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Phase Linear 400 Fan

S

sebtus

New Member
Hi, i would like to share my project with you.
A while ago i got myself a PL400 and short while later i dis full WOPL rebuild. I have AR98LSI 4ohm speaker which made my PL hot at high volume. I decided to add a fan to help cool things down. I realized that there is nothing on the market to make this work easily.

The idea came to my head to design and make my own fan housing and 3D print it.

My design is a three piece assembly.
1. 80mm fan housing for right channel
2. bridge/control piece
3. 80mm fan housing for Left channel

I think, 80 mm fans are best since i have my PL400 in wooden cabinet and larger fan would obstruct hot air going away form heat sinks. For racks and amps without a case 110mm (max size that would fiit) fans would be a better option since hot air can escape on top and bottom of the unit. Fans can be install to push or pull air. I have mine pushing air IN.

Bridge piece has two purposes.
1. it connects left and right housings together.
2. it holds control board, power switch, 12vdc input connector, temperature probe, fan failure buzzer

The idea was to make it simple but officiant.
Every fan housing has two slots where two heatsink fins go into and keep it in place, no screws/bolts needed.
Fan control board uses temp. probe to control fans speed based on the heat sinks temperature.
Failure buzzer alarms when fans stop during normal operation.
External 12vdc power supply provides power and it powers up when i have my power amp turned on via pre-map switched power outlets.

Here is the 3d design:

Right Channel Housing
860162-783e84cbbd3030f10ba4a4c7d723a644.jpg
860163-a62bdda8a57b3b511afb53821ce74e5b.jpg


Left Channel Housing
860164-404ccc0c863656144e5d04ebe83e6265.jpg
860165-f944e243429ba4f90233a605553429f0.jpg


Control Bridge
860167-6e7c86a205457f956a01187539cbf409.jpg
860166-3b35183e24e107db98196cbec6a5d57d.jpg


Final ABS 3D print:
860174-e347f89bd9b73cf2b186de741ff56cc2.jpg
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860172-fa3b0a712cc51cd6c76d82f8f2e03380.jpg
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Thats not terribly different than the factory piece on my PL 700 Pro, though the factory piece is basically two of yours side by side. Its one sheet metal thing covering the whole heat sink area. I'd have to look at the fan sizes, but mine may be 110mm. They are basically the width of the heat sink package for each channel.

I've considered changing them to DC ones for easier speed control. What did you use for fan speed control with the temp input? I like that idea very much. Most of the time I run low volume so it won't make any real heat and I'd rather not listen to the fans if I don't need them.
 
That is awesome. I really need to get some fans set up on my 400. I like to crank it up and it gets a little toasty sometimes. Very professional. You should produce some to sell. Plenty of 400 owners around that like to mod.Might get some interest.
 
sebtus Welcome to AK. Nice setup. What controller are you using to control the operation of the fans. What temp did you set for the on/off point of the fans?
 
gadget73 said:
What did you use for fan speed control with the temp input?
Click to expand...
I did some research and i went with the PC fan control board. It has dip switches to set temp setting as well as minimum fan speed. What is most important is very compact and cheap. I will see how it works and if it gives my any issues. Initial test was a 100% GO.
btw I'm from south NJ as well..... cheers

Oblivion321 said:
I really need to get some fans set up on my 400. I like to crank it up and it gets a little toasty sometimes. Very professional. You should produce some to sell. Plenty of 400 owners around that like to mod.Might get some interest.
Click to expand...

Well i can definitely make a few if somebody is interested. If there was a high demand i would go with injection molds or some other mass production solution.


NAD80 said:
What temp did you set for the on/off point of the fans?
Click to expand...
I have it set so fans run at 20% when cold, Once the heatsink temperature increase to ~120F fans speed start to increase until they reach their max spin at 160F.
 
IMO very well designed with temp control and 80mm fans provides lots of cfm's. even 50mm fans would produce enough.
 
Looks like nice settings for the fan controller. Keep a eye on it to fine tune the settings if need be. Used to live in Iselin nj.
 
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