Running mark iii without a fan

[silentrage]

Does anyone run their mark iii head without a fan?
I was thinking of removing the fan and the front board(rackmount kit) to reduce the weight, this should provide OK ventilation right?

Also thinking of doing the same thing with my peavey classic 60 power amp, any advice on that is appreciated as well.

 

[cremona]

Well some will say that Marshall and other tube amp manufactores dont use fans, so you shuld be fine.

But there is a huge difference from the Boogie Mark amps, and that is that the tubes sit under the amp , and since heat rises upwards all the heat the tubes produce will heat up you circuit boards and will profoundly shorthen the life of the amp.

Try unplugging the fan and play it for a while , the amp gets extremly hot , you dont need to be a expert to know this issent good..

You wouldent pull the fan out of the Car , Boogie put the fan in there for a very good reason .

 

[silentrage]

Ok, point taken, my next idea would be to get a lighter more quiet fan, maybe one for PC.

 

[DaveP]

You can buy a PC fan but keep in mind they are 12v. You will need a transformer. I have a Silenx IXTREMA 120 that is 11dba
and works great. The fans Mesa uses are in the 29dba range as far as noise.

 

[silentrage]

What voltage is mesa's fan jack, 110v?
Can I solder the fan wires to a 12v tap somewhere in the amp?

 

[cremona]

What voltage is mesa's fan jack, 110v?
Can I solder the fan wires to a 12v tap somewhere in the amp?

Yes its 110 V.

I would completly stay away from messing with the amps internals, and instead use dave`s advice.

The newer boogie fans a much quiter BTW wich is the one i got, but daves recommendation is easy and will give you much more sillent cooling, fairly cheap and easy.

If you cant stand the noise right now and want somthing quiter until you get a new fan use a standalone Home fan and point is so it cools down the tubes and the under side of the amp.

Heat is the number one cause of eletronic component wear down.

 

[silentrage]

Well the fan is too noisy and I'm trying to squeeze the weight down a little too, so I don't think a transformer is the best idea for me, I'll see if there's a lightweight PC fan that takes 110v.

 

[silentrage]

Hey gts, thanks for the link, I'll save that for future ref, because for now I've solved my problem.
I just took apart the fan, cleaned out the dust, and sprayed some contact cleaner in the shaft, now all I can hear is the wind.
I think I might get better result with motor oil but alas none is available and I'm too lazy to go buy some.

 

[JimAnsell]

if the only reason you want to remove the fan is to reduce weight, than keep the fan in.
it weighs like 2 freakin pounds, if that.

 

[cremona]

if the only reason you want to remove the fan is to reduce weight, than keep the fan in.
it weighs like 2 freakin pounds, if that.

i thourgt the same :roll:

 

[frets70]

I ran my Mark III without the fan twice. And both times you could tell the amp was getting too hot, I lost all clean tone (meaning it was slightly dirty always--no matter what setting).

The break up also sounded very harsh and brittle.

Turned fan back on and amp ran normal.

 

[jpdennis]

I am using one of these;
http://www.newark.com/multicomp/mc19677/axial-fan/dp/70K8560?Ntt=mc19677
It is a sleeve bearing and, while it may be rated at 38dBA it does very well for my Mark III and 50 Cal.
Dennis