Mine runs as hot, I asked Hypex and apparently it is not a problem but it was for me: I want to camoflage my subs into fotstools but I don't feel comfortable covering a 70-80 degree steel plate under all that fabric and stuffing. So in the end I took out the plate amps and bought dedicated aluminum enclosures to bring the heat down and let me place them elsewhere with better airflow.
My other idea was to mount a heat sink on the plate itself, which is OK to do and will not void the warranty as long as they can still access all the screws and service it in case of fault (I asked them about this too
)
My other idea was to mount a heat sink on the plate itself, which is OK to do and will not void the warranty as long as they can still access all the screws and service it in case of fault (I asked them about this too
)It is interesting to hear this because i also had the same concern about a 4 x UCD400 amplifier which i thought runs too hot. Comparing to the PSC2.400 which contains 2 x UCD400 on a 330 mm x 142 mm x 2.5mm thick aluminium plate, i have at least double this surface area of aluminium on my case.
If Hypex feels the PSC2.400 is adequately designed thermally for 2 UCD400 modules i guess we can conclude the modules are actually quite happy to run rather hotter than most would want or expect.
If Hypex feels the PSC2.400 is adequately designed thermally for 2 UCD400 modules i guess we can conclude the modules are actually quite happy to run rather hotter than most would want or expect.
The modules are likely fine with it yeah, keep in the mind that the PSC2.400 has a built in limiter if it gets too hot which I don't think vanilla UCD400s have.
Forgot to mention the temp of the aluminium back plate,
Before: sorry not recorded
Now after 4 hour of loud music 47C max
The SMPS1200A400 itselfs got barely warm on a pre-test and there is now zero heat up when touching the outer side of the box where it is mounted.
Sound wise there is a little but noticeable tighter/drier bass, and for my composure I know (now) it can't perform better than this
Before: sorry not recorded
Now after 4 hour of loud music 47C max
The SMPS1200A400 itselfs got barely warm on a pre-test and there is now zero heat up when touching the outer side of the box where it is mounted.
Sound wise there is a little but noticeable tighter/drier bass, and for my composure I know (now) it can't perform better than this
I bought a pile of ucd2ks & ucd700s from Hypex.
I immediately noticed that one of the ucd2ks gets really hot, even smells hot. I took it out and of the heatsink and ran it idle with no signal.
Then it gets really hot, Idle power is 35W, they're probably all turned into heat, as there's nmo sound when idling.
I tried two more modules and they get hot as well.
Losing 35W is a problem as this is a mobile sound project, the two ucd2ks loose 35+35=70W and the two ucd700 15+15= 30 watts.
Altogether the four modules does 100W of waste heat when not playing! Is that what they call efficiency?
It might end up being a problem, heatsink for all four is 20x35x5cm extruded aluminium, I calculated that 200W should be the max heat coming out of them.
How did I reach that conclusion?
Well rms is not the same as continuous watts, for instance a digam7000 puts out 2x3500W@2 ohms, but only draws 1350W.
So continuous power for this is 1350W and loss about 10% is 135W
My modules should deliver 1600+2000+200+200 = 4000W rms
They should draw no more than 1000W continuos and the heat loss should be only 10% of this, that's 100W AT FULL POWER.
But eventually I found that the amplifiers creates as much heat when idling as they where expected to when playing full power!
I should've read the manual more throughout.
But still there should be heatsink enough for at least another 100W
I immediately noticed that one of the ucd2ks gets really hot, even smells hot. I took it out and of the heatsink and ran it idle with no signal.
Then it gets really hot, Idle power is 35W, they're probably all turned into heat, as there's nmo sound when idling.
I tried two more modules and they get hot as well.
Losing 35W is a problem as this is a mobile sound project, the two ucd2ks loose 35+35=70W and the two ucd700 15+15= 30 watts.
Altogether the four modules does 100W of waste heat when not playing! Is that what they call efficiency?
It might end up being a problem, heatsink for all four is 20x35x5cm extruded aluminium, I calculated that 200W should be the max heat coming out of them.
How did I reach that conclusion?
Well rms is not the same as continuous watts, for instance a digam7000 puts out 2x3500W@2 ohms, but only draws 1350W.
So continuous power for this is 1350W and loss about 10% is 135W
My modules should deliver 1600+2000+200+200 = 4000W rms
They should draw no more than 1000W continuos and the heat loss should be only 10% of this, that's 100W AT FULL POWER.
But eventually I found that the amplifiers creates as much heat when idling as they where expected to when playing full power!
I should've read the manual more throughout.
But still there should be heatsink enough for at least another 100W
Yep, basically UcD get hotter than you might expect. I share your view, for an efficient design, they are not efficient. They waste energy at idle, like having a light bulb on all the time.
Just have to find ways to deal with the heat, the sound quality is worth it. Feels more like dealing with Class A.
I will be revisit this thermal issue when i get some time, at the moment 4 UCD400 been running for months now and although chassis is warm/hot, things working ok. I turn on and off daily - worry about the physical stresses of heating up and cooling down regularly.
Have seen quotes from Bruno that suggest the "high" temperatures are expected i.e. "you want to be able to touch the chassis". OK, that means keep it around 60 C.
Just have to find ways to deal with the heat, the sound quality is worth it. Feels more like dealing with Class A.
I will be revisit this thermal issue when i get some time, at the moment 4 UCD400 been running for months now and although chassis is warm/hot, things working ok. I turn on and off daily - worry about the physical stresses of heating up and cooling down regularly.
Have seen quotes from Bruno that suggest the "high" temperatures are expected i.e. "you want to be able to touch the chassis". OK, that means keep it around 60 C.
I think your calculation is about right.
I have (4 x UcD400) + (1 x SMPS 1200)
60W idle dissipation according to plug in power and energy monitor.
I think UcD400 use about 12 watts at idle.
Can you tell more about this?
ALL my modules started frying!
Power supply fuses blew and smoke came out from amps when new fuses was put in.
I checked all voltages, +-80V & correct driver & opamp voltage.
Capacitors has popped, eventually, after checking everything I plugged it back in, took out the smoking amp and fired up again, then the next one smoked.
Seemed like some strange chain reaction.
Most annoying thing is that I didn't find any particular reason why they blew, this scares me, will it happen again if I rebuild it?
I was told that this thing could happen to the amps if ground disappears or touches + or - rail, this did not happen, but one battery went in protection mode at one of the smoke-runs.
It has all been running perfect for a week.
It runs of a series of four 36 V litium batteries, giving around -80V, 0V & +80V. Each battery has a fuse & a power supply connected.
Any suggestions?
I'll sent the broken amps to Hypex for a check, I certainly hope they find a way to make less wasteful amps, otherwise we'll have to look in new directions...
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.