I was thinking of mounting 2 of my amps (200x2, 400x2) stealth in the trunk in the spare tire compartment. Plan is an MDF panel to replace the carpeted POS ply that currently goes overtop the spare with the amps upside down. Clearance is not an issue. Chrysler doesn't provide much of a spare tire anyway.

My question is this: Will there be any long term damage to the amps by mounting them this way? Will heat be an issue?

I can only stick so much to the back of the rear seats! Trying to keep it as clean as possible.

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The Gnarly Crüe
'05 Chrysler Sebring
JL/Kenwood/Alpine

upside down will most likely create heat issues, especially if they are in a tiny enlcosed area.

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realizing i'm just an ordinary guy with dreams of excellence. day by day i want to change what i am for the dream of becoming my dream

Hmmm, as a rule, you shouldn't mount your amps upside down, as most amps have heat sinks, or heat fins on the sides and top of the amp to disipate heat. So, mounting them upside down allows the heat from the sink or fins to go back into the amp, causing them to heat up faster.

Now,, if you amps have fans built in,, or you mount fans in your compartment to help circulate the air around the amps, you should be in a better situation.

Also, mounting them in the spare tire well will isolate the amps, and with two amps in there, the air around the amps is gonna get warmer faster.

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Ask Jacob (sassmaster) about his experiences...He had an amp mounted upside down under his backbash...

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smpl_gy running a smpl system...
one amp, one sub and 1.6 kilowatts of 50hz and below...

Airflow is key when your dealing with amps upside down. The problem is that heat radiates upwards, which is usually where the sink sits. Now with your PCB sitting that way, it's going to heat stuff up pretty quick.

If you do mount them upside down, cooling fans would be beneficial.

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maybe it depends on the amp? this is the 3rd car i've mounted amps under the rear dash and i've never had a problem with heat.

Attached Images

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Alpine CDA-9887, TUA-T500HD, CHA-S634, CHA-1204 & KCA-410C
Pioneer TS-A6981, 6 x GM-5100T
Kicker 2 x CVR15,
MBQ RCE-216
PG MX2
Soundgate LanStar1
PAC SWI-ALP

it is hard on anps but you need to think how long do i keep my amps ?

i like to see 6 amps in a car ,it make me feel not bad knowing i have 3 or 8ch that i use

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EVERY FAMILY HAS A RETARD IN IT. IF YOU THINK THAT YOURS DOESNT HAVE ONE, THEN ITS PROBABLY YOU.

I would think it depends on the amp... and the load you're running it at. Some amps run very hot, I would be reluctant to run old HCCA's at low impedance upside down... but I run my XM2000R upside down at 4 ohm mono no problem.

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Alpine IVA-W200
Alpine PXA-H701 optical
Blade SE6175
Morel Elate 6 3 way active
Sony XM2000R
MTX 12" 7000 x 3 freeair

Finally moving into the 21st century...

Upside down or right side up, makes no difference at all. All of the heat from the transistors is transferred right into the heatsink.

Thats like lighting a fire underneath your amplifier PCB, probably not the best for your traces and components. Electrolytic capacitors contain fluids inside which is adversely affected by heat.

Same thing with your resistors, the tolerences change with heat.

True, your sink is supposed to transfer the heat away from the FETs, but where does the heat go? into the sink. Now the sink is a giant radiating heat source, which is now located underneath your PCB when you mount it upside down.

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