August 16, 201016 yr Author comment_380258 I do have access to some crazy expensive thermal camera if I ask nicely enough quite frankly I'm not too worried about the thermal properties of this thing. We'll see when I get the boards mounted though. As you might have spotted already, that riser in the side of the chassis doesn't work to fix the transistors in place. I'll have to a spreader and then mount that to the chassis. Report
August 16, 201016 yr comment_380266 As you might have spotted already, that riser in the side of the chassis doesn't work to fix the transistors in place. I'll have to a spreader and then mount that to the chassis. yeah, that's partly what I'm referring to. I'm wondering if the thermal junctions present in a normal case don't actually help lower junction temperature though. For example, in this design, the air around the fins provides a much higher thermal impedance than say the bottom of the case. But since it's all one large block of aluminum, it seems that natural convection to air would be sort of a "last resort". Also, if you've ever heated up a block of aluminum, you know it takes forever to cool down via natural convection. I'm wondering if the internal temperature will rise dramatically as well, despite any attempts to add holes for natural heat convection. Report
August 16, 201016 yr Author comment_380295 That's one of the reasons why this is a prototype. The heat has an easy route up and away from the boards but the main heatsinks might be a different matter. There is also the issue of warmup as this massive billet might take a while to heat up... Report
August 17, 201016 yr Author comment_380524 Hmmm I could go all Rudistor and attach power resistors to the chassis fed off a spare filament transformer controlled by a thermostat... "Forget preheating the valves, I preheat the chassis!!!" Report
August 17, 201016 yr comment_380539 You mean like this... http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/heatsinkload.jpg Report
August 17, 201016 yr comment_380561 You mean like this... http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/heatsinkload.jpg That's a nice winter bedtime heater! Birgir, really awesome chassis! Report
August 17, 201016 yr comment_380619 thinking out loud... the thermal resistance goes down of the heat sink itself as it heats up, but as that happens the junction temperature of the devices rise, which in this case are positive temperature coefficient devices (BJTs). The issue is that since the devices are paralleled, one device will hog the current as this happens. I wonder if you could add some sort of thermal feedback resistor/transistor/thermistor to the heat sink to help mitigate this effect to some extent. This feedback device would turn on at a low voltage and effectively regulate the bias voltage (i.e. in this case the CCS current) allowing it to slowly come up to spec. Report
August 17, 201016 yr Author comment_380646 I'm sure it can be done and has been done with the large SS power amps. You mean like this... http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/heatsinkload.jpg Is this part of some new collaboration with Rudi? Report
August 17, 201016 yr comment_380648 well nikongod wanted a rudistor like amplifier with a lower output impedance... The center 6 resistors in the center are .1 ohms each, and in parallel. I'll show you the output section tomorrow Report
August 17, 201016 yr comment_380660 I thought that was a dummy resistor for testing high power amps under load What are the resistors in series around the outer edge for? Report
August 17, 201016 yr comment_380672 Why those are the resistors to warm up the other resistors of course... Wait till you see the picture tomorrow... Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380819 I don't know if it is a hot-water bottleas MASantos suggested, but otherwise, is it going to draw those 60A ? Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380831 As a matter of fact it IS 60 amps... pictures in a few hours. Busy day today. Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380863 here is the new rudistor power supply (+/-30 volts at 60 amps) http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/heatsinkpower.jpg and the quad mono output stage, 12 x 10 amp transistors per output in parallel. http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/heatsinkquad.jpg the difference between the men and the boys is clearly the size of their power supply Report
August 18, 201016 yr Author comment_380873 A better question would be, what the hell did KG pull that thing out off? Now where is the pic of that insane multi kV supply you sent me Kevin? Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380882 All of that stuff came off the sector mass spec.. A Finnigan Mat 900. well over 1M$ 8 years ago. worth nothing today. The 3 pieces together drove the 4000 lb, 9 tesla water cooled electromagnet. This really would make a kickass quad mono, no feedback, ultra low output impedance single ended amplifier. The high voltage supply is from the FAB source on the same instrument. Makes a T2 look tiny. Report
August 18, 201016 yr Author comment_380883 There is onething we could build that would make the T2 look very small, a liquid cooled Class A speaker amp... Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380893 As a matter of fact it IS 60 amps... pictures in a few hours. Busy day today. Let's just hope it's not audio related then, or at least headphone audio related| Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380894 Let's just hope it's not audio related then, or at least headphone audio related| A little bird told me that you need 60 amps to properly drive the K701's. Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380896 That's a crazy little bird, everyone knows you need a 400bhp V8 for the 701! either that or a cmoy! Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380897 That's a crazy little bird, everyone knows you need a 400bhp V8 for the 701! either that or a cmoy! Wait, would this cmoy you speak of be encased in a wood enclosure? lol @ 400bhp V8 Report
August 18, 201016 yr comment_380903 It could be!! But only if the wood has been cryo treated and internal wiring is 12AWG BBBS wire!! Wait, would this cmoy you speak of be encased in a wood enclosure? lol @ 400bhp V8 Report
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