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Cooling Fan for IFD540?? |
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mfb 
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Joined: 20 Dec 2014 Location: KATW Status: Offline Points: 293 |
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 Topic: Cooling Fan for IFD540??Posted: 20 Dec 2014 at 8:50pm |
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Is an external cooling fan required or recommended on an IFD540 installation?
My IFD540 will be installed at the top of the radio stack in a C-182P. There will be an audio panel above it, a KX165, Strikefinder, and a Century 2000 autopilot below it. Will that be too much heat? The existing KNS80 (which is going away) has been running forever with no fan. But whoever installed it put in little ducts from fuselage air scoops directly into the radio stack. That doesn't seem like very good practice, unless your radios are rain proof. Thanks Mike |
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MysticCobra
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Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Status: Offline Points: 648 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 12:12am |
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Section 5.5 of the installation manual is titled "External Cooling". It reads, in part:
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AviJake
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Joined: 26 Mar 2009 Location: Lincoln MA Status: Offline Points: 2815 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 8:36am |
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Yes, Section 5.5 is Avidyne's position.
I will note that I fly a C-182Q with a full stack, where from top to bottom, I have AMX240 Audio Panel, IFD540, IFD540, AXP340 Transponder, DFC90 Autopilot. I have a cockpit switch to turn the ice box forced air cooling fan on/off and as it turns out, I never turn it on, even in the summer. We have temperature readout diagnostics in maintenance mode and we have internal logging and flagging to look at unit temperature. I haven't ever had a problem with unit overheating. Some of our heat dissipation design is to pull unit heat out of the box via the front bezel. That tends to make some folks think that the box is (too) hot when in fact, this design pulls the heat away from the electronics components inside and it works well. We also have Caution Alerting System (CAS) messages that will display on the IFD if it does hit high enough temperatures where forced cooling would be helpful.
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com |
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PA20Pacer
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Joined: 07 Mar 2012 Location: Illinois (LL22) Status: Offline Points: 161 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 9:00am |
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Hi Steve-
On a similar topic, I will be installing my IFD540 next to an Aspen display, which has a similar projection of the bezel from the panel. Is there a minimum distance that I should maintain between the Aspen and the IFD540 to ensure that I do not block the cooling airflow from the vents in the bezel? My current plan has a distance of 3/16" between the two bezels. Thanks. Bob
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Bob Siegfried, II
Brookeridge Airpark (LL22) Downers Grove, IL |
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mfb
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Joined: 20 Dec 2014 Location: KATW Status: Offline Points: 293 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 10:50am |
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I did read the language in the installation manual. I'm sure it's Avidyne's official position, but it includes vague terms like "may" and "tightly packed." As an owner, I don't have enough experience to know if my installation is tightly packed or not. Steve's airplane is very similar to mine, and he has a lot more stuff in the panel. So it seems I'm not very tightly packed. And he has a fan but doesn't use it. Very interesting. But I'm still concerned about the "may prolong life" language. I know that heat and electronics don't go well together. Is the internal instrumentation good enough to tell me not only when the unit is really overheating, but just when it's warm enough to hurt its service life? Or maybe I should just install the fan anyway, as a $450 insurance policy. It's not much in the overall cost of the project. My venerable KNS80 has lasted well over 25 years without any cooling. Is the IFD540 build quality as good as King's used to be in the "good old days?" I probably won't be flying another 25 years, but I'd still like this box to last for a while. Thanks for your thoughts. Mike |
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MysticCobra
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Joined: 29 Jan 2013 Status: Offline Points: 648 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 12:20pm |
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Just FYI, again from the install manual:
I don't believe there are "cooling vents" in the bezel. Sounds like it just gets warm and radiates/convects out into the cockpit.
Edited by MysticCobra - 21 Dec 2014 at 12:20pm |
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tony
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Joined: 06 Dec 2011 Location: Atlanta Status: Offline Points: 466 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 7:25pm |
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I told my installer to put in a fan. Compared to the rest of the cost of your investment, its cheap.
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Gring
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Joined: 30 Dec 2011 Location: Kingston, NY Status: Offline Points: 720 |
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Posted: 21 Dec 2014 at 8:00pm |
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I have the full stack in my Bonanza consisting of AMX240, IFD#1, IFD#2, AMX340. The front bezels are warm on the AMX, warmer on the IFDs, hot on the AMX. When I looked at the diag temps they were 10c less than the threshold on the hottest day of the summer and I don't have air conditioning. I do have some type of thin fan that sits along side the stack and draws heat away from the stack.
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AviJake
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Joined: 26 Mar 2009 Location: Lincoln MA Status: Offline Points: 2815 |
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Posted: 22 Dec 2014 at 9:06am |
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The IFDs do have several internal fans that facilitate heat removal. There are exhaust ports along the left and right sides of the chassis and the accompanying trays have cut outs aligned with those exhaust ports to facilitate venting.
In addition, the left and right sides of the front bezel do have intake louvers designed to draw ambient cockpit air into the unit. While not required, if installation flexibility permits, the unit can benefit from these intake and exhaust ports remaining as clear as feasible. |
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Steve Jacobson
sjacobson@avidyne.com |
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Jrlumpp
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Joined: 08 Feb 2014 Location: NY Status: Offline Points: 47 |
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Posted: 22 Dec 2014 at 11:39pm |
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I called avidyne and a rep told me he didn't think a additional cooling fan would be needed in the NorthEast where I fly. He thought it might be more needed in the SouthWest region. I will leave it up to my installer.
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The IFD5XX does not require external cooling, however, additional cooling may prolong product life. A 5/8” diameter air fitting is provided in the rear of the IFD5XX mounting tray, if forced air cooling is installed.