Mounting Your Amplifier

most likely that's not a good idea. its ideal to mount most amps horizontally, and its okay on some amps to mount them vertically.. i'm confident enough to say it's not a good idea.

 

if you secure it properly the back of the rear seats is typically a good place for airflow etc... use bolts if you can instead of screws if you go this way... either that or get a cheap piece of plywood, cut it so it wedges nicely into your trunk and mount to that. u can carpet the plywood for aesthetics(how badly did i butcher the spelling on that one???) as well

 

Not at all, actually. You spelled it correctly.

If you have room to mount it upside down, you generally have room to build a rack and mount it right-side up. Not that hard to do, but your amp will love you for it

 

Well, the main reason you don't want to mount it upside-down is like you said: The heatsink is on the top, so if you put it upside down, the heat goes right back on the components and can make it overheat really quick. If you make a rack, the amp will still be in the same place, but right-side up. This way, it dissipates the heat correctly, and is still hidden out of the way.

 

here's a thought for an easy way to do it.... take one piece of MDF, a little bigger than your amp. drill 4 holes in it near the corners (possibly 2 more on the long sides in the middle) and take some good sturdy bolts and nuts, run the bolts through your rear deck, and use the nuts to secure them there, then use more nuts to secure the MDF at a level which gives your amp decent clerance from the rear deck, mount the amp to the MDF and tidy up the install, again you can add carpeting for not too much money and a small 12v fan to displace the heat might be a good idea... circulate it away from the amp....

 

Actually, first and foremost:
No matter which way the amp is mounted, make sure the heatsink is mounted whichever way offers the greatest air exposure.

It's a heatsink - heat flows through it by induction.
It's true that heat rises - but heat flows through a heatsink somewhat regardless of that.

Let's say for whatever reason, you were forced into a situation where you had to mount the amp, say, in a headiner, on the ceiling.

In doing this, you could either choose to mount the amp upside down, or right side up.
In mounting it upside down, the heatsink would be in the interior airspace of the car.
In moutning it right side up, the heatsink would be in a tiny cavity, above the headliner, but nearly touching the metal of the roof structure.

You'd find in this situation, you'd be smarter mounting the amp upside down, because in mounting it right side up, you'd quickly heat up the limited air above the heatsink, essentially potentially creating a little oven above the amp - which would essentially prevent the heatsink from effectively working as a heatsink at all!

That's not to say that this is ideal - but the reason it isn't ideal is due to the choice of mounting locations, not the orientation of the amp!

And on a side note - mounting an amp vertically is actually thermally more ideal than mounting an amp flat, because the heat rising off the heatsink works to create a slight breeze, albeit imperceptible, which helps wick heat off of the heatsink, where a flat mounted amp simply has heat rise off of it.

In reality, either way is more than ideal for an amp with a properly sized heatsink. B)

 

i'd still reccomend a couple small 12v fans to disperse the air... you'd probably want one blowing toward the amp from one side and the other pulling air away on the other side...

 

Ooo nice idea. B)

 

I never thought about using MY erector set that way! :lol:
J/K.. it actually looks very cool - and hopefully cool in more than one way! Seems to be enough room for airflow - plenty, even. B)