Survey says---Yes
With larger and larger amplifiers being thrown into the same size chassis, this creates more and more heat. With the majority of users on a site like this being younger, they tend to listen to things longer and louder. This in turn equals a higher heat signature on the amps heatsink (which in most cases is tiny). Then you couple the limited airspace in the dashboard and lack of airflow with the climate control system or summer months and you have a recipe for burning your hand.
Remember that heat is a natural byproduct of producing power. It is always going to be there in a circumstance like this. A side note however is that some amplifiers with a piss poor protection circuit may also be showing a dead short somewhere, this in turn is also going to throw a whole crapola of heat into the mix as well.
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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.
hi,
not to mention where the radio is positioned in the dash.....dark dashboard, radio up high in dash, sunny day......you get the idea.
mark
yeah, thats what i thought, i checked over everthing that was hooked up and everything was correctly connected, the heat must be normal...thanks
I do testing and research for a...um...very large retailer. I "work" in the electrical dept. which also includes car audio (thats where I come in). When I proof RMS ratings and claims with CEA2006 specifications, we also add a few extra tests. One is heat considerations. A dash replica is used along with calibrated Fluke temp meters and fixed probes. When running a head unit at full RMS claimed power for 1 hour, I have recorded face temps that run up to 115 degrees F, and heatsink temps sometimes exceed 175F...sure, go head and touch that!