Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Coolng AVR

Just wondering. Does any other Onkyo owners use some type of fan to help cool it down some? Mine (707) is in a stand that is of an open design but the Onkyo still runs a lot hotter than the Rotel ever did or does. I took a temp reading and the ir therm was reading 128°F. The Rotel was around 30° cooler.

It's powering the VP150 and 2 QS4s. The Rotel is handling the M80s. I couldn't imagine how hot the thing would be if not for the Rotel.

Onkyo's are known to run hotter than most other brands out there.

http://community.crutchfield.com/forums/p/6806/32281.aspx

no kidding Rick, I wonder if you could get the Onkyo to shut down with your 80's if not using the Rotels? I've heard they run very hot.

I have a 707 and never noticed it running hot. It has never shut down. I ran snell type e-3 mains until a few months ago. Now I am pushing the w22 in walls with surrounds all the time.
It runs warm to med warm, but never hot.
Of course I run the surrounds and centres as small. Maybe that has something to do with it?
The Snells were always very easy to drive.

my onkyo txsr700 has been driving my axiom 80`s for 6yrs+ now, no trouble. it does get very hot ( fry an egg hot) no fan added but in an open audio rack...my room is 20` by 30` and have had it @ over 90% on many occasions....on good recordings distortion is very audible @93-95%(have not gone beyond),but i still crank it up for a song or two @ these levels once in awhile..my reference level is 65-75% but has been on for 4-6hrs straight in mid 80`s on several occasions,also no trouble...
on that note still have decided on my new avr yet looking @ denon 3310 or 3308(refurb)

Yes. I fan cool my 906. Problem is that fan cooling makes inside the cabinet very dusty, so you have to vacuum it often. Not necessary to cool, as long as it's in an "open" space (accrdng. to mfr.). My old Haflers and Apts never got this hot on their top surfaces (and I was very mean to them), so cooling makes me feel better (and probably not much else.) The dog now hates to lay within its intake or outake paths. There's also the whhrrr factor, but that's more reason to live loud.

I still use my Snells in my shop. Had 'em since '83--reconed in mid 90's. Boy, they cost a lot of 1983 dollars.

No *&^%
I love the snells. I miss them, but my current setup requires the w22's. And the w22's do exactly what I need.

They sound nice to, but I think the snells were a little "easier"?? Maybe open??

I believe the Onkyos have historically ran hot, so does the H/Ks ... my H/K runs hotter at idle than the Rotel does after being played for a period of time.

I have a fan blowing on m equipment rack as a whole but I’ve always done that not in response to owning an Onkyo. I did do a stress test to see what my Onkyo 3007 could handle before deciding to keep it:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthre...true#Post277837

Since then I’ve never had any problems with it shutting down even during 16+ hour movie/gaming sessions at 80dB reference volume driving 3xM80s, 4xQS8s and 2xM22s at the same time. M80s crossed at 40Hz all others at 80Hz.

I can’t find the post right now but in one of the 2 Onkyo 3007 threads as AVS one member posted a picture of 12 computer fans arrayed 3x4 across the top of his 3007 pulling the heat up and out of the case. Seemed a bit excessive to me.

P.S. if you read my next post in that thread I did get it to shut down after about 5 minutes when I bumped it up after 2 hours at 100dB to 105dB.

P.P.S. YMMV and all the other usual disclaimers.

I've ran the 707 all day without shut down but the excessive heat can't be good, I wouldn't think. I'll probably set up some type of fan to run and put it on a switched outlet on the power center.

I don't think it's so much a worry about shutting down. Keeping any unit cooled will (should) prolong it's life. Remember when the office "computer" was in a big glassed-in room with a raised egg crate floor and always super a/c'd?

I dug up and old case fan and wired it up to an ac to dc 12v adapter. I'll see how well it works, I might need one that can move a bit more air.

That's what I did, Rick (TX-SR805). I found an old power supply that had a smallish plug (rather than a wall-wart) and just plugged it into the switched outlet on the back of the receiver. I have two fans running off that supply - one blowing down into one side of the unit and the other blowing across the top (it is in a semi-enclosed rack). Noise is not an issue.

My understanding is that a good part of the heat problem comes from the video processor, not the amplifier. That's why I have the fan blowing down into the right-rear of the unit (yours may have different architecture).

Both Peter and I have "vintage" Onkyo receivers also. I know mine runs warm. I also know it's been running almost non-stop for about 15 years.

I had an Onkyo 502 before this, it didn't run quite a hot as this newer unit does. I figured as you say Tom, it's the processor so I have it pulling the hot air up. The fan is located at the right rear.

I ended up replacing the fan I had with a 120mm fan. It is connect to the power center on a switched outlet. The bigger fan does quite a good job cooling the Onk.

Did you take any comparative temp readings after installing the fan, Rick?

Yes I did. The ir therm read 106°F after 4 hours of running at near reference levels. Before the fan was installed it was reading 128°F after heavy use.

Excellent! that's a huge difference.

Very impressive difference. How's the fan noise? Do you know offhand what brand of fan it is?

I'm using 120mm fans, too. Silverstone. Very quiet.

Heh. I just (oh, 11 months ago...) pulled a pair of 120mm Silverstones out of my case in favor of the much quieter Scythe fans. Of course, I'm sure my Silverstones are a different model than yours.

I just stopped by BB today and picked up a 120mm fan and wired it for the old trusty H/K. Maybe after running the AVR635 for five years at scorching temps it will make life easier during the golden years, but with my luck it will overheat and blowup during the first day of use with the new cooling fan ... 'cause that's way I roll.

It's a BB brand fan, 'Rockfish Gaming' and it seems very quiet so far.

