Heat in class A equipment


Heat is one of the biggest enemies of electronic equipment. Does anyone know if this Heat is only at the output transistors and their heatsinks o8is it also present in other components within the unit. 

 

I was planning to remove the top cover and with a IR thermometer going to check temps..

 

Has anyone done this? 

vanson1

Showing 1 response by mikem

If it’s designed well, it should live a long heathy life. Depending on the power supply sizing, load, etc..  they can get quite warm too. As do some resistors. 
keep the dust off parts and the vents unobstructed, should be all you need to do.

I have a preamp that gets real toasty when the tubes are on. Most of the heat is from The power supply and rectification. Tube side of the chassis is cooler actually. I looked up the specs for the transformer to see what the operating temperature range was. While the unit gets very warm, it’s nowhere near the limit specified for the transformers max temperature range.