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Mesa Boogie Walkabout Mega-thread Part 10

#5,703
DionClassic said:
I didn’t realize but I have a noctua

Noctua NF-A8 PWM​


I haven’t run mine super hot though… mine is a V1 walkabout running at 4 ohm. Was yours the same model fan as mine?
Click to expand...
yes, same reference... and that's why @agedhorse is the one to trust :-) one thermal shutdown for me and that's one too much. I prefer a noisy fan than an expensive repair (or worse : impossible because the Mosfets are almost unavailable now).
 
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#5,704
Christophe C said:
Yes... but I would like to know the specs behind the "moderately efficient"
:)

Thank you. I am aware of this ohm issue, that's why I already followed your advise to swap the original 4 ohm Scout speaker for a 8 ohm Eminence Deltalite 2512.
During saturday gig, the amp "died" but the DI hopefully kept working. One hour later, after the gig, it came back to life.
I opened the amp and : ta-dah : the fan is the noctua non original part. There were some previous posts about the potential weakness of the noctua fan "upgrade". Saturday gig was inside, hot air, no good ventilation, I used an extension cab (walkabout 12" 8 ohms) with my walkabout scout (8 ohms) and I cranked it more than usual (gain at 10 o'clock and master at 12). I presume the airflow was too weak for my version 1 (solid lid amp & solid wood plank).
Click to expand...
Yes, this is exactly why I discourage that fan modification. The amp requires significant cooling. I will talk to our lead tech for the information when I get into the shop later this morning, my.
 
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#5,705
Here's the correct fan, I believe the original part was discontinued by the manufacturer and the new parts have almost doubled in cost so this is a much better value (while we still have them in stock at the old pricing).

store.mesaboogie.com

Fan, Sunon Ball Bearing

The official Mesa Boogie online store for factory replacement parts, custom parts, hardware, shirts, hats and accessories.
store.mesaboogie.com store.mesaboogie.com

Part of the reason for the increased noise (aside from the airflow itself) is that these fans are ball bearing, which are a little noisier than sleeve bearings but have about 10x the service life.

Here are the original specs:
1754932230634.png
 
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#5,706
Thank you. I would happily buy it from Mesa boogie but bring in Europe makes things complicated.
Maybe this alternative is near enough : Invalid Link Removed

Or this one :
Sunon
With the following specs :
Axial fan EF80251B1-1000U-A99
Nominal voltage 12 V/DC
Min. supply voltage 4.5 V/DC
Max. supply voltage 13.8 V/DC
Supply voltage 4.5 - 13.8 V/DC
Power consumption (max.) 0.125 A
Power 1.5W
Bearing type Ball bearings
Sled speed 3200 rpm
Noise development (max.) 33 dB
Airflow 69.94 m³/h = around 40 cfm
Connection Aen
Max. pressure 44.82 Pa = around 0.18in
Color (specific) Black
Material Thermoplastic
Lifetime 70000 h
Weight 101.8 g
Min. temperature -10°C
Max. temperature 70°C
Length 25 mm
Width 80 mm
Height 80 mm
 
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#5,707
DionClassic said:
Looks like from somewhere in the thread someone said the original is rated at 36.5 CFM @ 31 dBA… I’m not sure what that means though, maybe you do?
Click to expand...
CFM = Cubic Feet Per Minute, so volume of air flow
31 dBA = 31 decibels (A weighted), so a measure of noise/sound intensity ... how loud the fan is while moving 36.5 cubic feet of air per minute

and let me just add that, as a proud and happy Walkabout owner, it's very cool to see that were going on 20 years of Walkabout postings here on Talkbass. That is quite the great run!
 
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#5,708
Christophe C said:
Thank you. I would happily buy it from Mesa boogie but bring in Europe makes things complicated.
Maybe this alternative is near enough : Invalid Link Removed

Or this one :
Sunon
With the following specs :
Axial fan EF80251B1-1000U-A99
Nominal voltage 12 V/DC
Min. supply voltage 4.5 V/DC
Max. supply voltage 13.8 V/DC
Supply voltage 4.5 - 13.8 V/DC
Power consumption (max.) 0.125 A
Power 1.5W
Bearing type Ball bearings
Sled speed 3200 rpm
Noise development (max.) 33 dB
Airflow 69.94 m³/h = around 40 cfm
Connection Aen
Max. pressure 44.82 Pa = around 0.18in
Color (specific) Black
Material Thermoplastic
Lifetime 70000 h
Weight 101.8 g
Min. temperature -10°C
Max. temperature 70°C
Length 25 mm
Width 80 mm
Height 80 mm
Click to expand...
This looks like the correct replacement for the discontinued fan.

