For those of you installed your amps in the storage area under the hatch floor, have you had any over heating issues? What have you done to combat that? Has it been effective?

I just got my tC and have a POS 450watt amp down there and it overheats after about an hour of hard running.

computer fans.

a buddy of mine has a carputer down in that tray and it used to overheat just like an amplifier would. he ended up doing 3 80mm computer fans down there. 1 intake and 2 exhaust. no more overheating issues to speak of whatsoever :)

I have two kenwood amps under the hatch floow and I don't have any problems. One is 1000 watts, the other is 980 watts and both have build in fans which seems to keep everything okay. I have them hooked up so that they display there temps on my flip out and I've seen them up to 135 degrees :flame: with no issues.

2 jl amps and no problems!

i have an audiobahn 4002 in there. it was cool at first then i started to tweak the gain and everything.. sob started to over heat. . i had to install a fan.

i've got an alpine M450 down there with no issues. only 400watts though.

i have an audiobahn 4002 in there. it was cool at first then i started to tweak the gain and everything.. sob started to over heat. . i had to install a fan.

sure you don't have the gain up too high??

If you don't cut vents in the foam cubby, pretty much any amp will overheat when dirven hard. Think about it: it's like mounting an amp in a beer cooler.

I run a single 76mm fan (intake) and have a flow-through vent at the other end of the cubby. Amp is only pleasantly warm to the touch.

^ good point. i forgot to mention that i cut out some vents. i also have two fans that i purchased but never installed since I haven't had problems. if i ever get around to upgrading my front/rear speakers and add a new amp down there i will definitely add the fans.

SCI_TC_GUY the gain is only set up at 12oclock (which is about 50%). i have a fan running air into there and a opening for the "exhaust". Audiobahns are just really known to get really really hot. im thinking about changing my amp when i get enough money, but for the time being, the audiobahn (with my CVR12) hits really good. but ever since i installed that fan, the intake fan on the amp just wont shut up. lol. and i know its definately not the fan that i installed cause it was one of those coolermaster ultra silent fans. but yes, i think 50% shouldnt over heat a product to which it goes thermal shutdown. but the fan helped it alot and i havent any probs since (minus the intake fan sound, but i cant hear it when im bumping..lol). :D

The gain can't be measured in a %.... the gain is directly representative of the amount of input voltage the amp is seeing from the RCA's... If your HU puts out 4V at full tilt, the your amp's gain would be almost all the way down... 8v pre-outs as those coming from some Eclipse HU's would require the gain to be turned all the way down on most amps and on some amps, that would still lead to clipping... An amp running off of a line output converter would probably only be receiving 1-2v and therefore the gain would be turned up a little higher, depending on the voltage range of the amp... PM me if you need a little clarification

i meant to say 50% (or half way) up. turning it to the max would be 100%, etc. sorry if there was any confusion. :doh:

Hmmmm. . . I've ghetto rigged fans before. . . since it's a stealth mount, it doesn't have to be pretty. Does anyone have any pics of a CLEAN fan install?

I did a quick temporary fix by using those little felt/plastic circular pad things you use under furniture. Anyway, I stacked a few of em to get them a decent height. I placed them on top of the foam so that there is a very small imperceivable gap so that air can vent. I'll take pictures if anyone is wants me to.

The problem I've had with previous installs and fans is that the very slight noise sometimes bugs me (yeah, I know I am anal). But I'm still considering it. So yeah. . . does anyone have any pics of their fan install?

i have no problem with my Infinity Reference 611a

Hmmmm. . . I've ghetto rigged fans before. . . since it's a stealth mount, it doesn't have to be pretty. Does anyone have any pics of a CLEAN fan install?


http://www.solsociety.com/photos/d/4542-2/cooling.jpg

How's that? :D

Thanks man! You guys are awesome! So many answers and support. . . I'm growing to love the tC forums.

And that's VERY clean.

Silly question, but Im curious how you power these fans? do you run a 16 guage wire to the battery and splice the remote to the amp so that the fan turns on when the car does?

I use a Bosch relay on mine. RTL from the HU into the relay, then the amp on one pole and the fan on the other. So they're switched on together. Whenever the amp is on, the fan is on.

do you have any more pictures you could put up of that?

here is the actual thread mountscion1 with a howto by dr.i. its about a little less than half down the page.

http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=130544&highlight=