More about the chassis
The chassis is made of 2mm steel plate, powder coated in black (matt finish) and weights around 20Kg - 25Kg. I had it custom made in a machine shop and it consist of 4 parts, the main chassis, the "PSU module" and the 2 fan covers (to mount the fans). The chassis is also welded at the edge. DecaDry transfer was used for the back panel (IEC socket).
The chassis is made of 2mm steel plate, powder coated in black (matt finish) and weights around 20Kg - 25Kg. I had it custom made in a machine shop and it consist of 4 parts, the main chassis, the "PSU module" and the 2 fan covers (to mount the fans). The chassis is also welded at the edge. DecaDry transfer was used for the back panel (IEC socket).
earlier design of the faceplate
This is the original design. I originally wanted a sporty look for the Aleph 5, with bright red fan covers.
Version 1 of the wooden faceplate
Version 1.5
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
This is the original design. I originally wanted a sporty look for the Aleph 5, with bright red fan covers.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Version 1 of the wooden faceplate
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Version 1.5
just amazing !
Hi Icceman!
IMHO this is the most beautiful DIY Aleph so far, though other projects are also very nice and professional.
It makes my own growing A 5 project look lousy to me!
I like your PSU design probably best among other fine feautures.
The case surface quality is also stunning!
Please tell us more about the details.
Congratulations
Franz
Hi Icceman!
IMHO this is the most beautiful DIY Aleph so far, though other projects are also very nice and professional.
It makes my own growing A 5 project look lousy to me!
I like your PSU design probably best among other fine feautures.
The case surface quality is also stunning!
Please tell us more about the details.
Congratulations
Franz
I've design the faceplate with the help of my friend in Puerto Rico (J. Gaspar Rivera). Below is the link to the logo (600DPI):
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid48/p672380e97791a0890279258f592b3835/fcbd9e90.jpg.orig.jpg
I've already sent the logo (11cm x 11cm) for laser engraving/gold plating.
Dimensions of the handles
Finder 16A Modular Latching Relay (16A, 2NO)
Datasheet : http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/4038.pdf
2 x 500VA 30-0-30 Talema toroid. Discreet bridge rectifier using 18 x 43CTQ100 schottky diodes. 20 x 15,000uF 63V Nichicon Gold tunes. 4 x 4uF Solen. 4 x 2.2mH JANTZEN Baked Wire Coil Inductors (16.5 gauge). 2 x 1uF Class X and 2 x 4700pF Class Y caps for AC filtering. Telflon silver coated wires. Output (No load) : 41V, 10mV ripple.
The fans are 80mm Papst 8412NGL. Surplus heatsinks rated at 0.2C/W
PCBs are from Kristijan (http://web.vip.hr/pcb-design). REL RTX film caps and Blackgates electrolytic caps. Welwyn RC55Y 0.1% resistors
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid48/p672380e97791a0890279258f592b3835/fcbd9e90.jpg.orig.jpg
I've already sent the logo (11cm x 11cm) for laser engraving/gold plating.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Dimensions of the handles
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Finder 16A Modular Latching Relay (16A, 2NO)
Datasheet : http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/4038.pdf
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
2 x 500VA 30-0-30 Talema toroid. Discreet bridge rectifier using 18 x 43CTQ100 schottky diodes. 20 x 15,000uF 63V Nichicon Gold tunes. 4 x 4uF Solen. 4 x 2.2mH JANTZEN Baked Wire Coil Inductors (16.5 gauge). 2 x 1uF Class X and 2 x 4700pF Class Y caps for AC filtering. Telflon silver coated wires. Output (No load) : 41V, 10mV ripple.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The fans are 80mm Papst 8412NGL. Surplus heatsinks rated at 0.2C/W
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
PCBs are from Kristijan (http://web.vip.hr/pcb-design). REL RTX film caps and Blackgates electrolytic caps. Welwyn RC55Y 0.1% resistors
More details
The original fan controller uses PWM, but it produce a high frequency buzz, very irritating
. So I took out the PWM circuit and replace it with a linear voltage regulator (LM317). No more buzz and now I can barely hear the fans (6V).🙂
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The original fan controller uses PWM, but it produce a high frequency buzz, very irritating
. So I took out the PWM circuit and replace it with a linear voltage regulator (LM317). No more buzz and now I can barely hear the fans (6V).🙂
Blow, Suck, What's the difference as long as fresh cool air passes over the sinks.
I love it. I'm fan cooling mine as well (to some degree)
I've bought some neg coef thermisters that will vary the fan speed from minimum at room temp to full speed at 60 deg by voltage devider and op amp.
Brian/ sometimes thinking outside of the box
I love it. I'm fan cooling mine as well (to some degree)
I've bought some neg coef thermisters that will vary the fan speed from minimum at room temp to full speed at 60 deg by voltage devider and op amp.
Brian/ sometimes thinking outside of the box
I've read this somewhere and I thought it makes a lot of sense.
"To cool down the hot soup, you blow air into it".
Have you ever seen anybody trying to cool down the hot soup by sucking air out of it?
"To cool down the hot soup, you blow air into it".
Have you ever seen anybody trying to cool down the hot soup by sucking air out of it?
This is quite a different analogy.😉 We need air movement and heat exchange between the fins. It doesn't really matter if you blow or suck the air (although sucking causes less turbulences). If the heatsinks were uniform, flat piece of metal (like the surface of a soup in a bowl) blowing air would definitely be a better choice.😉
Peter Daniel said:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Yes, it doesn't really matter if u blow or suck the air🙂, but due to the length of the heatsink (38cm), it's more efficient to suck out the air (IMHO). That is also the reason why I using fan covers to cover up the heatsinks. The fan covers will prevent (reduce) the effect of a temperature gradient (1 end colder and the other hotter). I will also need to increase the fan speed if I were to blow air towards the heatsinks. This will cause more turbulences (more noise) as it's not a flat piece of metal. Most electrical appliances (projectors) also have their fans sucking out air, so there must be a very good reason why they did that (not blow in).
