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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread 8

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#561
D.A.R.K. said:
Looks like the sunon is 40cfm,
compared to the silenx 33cfm.
Looks like doing a 2 ohm load it would indeed be a good idea
to use the original.
Click to expand...


Although this is true, I think if you have the older style venting you're not actually seeing the full 40 cfm out of the stock fan anyway. I put the Silenx in mine and run it at 2 ohms. It does get hotter than before however I have the newer style super vented design chassis and I removed the back cover on my scout to let all those vents work. I haven't done any full nights at high volume with 2 ohms but I will and report back when I do...
 
#562
Well...the old vents are going to limit whatever is in there.
And, new, more vented top will let either fan "do more."

So, personally, I'm sticking with what's in there.
It's never bothered me, even when I had to "remote the head" for studio, and, I don't want to put more heat into it.

ymmv, that's fine.
 
#564
The new top has waay more venting.
I think this was to meet UL requirements, and not because Mesa "felt it needed it," but, it sure can't hurt anything.
IIRC, the new top was ~$50-ish.
 
#565
I have me WA in the Mesa headcase and I can't hear it unless I stick my head around back and listen for it. Never even remotely been an issue for me but maybe I'm just getting old. The fan on the old SWR I used to gig with? Now THAT was loud?
 
#567
Jerry J said:
I went with this particular Silenx based on a post by Vic saying that the original fan put out 36.5 CFM whereas the Silenx was rated at 33 CFM.
Click to expand...

Here's the one I pulled out of my WA:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/so-you-wanna-run-your-mesa-walkabout-scout-2-2-6-ohms-742327/

States 41 CFM!

I put in a Silenx IXP-54-14T. It adjusts from 14-32 depending on the heat of the heatsink. I have a small home studio that I do most of my recording and much of my jamming. That original fan drove me nuts for recording. I didn't want to daily remove my head from the combo and drag all the cables out of the studio into the next room. Other band members would often comment on it to during practice. I think they'd make mention of it because in that somewhat dead room, that fan seemed so loud and overbearing to our in between song conversations.

I really love this amp now. Like others, it was the only downside for me. The new one is completely silent when I'm at low volume and when I practice with the whole band it automatically ramps up in speed and vents the chassis. If it's enough flow for a hard rock gig without P.A. support at 2 ohms I don't know. I'm going to find out though... I have taken the appropriate measures to allow the existing venting to work as well as possible so I'm remaining positive that I won't run into any issues:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/so-you-wanna-run-your-mesa-walkabout-scout-2-2-6-ohms-742327/
 
#568
Chef said:
The new top has waay more venting.
I think this was to meet UL requirements, and not because Mesa "felt it needed it," but, it sure can't hurt anything.
IIRC, the new top was ~$50-ish.
Click to expand...

I bought one about a yr ago and it was 70 + shipping IIRC. The whole thing is basically 1 big vent :-)
 
#569
Mine is 100% original (with the exception of the factory updated input switch and effects loop switch).
The fan is nearly silent.
Have you guys tried to buy one from Mesa?
I can only assume that they got a bad bunch of fans years ago; mine runs very cool at 4 ohms in an Anvil 2U rack.
 
#570
The fans in both of the WAs I've had have been noticeably loud, but not enough for me to bother with switching out the fans yet. I don't think the noisy fans ever had an issue cooling the amp properly, they are just fairly loud compared to similar sized fans (though also capable of more air-flow)..
 
#571
I have had a few WA. The fans were all loud, but not loud enough for me to swap one and void the warranty. The one I currently have is older so I swapped the fan.....MUCH quieter. It wouldn't matter at all at a gig, but while playing on my own at home it's definitely an improvement.
 
#572
lomo said:
I have had a few WA. The fans were all loud, but not loud enough for me to swap one and void the warranty. The one I currently have is older so I swapped the fan.....MUCH quieter. It wouldn't matter at all at a gig, but while playing on my own at home it's definitely an improvement.
Click to expand...

This is where it gets to me. I think that the fan is louder than my old Eden WT800. And certainly louder than the fan in my old blue line SVT. I use the WA mostly for home practice. But in my line of work I have learned that cooling is critical for longevity of components to stay cool so I will probably put the original fan back in.:smug:
 
#573
Jim C said:
Mine is 100% original (with the exception of the factory updated input switch and effects loop switch).
The fan is nearly silent.
Have you guys tried to buy one from Mesa?
I can only assume that they got a bad bunch of fans years ago; mine runs very cool at 4 ohms in an Anvil 2U rack.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with the fan I removed. It's just a lot of wind noise due to the blade design. Here's a interesting thing I noted, the fan is quieter when it's removed from the WA. I believe this is because the fan chuffs the air after it winds up and pressurizes the chassis and the flow is restricted by the venting. The high volume that the stock fan is capable of is actually too much for the chassis to expel and actually makes the fan louder.

This may account for the older units being inherently quieter. Perhaps Mesa changed which fan they use in the WA and upped the fan volume when the went for the UL certification.

With the new fan installed, even at its highest speed, there doesn't seem to be any restriction of flow and it's very quiet. At its lowest speed it's virtually silent with your ear right at the fan but you can still feel the tube heat being expelled out the face of the WA.
 
#574
Jim C said:
Mine is 100% original (with the exception of the factory updated input switch and effects loop switch).
The fan is nearly silent.
Have you guys tried to buy one from Mesa?
I can only assume that they got a bad bunch of fans years ago; mine runs very cool at 4 ohms in an Anvil 2U rack.
Click to expand...
I've also had a couple of WA's - silverface, active/passive selector - and the fans on both were virtually inaudible in normal usage.

Lucky? I dunno.
 
#578
Jim C said:
Mine is 100% original (with the exception of the factory updated input switch and effects loop switch).
The fan is nearly silent.
Have you guys tried to buy one from Mesa?
I can only assume that they got a bad bunch of fans years ago; mine runs very cool at 4 ohms in an Anvil 2U rack.
Click to expand...

All 5 i've owned have been equally loud, and i've owned every version. Even with the vented chassis on the blackface version.
 
#579
while that's fine, as the walkabout will run 2 ohms;
the 15 moves more air by default
so
having a 4 ohm 12 and an 8 ohm 15 "sorta balances that out."
 
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