Not an EE though i do have a bit of common sense when it comes to electronics and i am a hobbyist… One thing to note is the heat generated from this bad boy. The enclosure seems to act like a heatsink itself, but is not in contact with the main heatsink. I’m guessing the enclosure is some type of secondary heatsink thats radiating the heat generated from the entire PCB board. Now we all know heat is the number one enemy of electronic components so this begs the question: whats the best method to cool this bad boy? I’ve replaced cell phone screens in the past but should i dremel a hole in the casing with vent holes on the other side and simply insert a noctua or silent fan although the casing acts as shielding so that might be a bad idea. I’ve yet to do a tear down and measure direct temperature of the main heatsink, but the casing temperatures hits 105 degrees Fahrenheit with my temperature gun. I’m pushing a pair of 4" point source dayton audio 4ohm drivers ( 50 watt max rws ). I’d just like this amp to last more than a year ( i have a bad habit of never turning anything electronic off…infact my pc hasnt shut off in 5 years just to give you an example)…im pretty sure i can keep it cool ambiently since my room has pretty good air conditioning but the piece of mind of having better heatsinks would make me feel better heh. Does it need the extra cooling?
Vent in front and back in such a way air is forced through the heatsink may work. Shielding wise, you could get some metal-mesh filters.
Or, one easy thing to try: Point some PC fan at the thing.
Hi,
I know it’s an old topic, but the pictures and the amp are the same (except for some componants, where references seems to be different…).
My AD18 amp will not power up at all, any one could give me some advice on how to find the faulty componant?
I was not able to have 4.5v and 3.3v on the probe points, I have 22v or 24v (can’t recall It was late last night, but it’s way to much), but I have the correct 12v.
If you have any info on how to find the faulty component, or how to check each componant of the power supply and the stepdown part, it would be much apreciated 
Kermit