"Silverstones" sounds like an old guy's balls.

Because......?????

Just how empirical are your findings?

Ha ha. Either you're playing along too well or you missed the lameness of my joke.

That's just frightening.

The brand is Thermaltake, it was from RadioShack. The rating on it was 21dba. Sitting 12 feet away I can't hear it run.

120mm fan from Monoprice works great and is quiet enough. Much better than the two I had before of 80mm size. Splice to 12v adaptor and plug into AVR switched...done.

Ken, I think a lot of the perception of "quiet" also depends on the other devices and the noise floor in your room/home. Between the hard drives in the computer and DVR, the filter in the aquarium, the dishwasher, forced-air heat, etc., I'm not going to be challenging ANYONE for a optimal listening experience. But, you know, I live in the real world. No projector, no man-cave. On the other hand, I have a shared viewing experience with my family basically every day.

I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old, and my listening area is my living room. I hear you...

I laughed out loud at the silverstones joke CV. I think that was one of your best yet

By "empirical," I was refering to the placement of your ears relative to the source.

Don't make me relive that research.

Ain't sayin' much.

Wouldn't ask that of anyone. Just checking that you did your aural homework. It's all good.

Silverstones and a leather satchel?

I think my first guitar amp was a Silverstones.

Without trying to derail the derailment too much...

Regarding the fan, I initially placed the 120mm fan directly on top of the AVR and noticed that it seemed to be only cooling the area in close proximity to the fan so I found several small rubber self adhering bumpers used on kitchen cabinets & drawers and affixed a bumper on each corner of the fan's housing which raised the housing about an 1/8" or so off of the top of the AVR, this made a huge difference with cooling because now the single fan is cooling the entire AVR as well as acting like rubber isolators keeping the noise down. Depending on the size of the cooling vents on your amp or AVR this may or may not work for some but it's certainly worth a try.

I stopped off on the way home from work today and picked up a couple of 80mm fans for each side of the Rotel 2 channel amp, got 'em all connected up (rubber feet and all) and am sacrificing this afternoon with some rather loud listening levels (wife is out for the afternoon!) on the 80s to see if they will keep the tamps better.

I need to get one of those IR temperature meters that Rick is using, it sounds like fun.

Oh yea, and beer ... can't do scientific studies without a few brews on hand. The sacrifices we take in life.

Dude, if you're offering beer, I'm going to show up to help.

Please do Mark, you know I can't do scientific studies without great friends and beer.

And golf ... can't forget the golf!

I have been using Rick's fan method ('cept for cork feet) for 8 months w/ my Onkyo 906. All metal fan/housing. Big difference w/ temps. But, like I said here before, be careful about the dust sucked in, 'cause the fan can do a pretty quick job of forcing the outside dust right into your unit's vents. As soon as you see dust collecting on the blades, it's time to clean it or it will hurl big clumps of dust. Dogs and cats (and peeps) don't help any, either. Then there's Cherios dust...

My $90 electrician hooked it up for me real nice.

I went and bought some of those bumpers Rick mentions. I doubt I'll be using the avr tonight but will report back when I get a chance.

So, is it better to "pull" or "draw" the heat off of a heatsink with a fan, or is it better to "blow" cooler air onto it to dissipate the heat? I've seen both types on amps.

By drawing the hot air up and away from the processor, you're working with and accelerating the natural convection effect. Remember that cooler air moves in from the sides to replace the warm air you're removing.

Rick, overheating isn't something that I'm concerned about(including Onkyo), but ditto Peter's comment about sucking the hot air up.

I've never been too terribly concerned with overheating either John but whenever I saw just how much cooler the H/K runs with the fan I decided to go ahead and run a couple of the smaller fans on the Rotel amp. I ran two of the small fans because of the design of the cooling vents on the amp, four rows of vents on either side of the top with the center being solid with no vents. It now runs much cooler also ... can't hurt, right?

I placed the fans so that they blow up and draw the air through the components like Peter suggested.

How do you know unless you buy one of those awesome laser thermometers? I see a new tool purchase......

I was reading a homebrew blog and saw a picture of a guy measuring the temperature of his wort with an infrared thermometer. Now I want one, too.

Ah, just stick your finger in!

I also use the ir therm to check the surface temps of larger cuts of meat like pork shoulder and brisket. I want the surface temp above 140F before I use a probe therm.

Above 140° there is no worries about pushing bacteria further into the center of the cut of meat.

I love my IR Thermometer, I use it a lot to help diagnose stuck thermostats on engines or A/C and catalytic converter temps etc. I used it the other day here at home to check my hot water heater output.

The guys I work for used to race a couple of Porsche's in the SCCA and have a lot of the neat stuff they used laying around the shop, maybe I'll talk 'em out of one of the IR thermometers.

I just took another reading of the avr with the fan like Rick (the older one )suggested. I wouldn't have believed raising the fan that little bit would have made such a huge difference but it does.

When I put my hand on the Onk it was cool to the touch. I went and got the ir therm to take another reading and it is running 86°F.

That's huge. The volume is around where the last reading was.

That's great Rick, I believe the heated boundary layer that covers the entire top of the component has a chance to get sucked up through the fan with it being elevated just that little bit off of the surface helping the overall performance of the fan.

It didn't take a thermometer for me to be able to tell it was cooling better with the fan elevated, it was obvious ... but I'd still like to have an IR thermometer.

You probably just thought it was cooler, because they sprinkle the fans with the separate-amp Pixie Dust. Big conspiracy.

Check it out.

http://www.soundscapeav.com/atm/coolshelf.html

$200 for a box with a fan in it. Gotta love audio.

You're just upset because you didn't think of combining peanut butter with chocalate and making lots of money.