[Tristor]

Howdy folks,
 
I just got my stack setup this morning.  I jumped the gun a little bit, because my new DAC has not yet arrived, so I used my somewhat aged Zero DAC that's been modded (HDAM in the pre-amp stage, OPA627 in the head-amp stage, and an RK27 pot).  After around 4 or 5 hours of operation I lost audio in the right channel, upon investigation I found that having them stacked together was causing more heat than I thought to get shunted into the DAC from the amp.  I've got it shut down now and cooling off, and by my estimations it didn't exceed the max operating temperature of the DAC unit, but it got pretty close.  
 
So, I guess my question is what should I do about this in anticipation of my new DAC.  I don't really have the space available to have them unstacked, and I typically listen for between 5 and 8 hours.  My immediate thought was to get a clip-on fan unit of some kind to attach to my desk blowing across the top of the amp to help cool it down, however I don't want to negatively impact the performance of the amp by doing so and I know that tubes are intended to run relatively hot.  So my next thought is to come up with some kind of spacer I can use between the amp and the DAC below that gives a larger air gap and removes any metal to metal contact from occurring (although I did put the rubber feet on the Lyr, so metal shouldn't be touching now).
 
I'm open to suggestions.  I'm pretty sure my Zero is okay, but regardless of it's outcome I want to ensure the new DAC unit is not going to end up with a shortened lifespan because of the combination.  Thanks.

 

[Tristor]

An update on this.  Today after having let it cool overnight, I tested everything out.  Unfortunately it's not an improved situation.  Instead of missing audio in the right channel, I just get white noise/power hiss.  After further investigation it appears the DAC chip itself is toasted in my Zero, and more than likely it exceeded its thermal envelope when I was using it previously.  Not the best news, but news I can live with.  The new DAC will be here Tuesday.  I'm going to try to repair my Zero at some point, but unfortunately this means the answer to my question is even more important.
 
Does anybody out there sell "amp stands" or something of that nature, that provides a shelf raised up for the amp above the rest of the gear that can resist the heat (hard silicone rubber maybe?)?
 
Thanks.

 

[LostWeekend]

  I would have thought it would be easy to find a small two shelf thing.  You could always buy a couple of those small Cubby hole type cubes and put one on top of another, also, if you type "heat shield" into google, there should be quite a few automotive and industrial solutions to the problem.

 

[Tristor]

I rigged up a stand by combining some work in my erector set with http://www.amazon.com/Sorbothane-Hemisphere-Non-Skid-Adhesive-Durometer/dp/B003IMJ3S2/ and added in a fan clipped to my desk blowing between the dac and the amp (not on the tubes).  It seems to have considerably dropped the casing temperature and it's well within normal bounds now.  Thanks.