Tír Na HiFi

My Cyrus amp gets quite hot, in fact very hot over a period of time.Anything to worry about??
It is sited in a unit, but it does get a bit of space.

You need to find out is that normal for that Cyrus amp - and if it isn't then something ain't right. I think Cloneys sell Cyrus, so maybe a quick call to them can answer the question.

As a rough guide, if you find it uncomfortable to hold your hands on the heatsinks for more than 10 secs, you're up about 55 degC. Hey, I have some pass amps - I know this!!!

More airflow could certainly help, but if something is wrong, no amount of airflow will solve it.


Fran

what model amp is it?

Hello Tony,
It's Cyrus 8vs . I have it coupled with PSX-R power supply.

I have an 8XP I dont regard it as getting very hot at any stage. I had a 6vs2 for a short period before that and same applies.
I will leave mine on for a couple hours tomorrow playing and check again just to verify. Are you blasting music for a long time or is this happening at average listening levels in a short space of time? Also your amp should trip out if it is overheating.

I would listen to music approx 2hrs at a level about 10 to on vol dial.
If the music I was playing was highly compressed it would get hot faster.

As Fergus was stating earlier, if I put my fingers on the back of amp for 10 secs
it would be extremely hot. As of yet it has not tripped out.
I am just worried if heat will over time will damage amp.

Previously my system was sited in a hi-fi table that was open.
I have it now in a unit, but I do leave door open whilst playing music.

Pat My amp gets luke warm no problem touching it. I wonder should you take it out of its current location and see how hot it gets. Mine is in a tri-arbour rack which is open. I run a psx-r also so unless the 8vs naturally ran higher temps if you still have the temp prob after taking it out of your rack I would get it checked. Cyrus in the uk are very helpful and you will end up talking to the techies who should put you straight fairly quickly

Not too sure what temperature a Cyrus amp should be running at, but normally high temperatures mean trouble for electronics.

I would suggest you remove the amplifier from its surroundings, unplug it from its power supply of course and visually examine the unit from the outside. Check for discolouration, paint peeling, bad odours, or any stickers / notices which are peeling off the casing.

In addition there may be a cooling fan mounted at the rear of the unit, check to make sure this is free to rotate, cooling ports not clogged with fluff (similar to a computer laptop or desktop etc).

With the unit disconnected from any power supply or input you could then open up the case, again look for any signs of overheating / burning, discolouration of various components and bad odours etc. You may not know what you are looking at, but you will be able to see if something is not right. If in doubt call a friend over who knows a few things about electrics etc.

If all appears normal, then reassemble the case, plug the unit into its power supply and if there is a cooling fan check to ensure it is rotating when the amp is switched on. If not then that could be your problem. On the other hand if there is no fan then check to see if there are cooling ports on the case, ensure these are not obstructed.

If all appears normal, then I would suggest you attach a thermometer to the case exterior and see what temperature it runs at when in the open and when housed in the unit it normally resides in. Once you have a few values then I would suggest you contact the manufacturer for advise.

If its running at 55°C on the outside then its going to be hotter on the inside, and heat means trouble for electronics and shortens the life span of printed circuit boards etc.

Cyrus components tend to be small neat and tidy units, so it is possible that they are designed to run hotter due to the components being crammed into a small space. But I would stongly suggest contacting the manufacturer for their advise.

If all else fails then another option is to bring the unit into Cloney's, they would be able to check the unit over for you.

Thanks Adrian and Tony.

I will conduct a few experiments to see what's happening.

As I stated it was running better in the hi-fi table where there was open ciculation.
It is not too happy in the enclosed unit where I have it now.
I think that is where the prob is. I just hope that the amp has a high heat tolerance. This is something I must check with Cyrus.

Thanks again. Pat.

Manc Pat wrote: As I stated it was running better in the hi-fi table where there was open ciculation.
It is not too happy in the enclosed unit where I have it now.

I think that you are correct here Pat and this is possibly where your problem is. All amps need good air circulation around them and I certainly would not have it in an enclosed cabinet or case.