Sounds dumb isn’t it? Yea, but some people still do it, mostly not due to stupidity but because of space constraints.
Amplifiers come in different designs, but all designs use a heat sink to dissipate heat, some coupled with either a fan or two for additional cooling. Some amplifiers have no fan at all but depend solely on sufficient heat sinks to handle the heat.
Having said that, common sense tells us that to let the heat sink do it’s job, it must be ventilated and heat should not be trapped on it, around it or channeled to it from hot surfaces, devices or heat from the sun. If you feel there is insufficient ventilation, by all means add a fan or relocate it to a cooler spot, an area which does not absorb or trap heat.
The reason why I bring this up, is that lately we have seen a few cases of overheated amplfiers, and in extreme cases damaged pcb boards, severely premature amplifier life and “pregnant” or buldging capacitors as part of the consequences. Particularly in scorching summers or hot climate countries all year round, where additional care must be taken to keep your gears cool and within operating range.
Last week, I solved yet another “ignorant” install, failing to understand the very basics of car audio safety and maintenance. The amplifer in question was a Zapco Reference 1000.4, a high powered 150watter x 4 running only the fronts (there is another amplifier for the subwoofer).Firstly, this is a very slim unit and secondly, it has no fan in-built. The amplifier was mounted upside down just below the rear parcel shelf in the trunk.
In a hot country like Malaysia, heat builds up considerably fast in the cabin space and equally fast in the enclosed trunk space. Your dashboard, just beneath the windscreen and the rear parcel shelf, just below the rear screen soaks up the direct sun when you park outside in the open.
Since the amplifier is mounted right below the rear parcel shelf, heat is transferred to it direct from the mounting screws and gets trapped with little air movement. This results in the amplifier getting extremely hot (untouchable) even after 5 minutes of normal use. Naturally, the amplifier shuts down thanks to the build in thermal proctection.
During the mornings and nights, the amplifier could play a little long before turning off by itself. The installer failed to address the problem and blamed the amplifier for being faulty.
Another bad but not as seriously faulted install that I have seen many times is one amplifier mounted vertically on the rear seat and just below it, mounted flat/horizontal on the floor trunk another amplifier for subwoofer duties. Naturally, amplifiers run hot and heat goes up, especially when you are running your subwoofers hard or for long-hours! The heat passes through the amplifier above it. Not a big problem but could be avoided if you care for your gears.
Love your amplifier, maintain it well and it will serve you for years. Use a fan if you have to (note: fans can induce external noise and also noise into your system) but better still use our common sense.