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I'll be using PTFE foam tape to insulate the wooden faceplate from the chassis. This should prevent the wood from warping.
Difference between the two modes
I thought I read it somewhere also... but the exact opposite. Note fcel I have no offence to your comment.
If the volume of concern (i.e. the space where hot air is to be removed) is captive (surrounded on all sides except two to allow entrance and exit of air), then the sucking action will create an instantaneous vacuum in the vicinity, and this reaction continues until fresh air is brought in from the environment.
In addition, the hot air will have a relatively lower pressure, it is natural for air to enter from an area of higher pressure to lower pressure. This is inline with the sucking action.
On the other hand, the blowing action will initially increase the pressure in the hot air region, and I vaguely remembered from my year one chemistry that this action will increase temperature (please someone correct me if I am wrong). This phenomenon exist prior to the removal of hot air. However, the only problem left to be explained is how can the fan push the hot air from low pressure area to high pressure area
??
Any comments?
I thought I read it somewhere also... but the exact opposite. Note fcel I have no offence to your comment.
If the volume of concern (i.e. the space where hot air is to be removed) is captive (surrounded on all sides except two to allow entrance and exit of air), then the sucking action will create an instantaneous vacuum in the vicinity, and this reaction continues until fresh air is brought in from the environment.
In addition, the hot air will have a relatively lower pressure, it is natural for air to enter from an area of higher pressure to lower pressure. This is inline with the sucking action.
On the other hand, the blowing action will initially increase the pressure in the hot air region, and I vaguely remembered from my year one chemistry that this action will increase temperature (please someone correct me if I am wrong). This phenomenon exist prior to the removal of hot air. However, the only problem left to be explained is how can the fan push the hot air from low pressure area to high pressure area
??Any comments?
I hate to help jack the thread, but the pressures we are talking about are nowhere near enough to cause compressive heating. Also, turbulence would help dissapate heat. With perfectly laminar (spelling in question) flow, the bulk of the air could pass between the fins and not provide any cooling.
Some info about heatsinks:
http://mitglied.lycos.de/Promitheus/heatsinks.htm
🙂
Any thermodynamics experts here to clarify if it's better for the fan to suck or blow?
http://mitglied.lycos.de/Promitheus/heatsinks.htm
🙂
Any thermodynamics experts here to clarify if it's better for the fan to suck or blow?
Very impressive work. You can really see the passion and pride in workmanship. A quality hard to find these days... My two cents on the cooling fans is based on experience with heatsinks for R.F. transistor amps. With that setup your best bet for uniform cooling is to draw the hot air out. You could for knowledge sake set up one side to push and the other to pull and test heatsinks and know for sure.
The chassis is design to support up to 8 fans (4 in front, 4 behind), so it's possible to have the front fans blowing in and the rear fans drawing out. This will really increase the efficiency of the heatsinks. But I'm not really keen to try that due to the fan noise (8 fans!). 
I've found a perfect way (tool) to conceal the mounting bolts on the faceplate. It's call a plug cutter. I will be able to get a very professional finish by making the "plug" from the same wood as the faceplate.🙂
I've found a perfect way (tool) to conceal the mounting bolts on the faceplate. It's call a plug cutter. I will be able to get a very professional finish by making the "plug" from the same wood as the faceplate.🙂
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Oxidation prevention
I'm using "Cortec ElectricCor VpCI-238" to prevent the oxidation (rust) of the steel chassis and fasterning hardware (bolts and nuts). It works on non-ferrous metals too (copper, aluminium...).
Product Datasheet : http://www.cortecvci.com/Publications/PDS/238.pdf
Brochure about Cortec VpCI corrosion control :
http://www.cortecvci.com/Publications/Brochures/General/Cortec_GenBroch.pdf
I'm using "Cortec ElectricCor VpCI-238" to prevent the oxidation (rust) of the steel chassis and fasterning hardware (bolts and nuts). It works on non-ferrous metals too (copper, aluminium...).
Product Datasheet : http://www.cortecvci.com/Publications/PDS/238.pdf
Brochure about Cortec VpCI corrosion control :
http://www.cortecvci.com/Publications/Brochures/General/Cortec_GenBroch.pdf
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Copper heat spreader
I have just bought a copper plate (215mm x 150mm x 10mm) and I'm thinking of using it as a heat spreader (between the MOSFET and heatsinks). Any comments? I've tried using a copper heat spreader on my CPU before and it really helps to reduce the temp of the chip. I'm just wondering if the same method can be apply on amp heatsinks.
I have just bought a copper plate (215mm x 150mm x 10mm) and I'm thinking of using it as a heat spreader (between the MOSFET and heatsinks). Any comments? I've tried using a copper heat spreader on my CPU before and it really helps to reduce the temp of the chip. I'm just wondering if the same method can be apply on amp heatsinks.
I think it will work, check also the amp of Pedro (PedroPO), he uses also a copper plate between the mosfets and the heatsinks.
icceman,
Just have to chip in also -
Wonderful craftsmanship and superb design! Kudos!
This is just another praise post, but you desverve it - the amp looks great!
Regards,
Just have to chip in also -
Wonderful craftsmanship and superb design! Kudos!
This is just another praise post, but you desverve it - the amp looks great!
Regards,
Re: Copper heat spreader
may i know where do u get those copper plates in Singapore?
ill be using those for my soon to be built aleph 2 🙂
icceman said:
may i know where do u get those copper plates in Singapore?
ill be using those for my soon to be built aleph 2 🙂
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