Stereo Amplifier or H-T Receiver Running Hot? Here's a Simple Solution.

July 18, 2018

#260

Gentle reader,

I know I JUST published #259 today, but the cooling fans/plate I ordered yesterday arrived today and I set it up to cool my Pioneer VSX-971V receiver. This receiver was made for home theaters, but it is serving in a much simpler mode, playing FM and CDs plus SACDs in stereo in my home office. Here is a photo of the kit which sits inches from me while at my desk.

This set is new to me. I found the receiver at a thrift store for $14.99 and bought the Denon universal player via eBay for the same amount. It's a sweet combo and I am psyched to be able to crank it up without worries since it's 110 watts per channel in stereo and I have very efficient speakers in here.

Even though this multi-channel receiver was intended for home theater duties, I wanted it to replace my recently departed vintage PROTON AI-3000II all-in-one receiver. I noticed that having the Denon on top with three inch rubber feet acting as spacers, the Denon was quite warm and the receiver's top even warmer.
[The artist and OCD parts of my brain feel that smaller (in this case less-tall) things do not belong on the bottom of a stack. But the evidence was in: that 3 inch gap was not sufficient to allow convection cooling of the receiver to occur. Thus possibly shortening it's life and probably the Denon's too.]

I had just received a flyer from one of my favorite electronics companies, Parts Express, a few days ago. In said flyer was the new AC Infinity Airplate S7  12 inch wide cooling fan system. Not something I would look twice at, but it seemed to be divine intervention in this case. I was all set to buy one from them, but one word came to mind: Amazon. Here is their link:
AC Infinity AIRPLATE S7, Quiet Cooling Fan System 12" with Speed Control, for Home Theater AV Cabinets  

It was less expensive, not much, but with PRIME, shipping was free and it arrived today after ordering it yesterday!
I'd previously measured the grille atop the receiver and suspected this cooling plate would be almost ideal.

Well packed in the factory and seems to be well made too.

Cool thing, pun intended, is that one can easily remove the fans and flip them over so the fans blow the opposite way. Clever.

Cleverly made to run off of a USB port AND they can be daisy-chained if one needs more than one.

Fortunately, a robust AC transformer is included. Look how they added grip-ridges for ease of removal or plugging in.

After more than 35 years working on subway car's HVAC equipment, I know the importance of filtering air. I added a whisper fan to my Dynaco Stereo 200 power amplifier which I bought used via eBay. The left channel would cut out and my suspicion was correct that the transistors were overheating. That fan, which I filtered, quietly cools it and there have been no more problems. 
The black foam padding, top and bottom were ideal for my needs. At first, I used a utility knife and straight edge to cut out a section from the inside of the lid. Turns out they used double-sided tape and peeling it off the bottom of the box was no problem. 

Above is the grille on the top of the receiver and below is the fan and foam being test fit.

I cut it to fit the bottom of the plate since the fans blow out and taped it with masking tape to secure it. Masking tape, if you don't wait too long comes off cleanly. This makes cleaning the filter and reinstalling it a breeze. No pun intended.

The AC adapter fits nicely in the one AC plug in the back of the receiver. There is plenty of wiring length so I shortened it and secured it with double sides hook-loop tape.

Note the three-speed switch on the power wiring.

Above was my initial method, to have it blow filtered air into the receiver case. However, even on high, I could feel no air coming out of the grille on the side of the receiver. At first, I thought, maybe two layers of foam are too much. These fans do not rotate very quickly.

Then, I realized that trying to push air through a restricted opening (the bars of the grille) that was smaller than the fans, was counterproductive. I flipped the plate over, left the filter in place on the bottom, it won't keep dirt out of the receiver, but I won't have dirty fans. I will place a piece of filter material over the side grille and block the edges of the grille on top so that air is not pulled in there and immediately exhausted again.
As the fans are running and after some loud playing of music, I can definitely feel warm air being removed which is exactly what I should. Mission accomplished!

The first thing I noticed when I picked up the box, is that Amazon slapped the label right on the product's box. Then I read the yellow label and shook my head. At least the Post Office people didn't drop it. Also good it was only two fans and not something truly delicate. 

So, there you have it. If I wanted to get technical, and if there is clearance, I could removed the receiver's cover, cut an opening for the fan plate, screw in on. Run the wiring internally......or just leave it as it is. Can't put anything on top, but I proved that is not a good idea. If you find this article helpful, please leave a comment, either here, or on FaceBook.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Scott

July 18, 2018
#260