Pioneer Ventilation

[saikou]

I have a pioneer vsx 517 runing 5 jensen avx speakers. im getting a new cabinet soon and was worried about the ventilation. it gets pretty hot now and its just on a table. theres a fan inside the unitbut it never turns on. are the stock fans in theese recievers turned on at a certain temp or is mine just broken

 

[Adam]

saikou, welcome to the forum!

I've owned two receivers with built-in fans, and neither of them has had the fan turn on (at least that I ever noticed) even though I would consider them warm. I can't speak definitively for your model, but I'm confident that the fan is set to turn on at a certain temperature. Don't worry that the fan doesn't turn on as soon as you turn the unit on.

Adam

 

[Johnd]

Right on Adam.

And to augment, some receivers simply run hot for a number of reasons. The amps could run hot naturally, the heat sink could be undersized, you could be running a heavy load on it, you could be running it a warm envionment, you could be running it where there is no air flow, etc. If the receiver has not yet overheated, you seem to be adrressing a problem that has yet to occur.

 

[Haoleb]

Most recievers with built in fans do turn on at a specified temperature like you had guessed. It will probably be OK in the cabinet as long as there is a way for the hot exhaust air to escape once the fan does kick on. Most of the receivers Ive seen with fans have a tube type heat sink and they dont seem to be really effective until the fan comes on since the fins are on the inside and cant cool with convection like a more traditional heatsink.

 

[emorphien]

My receiver doesn't have a fan, but in any confined space like a cabinet I'd monitor temperatures and make sure it ventilates well. Otherwise you might want to consider installing fans in the cabinet.