Bruce In Philly

Yup... that is it. Get used to it. Shut the whole thing off by pressing the volume control and holding it.... then wait.... (I think it is cooling down, but that is just my suspicion.)

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Bruce In Philly

Update... I received my new fan.... but I am going to wait to install it.... still no cutout since the thermal paste. I will be driving a ton this 4th weekend... so a really good test.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

doclouie

My fan is supposed to be here today, but I will be installing mine tonight. No plans for any long trips though so it may be a couple months before I know anything. I just want to know if the fan spins while the radio is on or just when it gets hot. Current one was not spinning when it cut out last time. When it cuts out again I want to know if the fan is spinning.

Update: The new fan is in and it was an exact drop in replacement and no the fan does not spin when the radio Is on. I will need to wait until it fails again to see if it is spinning. It may be a long time before I find out. Hopefully Bruce will have success over the holiday weekend.

larrysb

Would be a lot of fun to figure this out, since it is likely going to affect a lot of vehicles as they age.

doclouie

Oh I will figure it out at least if my failure mode is the one everyone else is having. Hence lies the problem. We might be chasing different demons. This kind of stuff is right up my alley and I have access to any and all rework equipment you could ever need and I am certified in using it too. Now if there is design issues or a chip goes bad that has a program in it. Well then I am dead in the water.

Bruce In Philly

"A+" for attitude !!!!!! Whatever we can do to help, run experiments etc.... let us know.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

doclouie

Bruce yes you can help and it will be the easiest and most fun. Drive Bruce just drive and let us know the results.

Bruce In Philly

Update!!! Cutout!!! Darn! But reason for optimism....

I drove for 1.5 hours on the Atlantic Expressway and others with the most nicest, polite drivers in the USA.... My dash outside temp noted a peak of 123F Yes, one hundred twenty three degrees! It was nothing like that outside, but that what my dash said. When I got to my destination, my dash denoted outside temp to be 93F. I did not turn the car off... went around, lifted the seat high and back, snapped off the plastic cover and the unit was warm and the fan was NOT running. I turned the car off and pulled the key. Turned it back on the the unit was cut out and only the woofer played. Crap. So turned the car off again..... and unpacked my car... then I decided to turn it on one more time and the unit was ON again. Total time turned off could not have been more that 5 minutes. This was a really short time as most others could be fifteen to twenty minutes.

Now I have taken a few long drives, playing on the louder side, and have not had the problem when I normally would have.... I had come to accept this is just the way it is. But today, it was exceptionally hot. I blame the heat.

I feel pretty strongly this is a thermal shutdown issue and the thermal paste has really lessened the problem by a large margin. Now why is it thermally shutting down? Could it be the fan or the electronics that control the fan are not working? Is there another component such as a capacitor weakening, dying and more susceptible to thermal load? I dunno, but I feel pretty strongly right now the cutout is a thermal issue. Tomorrow, I will install the new fan. Then the next long hot drive I do.. maybe one tomorrow... I will repeat the procedure and see if the fan is now blowing... I kinda doubt it as the old one in my car would spin fin with a 9 volt battery.

Anywho.....

Peace
Bruce in Philly

doclouie

Thanks for the update Bruce. Next time it cuts out see if the fan is on or not. My guess if it is not on the input to turn on the fan is not working, but that is just a hunch at this point.

Petza914

How about hard wiring the fan so it spins all the time? Yes, you might burn out a cheap fan every year or two.

Bruce In Philly

Yes, it is a 12 volt job... could get the power from anywhere... should be switched of course.

I would like to get it working... but I doubt we will solve for that. It is possible the unit is not getting hot enough to trip the fan and something else is weak and cutting out at a lower temp. More testing is needed.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Wayne Smith

That could force cooling at least, especially if your air conditioning is on and blowing cold air across the seat for the fan to work with.

Which brings up the point ... Inside temp doesn't equal outside temp.

I've had mine fail in ambient temps below 50F. The heater was on so inside temp was high 60s.

And the vented seats work by sucking cold air into them. That depends on the air conditioning blowing cold air at the seats.

And as I've said before ... The fix can happen on a shutdown of mere minutes ... Not much time for passive ambient cooling to affect components inside a box.

FWIW. I had a failure after the car sat in the garage over night in winter temperatures in the 40s. That was definitely not heat related. The fix ... Car shut off for three minutes and started up again.

The only failures occur at power on. The only fixes occur at another power on. Just saying.

Bruce In Philly

There are two reasons I associate the cutouts with ambient temps: 1) it happens more in the summer months, and 2) I suspect the chassis is warmer and the amp/processor is bolted to the chassis. So is outside ambient temps a real factor? Maybe. Maybe not.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Wayne Smith

Whatever it is I would love to see some success in a fix!!!!

Bruce In Philly

FYI.... I just installed the new fan..... and of course, I broke a rule... take a picture beforehand. So, does the fan blow or suck (sounds like someone I ....) ?

Thanx doclouie, I used your pics to re-orient the fan.

Thanx Larry, you found the exact fan with the correct plug and brass thread inserts.

Peace
Bruce in Philly