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Should I bother to put a fan on my T8-LN OTL power tubes?

98.164.188.3
Posted on October 30, 2021 at 13:38:04
LtMandella
 Will it extend the life of the EL-509 power tubes if I put a low speed fan towards them?

The top of the vented chassis is pretty hot- I can keep the back of my hand on the vents but it is not comfortable.



 

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RE: Should I bother to put a fan on my T8-LN OTL power tubes?, posted on October 30, 2021 at 14:59:46
6bq5
Audiophile

Posts: 4385
Location: SF Bay
Joined: August 16, 2001
 Given that winter is coming, and I trust you have adequate space ABOVE the amp - you should be fine; however some small quiet fans can circulate the warm air and save on your heating bill.... ;-)
Happy Listening

 

RE: Should I bother to put a fan on my T8-LN OTL power tubes?, posted on October 30, 2021 at 15:47:40
LtMandella
 yep nothing on top of the vented area. I found my fabric blade silent mini fan so will probably fire it up.

Lately I have been powering Elac DBR special edition (only 88DB) but the 20wpc T8 sounds beautiful with those speakers. Can't say my $3K Ref3A DeCapo I speakers sound noticably better...

The Elac's are plenty loud with only minimal volume setting on the GG preamp.

 

RE: Should I bother to put a fan on my T8-LN OTL power tubes?, posted on November 2, 2021 at 11:08:24
Bill Way
Audiophile

Posts: 1884
Location: Toms River NJ
Joined: May 28, 2012
Contributor
  Since: December 14, 2012
 Forced-air ventilation *always* helps. I use the (almost) silent fans designed for computer enclosures.

WW
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

 

I decided to use this, posted on November 2, 2021 at 11:28:23
LtMandella




This fan is almost silent at the low speed settings. Don't know if the fabric fan "blades" help for that.

Would not be a bad idea to fit a muffin fan in the case; have to open it up again and see if practical. Would be an interesting project.

So far after ~20 years with the amp I have replaced the speaker binding posts, 4 630v caps, a couple of fuses, all 8 EL509 power tubes, and one of the 12AU7s. Not bad for 20 years of many hours per week listening (although the past couple years I have been in Vegas and use a QUAD 909 in the summer heat months).



 

Or..., posted on November 5, 2021 at 07:35:22
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10911
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 You could cut out a portion of the top of the chassis and install a whisper fan that directs air away from the tubes and up toward your ceiling. Or you could install a whisper fan at the rear of the chassis and direct the air toward your back wall. (I don't know the form factor of your chassis, so I have no idea which is feasible.) Either of those would be more effective than just blowing on the amplifier with an external fan, but even that will help, I guess.

 

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