Should I be concerned about heat from my AV receiver?

[Jason404]

My AV receiver is in a cabinet with two split shelves and sliding glass doors. My television stands on top of it. The cabinet has a hardboard back with holes at the top and bottom for cables to pass through.

I have a digital thermometer in the case which tells me that the temperature is around 32°C but I can feel that it is significantly higher at the top of the case. This tells me that there is air moving out of the case through the top rear hole, but I am wondering if it is sufficient.

Are these things okay running at these temperatures or should I be concerned about the heat? I do not have it playing very loudly and it's not very powerful (145W Per Channel) and I only use two floor-standing speakers.

I could cut some holes and put a couple of USB-powered fans in but scraping round holes through the hardboard with a Stanley knife will take ages I would imagine, and I will have yet more cables at the back.

 

[Kapkirk]

32 c is not particularly hot, barely warm actually, BUT you're only measuring the air temperature which does not mean an awful lot, neither will measuring the top of the case, this is not really as important as you think because a well designed heatsink inside the receiver will dissipate a lot of heat and then vent it out of the top ventilation holes which its supposed to do. A more accurate way to find out what is really going on (bar measuring inside the unit) is to measure the temp at the side of the chassis after the unit has been playing sound for about 45 mins, doing it this way would give you an idea of the internals including an average temp of the PCB on which most of the temperature critical components are situated. I would say that if the temp reads higher than 45C after 45 mins then you'll certainly need better ventilation. You should leave the front doors open if poss.

 

[wiz]

Sounds as though you need some active cooling..Aircom???

 

[Deleted member 901590]

Yes I'd recommend one if the Aircom units from Americanaudio if it's in a cabinet.