more ventilation but still hot , is this common with the likes of Markbass and Genz Benz as well ? , Ive never noticed the fan coming on and I dont drive it hard either .

 

[f.clef]

My experience w/ GB shuttles 6 and 9: no noticeable, excessive heat.

 

[faulknersj]

Genz Benz Shuttlemax 6.0 is as cold as ice even when cranked for an outdoor gig or large venue. IMO, no other class D head can hang with a GB head and I have owned Mark Bass etc. Seriously! Give one a whirl some time and you will no longer be GASing for another!

 

[agedhorse]

Class D CAN get hot but with proper design should not. Figure on about 90% overall efficient, a 1000 watt class D amp will dissipate about 25 watts based on average power of 1/4 (1/8 is suitable for PA but not bass). So it shouldn't get very hot on the outside of the chassis.

You might want to give the manufacturer a call, maybe there's something wrong with it that they can help you get fixed?

 

[Munjibunga]

My WTX-500 stays cool as the proverbial cucumber.

 

[KPJ]

My WTX-500 stays cool as the proverbial cucumber.

Same with my GK MB200 and MB500.

 

[Lars_Vegas]

orange terror bass 500 always stays cool! (at least mine!)

 

[Gort]

My experience w/ GB shuttles 6 and 9: no noticeable, excessive heat.

+1

 

[username1]

My swr headlite barely gets lukewarm after a hard workout.

 

[nealw]

My EA Doubler is always cool to the touch, even when driven pretty hard @ 4 ohms.

 

[Jerrold Tiers]

It all depends. The odd thing about class-D is that it may get hot even when "idling". It's just how the losses happen in a class-D....

"Hot" to you is not very hot to a semiconductor. They are pretty happy even if they are hot enough to boil water, or a bit hotter.

Normally the HEATSINK should not be anywhere near that hot, though, I am referring to the innards inside the semiconductors. However, the heatsink can be uncomfortable to touch and the semiconductor devices are still enjoying a balmy low temperature.

If possible, see if another unit of same type gets that hot. If not, you may have a problem. If so, it sounds like a 'design choice".

 

[chadds]

Cool as metal at room temp.

 

[seedokebass]

My SD800 stays cool. I used SWR's for years, and those got hot!

Maybe the fan is not operating?

 

[Jeff Scott]

Both my Markbass F1 and Walter Woods Super barely get warm.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Mine gets warm but mostly from the tube.

 

[pedulla1]

My Ampeg SVT 7Pro stays cool throughout the gig. You can barley tell the amp was working for a few hours it is so cool.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

You'd think my little Eden ENX260 would get hot, since it's working very close to its operating limits, most of the time.

It doesn't.

 

[CharlieC]

This thread is sort of like, "How many of you out there like beer?"

No matter how many reply just as expected, the balance is equally entertaining!

I absolutely love my Crown XLS 1000 and the whole Crown DriveCore family of amplifiers

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=687422

And by the way, they run cool all night long!

Cheers!

 

[Kwesi]

My Markbass F500 gets warm running a 4 ohm cab. My Ibanez Promethean only got warm when I pushed it. My Markbass LMII only got warm when it was pushed. And finally my WTX-500 got warm with a 4 ohm load. None of the Class D amps that I've owned have gotten hot by any means, regardless of the situation.

 

[Terracite]

If it runs hot, and you've never seen the fan come on might be worth checking the fan.