To Mr. Pass or who ever may know:
Is the heatsink extrusion custom made for Firstwatt or is it a stock extrusion that an average Joe could order from a heatsink vendor? (Obviously a minimum order is usually required if so.)
It just looks ideal for many small DIY amp projects on this site that I would like to build.
Thanks, MJ
Is the heatsink extrusion custom made for Firstwatt or is it a stock extrusion that an average Joe could order from a heatsink vendor? (Obviously a minimum order is usually required if so.)
It just looks ideal for many small DIY amp projects on this site that I would like to build.
Thanks, MJ
Thanks for your reply.
It will save me a lot of time searching every heatsink vendors website for something like those.
It's funny how finding heatsinks for these class A amps seems to be one of the biggest hurdles in the construction phase. From searching local surplus stores to ebay it's hard to find just the right ones.
I do have to admit I love the fact that when I look at the Pass DIY Gallery and see everyone has built their chasis a little different from one another. I want people to know I built it myself when they see it. It would take the soul out of it for me if I just bought it out of a catalog.
MJ
It will save me a lot of time searching every heatsink vendors website for something like those.
It's funny how finding heatsinks for these class A amps seems to be one of the biggest hurdles in the construction phase. From searching local surplus stores to ebay it's hard to find just the right ones.
I do have to admit I love the fact that when I look at the Pass DIY Gallery and see everyone has built their chasis a little different from one another. I want people to know I built it myself when they see it. It would take the soul out of it for me if I just bought it out of a catalog.
MJ
Nelson Pass said:
The kitchen table must be really enjoyable.
Just as storage.
The FW heatsink differs from the ones used on the VolksAmp and the "small" X-models.
Remembering what you said about audio product life cycles, can i assume that the visual brand differentiation between the two lines has a greater importance than long term strategy ?
(why i included VolksAmp in the post. Your comments always include more than what covers the question, appreciated)
)
Nelson Pass said:I have about 4,000 sq ft of shop space (used to house PL in
the old days) that looks a lot like the warehouse where they
stored the Ark in the first Indiana Jones movie. Piles and piles
of boxes of amplifier parts, speaker drivers and computer stuff.
Not really as amusing as you'd think...
where's da warehouse?
have you dogs around?
even better-do ya need night keeper?
As of moving into my present house, I finally managed to set up a dedicated space for electronics. My woodworking shop has about six or eight times the square footage, but then table saws (of which I have two), band saws, and the like are much larger than oscilloscopes. I could easily use more space for electronics, but something else would have to give. One possibility is to take over the area I use for brewing, which, sadly, hasn't seen much use recently.
Heatsinks, caps, and transformers take up the majority of the space I have available. I can't afford the space to keep older projects intact and generally dismantle them. It also allows me to recycle the more expensive parts. As of a couple of years ago, I began keeping circuit boards of projects. If I want it back in service, I can whip up a power supply fairly quickly. Point to point stuff goes bye-bye quickly.
Not having sawdust in my electronics is a pleasure.
Grey
Heatsinks, caps, and transformers take up the majority of the space I have available. I can't afford the space to keep older projects intact and generally dismantle them. It also allows me to recycle the more expensive parts. As of a couple of years ago, I began keeping circuit boards of projects. If I want it back in service, I can whip up a power supply fairly quickly. Point to point stuff goes bye-bye quickly.
Not having sawdust in my electronics is a pleasure.
Grey
I quite endorse the looks of the F1 and the Volksamp, but according to common heatsink theory, turning the fins 90 deg to natural convection flow looses some 25-30% of the optimum efficiency.
Finding efficient heatsinks for heavy class A use is no problem as such, - it's just that the price is close to horrendeous.
As for the custom extrusions, we recently had two different types made for work ,- one tiny at appx. 150 grams/meter a and a large one at appx 5-6 kilo/meter. In both cases the tooling price was appx 2500 USD and production appx 90 USD prr kilo of material used. The min. order is around 40 kilos these days.
I haven't drawn the cross section of the F1 sinks, but a quick "guesstimate" is in the order of 2.5 K / meter...??
If this holds up, the price pr. heatsink is in the vicinity of 100-120USD each. ......maybe 150 if my "guestimate" is wrong.
I guess these sinks would have to be milled for a true mounting flat.
Norway is well known internationally for its aluminium production.
Finding efficient heatsinks for heavy class A use is no problem as such, - it's just that the price is close to horrendeous.
As for the custom extrusions, we recently had two different types made for work ,- one tiny at appx. 150 grams/meter a and a large one at appx 5-6 kilo/meter. In both cases the tooling price was appx 2500 USD and production appx 90 USD prr kilo of material used. The min. order is around 40 kilos these days.
I haven't drawn the cross section of the F1 sinks, but a quick "guesstimate" is in the order of 2.5 K / meter...??
If this holds up, the price pr. heatsink is in the vicinity of 100-120USD each. ......maybe 150 if my "guestimate" is wrong.
I guess these sinks would have to be milled for a true mounting flat.
Norway is well known internationally for its aluminium production.
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