HELP - Mounting Amp in Boot...?

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:56 pm

I'm going to screw it to the back of the rear seats.

Do I need to drill? What screws?

Just a little one 2-Channel one...

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:44 pm

Just drill tiny pilot holes and get some 25mm countersunk wood screws and let them tap out the rest.
Unless you have a wagon, yu could mount it under the parcel shelf as your going to be drilling anyways.

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 9:54 pm

It's a 2-door.

I thought you weren't supposed to mount amps upside down?

And what's a countersunk woodscrew?

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 10:27 pm

Electricity is not affected by gravity very much so upside down should be fine, just make sure you don't block any cooling vents. Unless you have a seriously badly soldered board that is. Countersunk screws have a flat head that tapers down towards the screw thread itself, allowing the head to sit flat when screwed in. Woodscrews are just screws designed to bite in wood.

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:00 pm

Elecblondie wrote:Electricity is not affected by gravity very much

I read you must never do this on this forum by some top ICE guys.

I never understood why either - unless it affects cooling fans etc.

Isn't there a better screw for this specific purpose?

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:16 pm

In many applications it's better not to as heavier components like transformers can be poorly mounted and end up stressing the solder joints, ending in them coming off or being badly connected. In an application where the supply voltage and the output voltage are so similar their shouldn't be too heavy components in it and I personally wouldn't have an issue mounting it upside down (though I'd always leave a hi fi amp the right way up. The same problems will be apparent to a lesser extent when mounting on the side. If it's a 2 channel light thing I wouldn't take a second thought about it being upside down, just look where the vents are to ensure adequate cooling.

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:29 pm

Its not a dark art my friend, you could look for the packet that says "for mounting amps under E30 parcel shelf"

Seriously if it was a bad idea i would never suggest it, id look like a idiot posting crap advice.

Go out experiment and dont let experts tell you what you cant do.

Post Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:42 pm

just my thought.. ive always heard that an amp should not be mounted upside to, as the heat generated whilst its running does not escape and the circuit board gets too hot, heat always rises, so mounting it the right way up means the heat rises and the heat shrinks ontop of the amp ..

allow the heat to disperse away from the circuit board

Post Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:02 am

blingsta wrote:just my thought.. ive always heard that an amp should not be mounted upside to, as the heat generated whilst its running does not escape and the circuit board gets too hot, heat always rises, so mounting it the right way up means the heat rises and the heat shrinks ontop of the amp .. allow the heat to disperse away from the circuit board

I knew there was a reason! That makes total sense.

Post Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:20 am

You're still better off mounting an amp in free space upside down than in an enclosed space the right way up though. Providing it's in a space where air can circulate it shouldn't matter.

Oh and Flozman how is he supposed to know how reliable your advice is? It just so happens that I have a 1st class masters degree in electronics and I'm doing a PhD in it but I wouldn't expect someone on the internet to blindly follow my advice, crap or not as it may be. Don't take it personally.

Post Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:49 am

An upside down heatsink should work quite efficiently if there is a free flow of air.

If you mount the amp upside down, then your fitting it to the roof of whatever space your installing it in, and thus in general terms is going to be the lest efficient place in terms of heat dissipation to mount it.

But being realistic about it, how big is the amp? If it's 15w per channel, then mounting it the correct way up may be wise. If it's 1000w per channel, and you cant get the volume above 40% before your ears bleed... then it's not going to get hot enough to worry about it.

Post Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:05 pm

Dont mount it upsidedown, the reason is...... the amp is a heatsink wich disipates heat, heat rises so it will get quite hot under the shelf so over a long period of playing time the amp might cut out as they have a thermal cut out.

just a bit of advice.

kam

Post Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:44 pm

thought so !..

Post Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:26 pm

Thanks all for advice.

Post Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:13 pm

I mounted my small amp against the back of the rear seat, used 6mm bolts fitted from the cabin, nuts on the boot side, I routed the cables up onto the parcel shelf. Looks neat and tidy and out of the way, spent plenty of time with the volume turned up to '11'