As you know, I run my amp in a single amp, SO2R configuration. During a heavy 2BSIQ session on RTTY, temps reach 90 deg C. Fans go to 5 occasionally. Not a problem. Don’t worry.
My power supply does get quite the dust bunny on top. I just hit it with the vacuum every week when doing the shack. I haven’t noticed the same problem with the RF deck. Perhaps with the fans on super high speed it blows itself out. I’ve had the power supply case off twice, and didn’t see a build up internally. So I’m pretty sure it’s not an issue if you vacuum it regularly. I have the amp and power supply in a bookshelf type cabinet in the closet. One thing I did when I first set it up was to make a seal around the back of the RF desk. It is a piece of cardboard, stapled to the back edge of the bookshelf, and cut to just fit around the rear of the amp. This keeps the amp from sucking in hot exhaust from the top vents back into the amp. Of course this won’t be a problem if you have the amp on a desk with nothing above it. I have the minimum recommended clearance of 2” above the amp, and 4” above the power supply. Ken K6MR From: N4ZR<mailto:n...@comcast.net> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2021 13:09 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net<mailto:elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How and How Often to Clean KPA-1500 Cooling Systems? I'm uncomfortable with temp above 70C. I infer from the manual that the displayed temp is that of the final transistor heat sink, and they say it will hard fault at 112C. Not in my shack! Still looking for an answer to the cleaning question, though, particularly for the power supply. 73, Pete N4ZR Check out the new Reverse Beacon Network web server at <http://beta.reversebeacon.net>. For spots, please use your favorite "retail" DX cluster. On 3/27/2021 2:44 PM, Jim Brown wrote: > On 3/27/2021 9:23 AM, N4ZR wrote: >> The other day I noticed some buildup of dust on the top vents of my >> power supply. > > Neighbor K6XX is the mfg engineer for both of Elecraft's amps. Bob > lost everything (except one of his towers) in a big wildfire this > summer, along with three other hams I know. For a contest a few months > ago, he borrowed my KPA1500, and when he returned it, told me it was > super dusty. My shack is pretty dusty, and I was running the fans all > the time, often at a high setting, because I use WSJT modes on 6M and > 160 a lot. His advice was to set the fan speed default to zero and let > the amp determine the fan speed. Using 120 sec TX cycles at 1kW on > 160, I've seen 95C temps, and the amp is still happy. I wouldn't do > that on 6M, where the amp is least efficient. > > 73, Jim K9YC > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to n...@comcast.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to k...@outlook.com ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
