[doobooloo]

I'm thinking of organizing a group buy for laser-cut 0.118" (or perhaps thinner) aluminum panels that will fit the dynahi boards with the HS-TWS heatsinks. I am envisioning a simple flat panel that the transistors and the heatsink will mount perfectly to, with the holes for transistors, heatsink, and the pcb board cut out perfectly via a laser cutter. So, no t-bars in this case, just one flat panel. The panel will also have holes where the panel can be mounted onto the chassis via spacers to keep the PCB from bending/breaking from stress.

I'm thinking of using e-machineshop, the cost comes out to be 8~9 dollars a piece for quantities around 40. Which is still rather high but I am willing to pay that amount for a panel made to fit the board perfectly without requiring any further work on the builder's part. If the quantity drops below 20, the prices are jacked up to like 20 dollars a piece, which is not worth it.

I will be buying at least 10, since I have 10 boards. So I'm wondering how many people would be interested in such a group buy. If enough people show interest I will go ahead and design the part and post some iterations on this thread for feedback and maybe very early next year the order can be placed.

Once the dynahi psu board design is finalized I am thinking of doing the psu heatsink panels the same way as well.

Shipping I suppose won't be too much using flat-rate priority mail envelopes with some padding.

A few suggestions needed here are:

1. Any other alternatives where we can get such a simple aluminum panel produced economically in small batches?

2. Any serious downfalls of this simple flat panel approach to heatsinking?

3. Any benefits/downfalls of doing one large panel for both boards?

Please don't PM me at this point regarding the group buy as nothing has been set in stone, but please express your interest/disinterest/opinions/insights on this thread. Thank you!

 

[thrice]

I'd be interested for at least 10 and maybe as many as 20.

 

[randytsuch]

I would worry about getting the heat off with the thin al panel you described.

I took the 450 watt heatsink shown here
http://www.surplussales.com/Heatsinks/HeatSink2.html
and cut it in half, using one half for each board.

Even this heatsink gets pretty warm after I let it run for 30 mins or so, over 100F by the output transistors.

Randy

 

[Jack Head]

Please make sure that you've done the thermal calculations from the posted pictures it would appear the sink needs to be pretty robust

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Count me in for 2 Doob if you go through with it.

 

[ble0t]

I'd be interested in something like this...after all the case work I've done with speaker amps in the past, the one thing I've learned is always have as much fabrication done for you as possible

Put me down for 4 of them to cover the 4 boards I have coming my way...

 

[doobooloo]

Before we do put any money down I will definately run some thermo calcs (perhaps even a FEMLAB simulation) to make sure that the panel will be sufficient enough combined with the heatsink to dissipate all the heat. The heatsink for sure is enough, if mounted correctly, for all the transistors on one dynahi board (if it's good enough for Dr. Gilmore, it's good enough for me

), and at this point I have no reason to doubt that a simple 6mm/0.118" aluminum board that is mounted properly (with thermal paste/pads where necessary) should have problems transferring the heat from the transistors to the heatsink.

On this page you can see that what Dr. Gilmore does is not much different from what I'm planning, the only difference being the panels are bent and the heatsink is mounted upright:

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showp...3&postcount=30

Heatsink being mounted upright compared to down flat should have better thermal properties but I am not too sure if this will be significant if the chassis is well vented. I will find out later.

But in any case, please keep the interest level up and post feedback if you'd like to see this thing come to fruition.

Thanks!

 

[Earwax]

Lets see if I understand correctly. With the bracket you're considering it would be possible to mount the heatsink so the fins are pointing upwards? And the bracket itself could be supported with a spacer off the bottom of the case?

 

[qwerty870]

I'm in for 4.

 

[doobooloo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earwax Lets see if I understand correctly. With the bracket you're considering it would be possible to mount the heatsink so the fins are pointing upwards? And the bracket itself could be supported with a spacer off the bottom of the case?

Yes. And the bracket will also be mounted to the PCB, which will also be supported with spacers.

 

[raif]

I would be interested in around 10 or so.

This is really cool as the whole cutting and mounting of the heatsink "apparatus" is one of the main things keeping me away from getting started on this amp.

 

[Pars]

I'd be interested in these depending on the final design.

 

[philodox]

Count me as interested.

 

[strohmie]

If these panels take one board each, I'm in for four. ^_^

 

[Turing]

I would be in for 2 dpending on design/price.