Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Ok, the LOR products, without heatsink can handle x amount of amps, with heatsink the amps are increased. The controllers CAN NOT TELL if they are heatsinked or not! So if my box had some "breathing room" and I dont even plan on going near the maxed amps, then why get a heatsink? If I DID start pushing amps durring one of the songs wouldnt the "breathing room" in the controller be enough to keep it running? What does the heatsink do anyway?Just wondering...--Daniel L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Daniel,The heatsink's job is to quickly move the heat away from the triac. Air does a very very poor job of doing that. In open air a triac will handle about 2 amps and no more. If you push it harder than that it will destroy the triac.I am thinking of dropping any warranty protection on the triacs for units without heatsinks. It is just too easy to damage them. If you know you are only going to put a few 100 mini lights or LEDs on a channel then you are safe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 But at $10 per board, I'd say it's worth the insurance.My 2cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Daniel,I asked the same question, and have come to the conclusion after much debate that you need decent heat sinks in some form.You could make your own. I have done this for my D-Light boards. Aluminum angle is available at many hardware stores (2" x 2" x 1/8" angle 4' long at farm and fleet = $13) but it's a bit of work, and will probably still not satisfy Dan's warranty issues (although strapping some 1/8" aluminum angle to the back of a triac will keep it plenty cool, especially when the ambient temperature is at or below freezing.)If LOR is so concerned with people using heat sinks, I'm not sure why they don't just include heat sinks with the purchase of the boards. I'm not suggesting giving them away, I understand they're in business to make money, but if it's truly that big of a concern, it would make sense to "make" people buy the heat sinks.That's MY 2 cents.Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Mvipond wrote: If LOR is so concerned with people using heat sinks, I'm not sure why they don't just include heat sinks with the purchase of the boards. I'm not suggesting giving them away, I understand they're in business to make money, but if it's truly that big of a concern, it would make sense to "make" people buy the heat sinks.Hi Matt,Our boards are sold with and without heatsinks installed. We could drop the (without-heatsink version) all together but have opted not to do so for a number of reasons.About 98% of our boards are sold with the heatsinks installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Installing your own saves you about 1-2$ lol.... And it might cost you one or 2 extra $ to ship the two parts disembled LOL..Just a piont to ponder..Zac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 A stock Triac has about 1/2 a square inch of surface area to dissipate heat, when we install a heat sink it increases the total surface area many fold that is exposed to air and there for allows more heat to dissipate (Remember, Heat is electronics worst enemy).It would be absolutely silly (too be nice) to buy an expensive board like an LOR with out a heat sink or at least to install one yourself.Man, don't be cheap on the little things, it will increase the life of the board by so many time and you will be much more satisfied in the long run, instead of saying "why is there smoke coming from LOR board".And Dan, I would not blame you at all for not having a warranty for boards without a heat sink, it only make logical sense.Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 LightORama wrote: Our boards are sold with and without heatsinks installed. We could drop the (without-heatsink version) all together but have opted not to do so for a number of reasons.About 98% of our boards are sold with the heatsinks installed. If you're selling 98% with the heat sinks then I would just drop the without heatsink version... That would eliminate hassles over warranty issues. TED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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