You can see why ball bearing fans are used in premium products even though they are a couple dB noisier... 70,000 hour lifespan versus about 10,000 hours (real world) for the sleeve bearings.
 
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#5,709
pfschim said:
CFM = Cubic Feet Per Minute, so volume of air flow
31 dBA = 31 decibels (A weighted), so a measure of noise/sound intensity ... how loud the fan is while moving 36.5 cubic feet of air per minute

and let me just add that, as a proud and happy Walkabout owner, it's very cool to see that were going on 20 years of Walkabout postings here on Talkbass. That is quite the great run!
Click to expand...
Indeed! At this point I think my time with a Walkabout has surpassed my time with any other single amp by probably at least 200%, including SVTs, 400+, Prodigy, and quite a few others. It ticks all my boxes these days and even in my much louder days I was always excited for any opportunity to use it when I could- even just as a killer tube DI for recording
 
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#5,710
agedhorse said:
This looks like the correct replacement for the discontinued fan.

You can see why ball bearing fans are used in premium products even though they are a couple dB noisier... 70,000 hour lifespan versus about 10,000 hours (real world) for the sleeve bearings.
Click to expand...
Are you referring to the Sanyo or the Sunon example he linked to?
 
#5,711
Sunon, that's the OEM brand that was originally used. I did not look at the other.

The Sanyo fan is not correct, it has a 3 wire connection tach feedback circuit that may not work properly in a 2 wire circuit without some fiddling, and it has 1/2 the rated lifespan. The Sunon is very close to the original part
 
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#5,712
agedhorse said:
Sunon, that's the OEM brand that was originally used. I did not look at the other.

The Sanyo fan is not correct, it has a 3 wire connection tach feedback circuit that may not work properly in a 2 wire circuit without some fiddling, and it has 1/2 the rated lifespan. The Sunon is very close to the original part
Click to expand...
Thanks! It looks like the Mesa fan is out of stock so I may grab one of these. I put one of the quieter fans in mine long ago and haven't ever had any issues (I gave up with trying to push the amp to work in too loud environments before the new fan so I've probably never really put the replacement fan to the test), but given my love for the amp I may go back. I think I still have the original fan somewhere, but I seem to recall it having a damaged blade and these fans are cheap enough that its worth grabbing a new one
 
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#5,713
sunbeast said:
Thanks! It looks like the Mesa fan is out of stock so I may grab one of these. I put one of the quieter fans in mine long ago and haven't ever had any issues (I gave up with trying to push the amp to work in too loud environments before the new fan so I've probably never really put the replacement fan to the test), but given my love for the amp I may go back. I think I still have the original fan somewhere, but I seem to recall it having a damaged blade and these fans are cheap enough that its worth grabbing a new one
Click to expand...
Did you give customer service a call? I thought we still have some.
 
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#5,714
pfschim said:
CFM = Cubic Feet Per Minute, so volume of air flow
31 dBA = 31 decibels (A weighted), so a measure of noise/sound intensity ... how loud the fan is while moving 36.5 cubic feet of air per minute

and let me just add that, as a proud and happy Walkabout owner, it's very cool to see that were going on 20 years of Walkabout postings here on Talkbass. That is quite the great run!
Click to expand...
Awesome thanks.

The walkabout may be the most impactful bass combo since the B15…

Even this day with all the options out there, I look at what I want in one amp, and it really does check all the boxes from sound to portability. The combo aspect is what separates it even from the micro heads and Neo micro stacks. Something about being able to tackle 90% of medium to small gigs with a hand held 1x12 combo that is not a compromise by any means but the actual perfect ingredient of sound is incredible, and the fact that this amp is a 20 year old design is even more impressive.

Anyway, rock on walkabouters.
 
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#5,717
agedhorse said:
Sunon, that's the OEM brand that was originally used. I did not look at the other.

The Sanyo fan is not correct, it has a 3 wire connection tach feedback circuit that may not work properly in a 2 wire circuit without some fiddling, and it has 1/2 the rated lifespan. The Sunon is very close to the original part
Click to expand...
I have ordered and received this sunon fan. I tested it with a 12v power supply and it works.
So I decided to swap the noctua fan installed by the previous owner by the sunon.
Before removing the noctua fan, I just cut the wires from the noctua and connected the sunon. Bad news : thé sunon fan turns very slowly and definitely not comparable when I tested it with an external power supply. Weird… there is 12v (almost) at thé connection. What could be wrong ?
I reconnected thé noctua and it turns fast as usual.
I don’t understand…
 
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#5,720
Christophe C said:
thank you. Unfortunately it’s the right reference. I checked it with a 9v battery and it spins alright. Also with a 12v dc power supply.
I will check tomorrow again thé voltage and amps with the noctua fan installed and then install the sunon and compare the voltage and amps… strange
Click to expand...
Too strange.
 
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