makeshift cooling

[Bazile]

Hi folks;

I have a decade old Audio Alchemy amp with an outboard power supply. The power supply stays cold, but the amp itself gets too hot to touch for long. It still sounds great btw. It works this way for days on end. Is there any reason I couldn't use it when i travel? Use would be 16 hrs at a time, 3 days a month. I propose cooling with ice in a baggie, using a handcloth to absorb any condensation. Dumb or workable?

Bazile

[tenzip]

If it's been working this way for years, why would you think it suddenly needs more cooling?

You might take the cover off and blow out any dust bunnies, perhaps wipe any heatsinks off to make them more efficient, but I don't think I'd have a bag of water by my amp, thank you.

If you really have to do something, solder up a PC fan to a wall wart, and set it where it will do the most good.

[Pars]

Is this an HPA1? Ask HF'er morphsci about his. He had me build a sigma22 for it when I did some repairs to his amp for him. I noticed that it ran rather warm. He says it runs cooler since switching PSUs. Some amps just run hot. I've read where Nelson Pass said that the proper temperature for a FET device would allow you to touch it but not leave your finger on it for long. I'll have to dig that one up some time (from diyaudio).