Hot juice.

[tmg115]

i noticed that my juice box gets very hot. is this ok or should i worry?

[JEBar]

am glad to see this question raised, have wondered the same about mine from day one ... unit has performed flawlessly so I've about decided it is probably ok for it to maintain such a high temperature :cool:

[mackin]

Mine get pretty hot.......A lot is I would think is do to engine compartment heat......


MAC smile.gif

[DMAXDiva]

I've also noticed the heat...too hot to touch more often than not. I'm no electronics expert, but I do know that excessive heat is the death nail of electronic components. Take your computer for example. The processor must be able to dissipate damaging heat, therefore most CPU's employ fans to draw that damaging heat away...hmmm...sure does make me wonder about the Juice...

I'd sure like to defer to someone with electronics expertise on this one...SoCalSteve? What's your take?

[CSDMAX]

In addition to the heat generated by the engine compartment, the main circuit board in the juice box generates heat like circuit boards in computers, etc. There is more than likely a heatsink to dissipate the heat from the circuit board, therefore, the box feels hot. Just my 0.02.

Don

[DMAXDiva]

Hey CSDMAX:

Thanks for the reply...I'm still wondering, though, if there is indeed a heatsink within the box, where does the dissipated heat go? Isn't it just trapped inside the box? I'm sure some radiant heat could be lost from the surface, but in an oven-like engine compartment, is a sufficient amount removed?

[Kennedy]

The majority of the components are poted in epoxy. The "depth of fill" seems to vary, but basically, the shell itself is the heat transfer source.

[ 08-16-2002: Message edited by: kennedy ]</p>

[CSDMAX]

Where does the dissipated heat go? It is dissipated through the box. Certainly, the heat in the engine comparment diminishes the ability to remove heat from the unit but I am sure that Edge Products have considered this as the unit it mounted in the engine compartment.
Isn't it just trapped inside the box? No, as you suspect, radiant heat would be released from the surfaces of the box. If the unit is hotter than the ambient temp of the engine compartment, the heat would dissipate equal to the temp of the compartment. As John states, if the unit is poted with epoxy then I sure there is some form of heat dissipating properties added to the epoxy (i.e. berylium copper, aluminum, etc.) to draw heat away from the electronics.

Don

[SoCalDMAX]

I think everyone is pretty much correct. The processor and related components within the unit are producing heat. The unit is potted with epoxy and this helps (slightly) draw heat to the extruded aluminum chassis which then tries to dissipate it to the air. Copper is the best material to draw heat from the component. Aluminum is slightly better at dissipating it to the air, especially if the fins are "skived", or shaved from a solid block with nearly microscopic ridges for more surface area.

Being mounted under the hot hood is not helping it cool down, nor is the lack of heat sink fins on the extrusion. This is the same case they used for a previous Edge product, cheaper to use the same part for multiple products. I haven't read of any heat related problems on other forums concerning other Edge products.

*Generally speaking*, electronics last longer if kept cool. Some surface mounted passive components can withstand fairly high temps for extended periods, but microprocessors/FPGAs/etc (the heart of the Juice) still don't like heat. They can sometimes be purchased in a ruggedized, high reliability package at extra expense. I have no idea what actual components are in the Juice.

I did spend an entire weekend in Vegas in 110*+ heat with the Juice on level 4. A little extra smoke due to the thin air, but it never hiccupped once.

This evening I'll check out the actual surface temp with an IR thermometer. It'll be interesting to see what the actual temp is.

Regards, Steve

[BadDog]

I don't have the "Juice" (yet). But, if your concerned, you can get a glue on heat sink with built in 12V fan at any computer supply. Use the supplied thermal conductive glue to mount the heat sink and wire the fan to 12V switched. Some even have thermostats but it's probably not needed. The fans in my computer have been running pretty much 24/7 for a year now...

Hmm, wonder if you could remote mount that thing inside the cowl, or somehow in the fender behind the liner? That with a heat sink/fan would keep it nice and cool.

[armalite]

Any think that the "Hot Stall" issue could be a result of excessive heat buildup in the box? I am just guessing at this one.

Thanks

[SoCalDMAX]

I had a reference to it in my post but deleted it before posting. My truck has stalled twice in the last week, second time within 2 blocks of first time (different day.) Engine had been running for about 20min, normal op temp, OAT ~80*.

I honestly don't think (in my case) that it's heat related or it would/should have acted up in Vegas. I'm not sure what's causing it, but I currently don't see any correlation to heat.

Regards, Steve

[armalite]

Thanks SoCal,

It was a stab in the dark, but thought I would ask. Are you running level 4 all the time?

[RVGuy]

I noticed my Juice was very hot. Mine is mounted right on top of the fuse box lid.

I was talking to Aaron on a different issue the other day and happened to mention to him that it was very hot. He asked if I had experienced any problems to which I said no.

That was before my truck tried to quit running last Saturday. I say try, because it acted like it was running out of fuel. Lasted perhaps 15 seconds and resumed normal operation and it hasn't happened since.

Weather at the time was high 80s and it had been raining that day. My point is it had been much, much hotter at other times while operating over the past three weeks (since I added the juice) and had had no problems.

Since the problem felt like running out of fuel and since my truck is essentially new, I'm changing the fuel filter tomorrow.

Keeping an eye on it!!!!!

[hdmax(mike)]

Has anyone been able to determine if the Juice may be causing some of the stalls? I want more power, but am wondering if more testing needs completed.

Also has anyone with the Duramaximizer experianced hot stalls? or other simalir problems?

[mackin]

hdmax(mike) ,

The only stall issues I've had (had in the past) is at a certain operating temp....Not JUICE box temp but Engine temp.....Seemed early on if you caught it just right when the box comes on full at 175 ish degrees you can experience a stall or a hesitation like its gonna take a $hiter AKA fall on it's face ......If you catch it and get off the throttle and back on it's fine no stall,hoping that guy ,gal, behind you doesn't slam you in the a$$......If they hit me they will get the worse of it........Juice Experience, monitor them gauges it's the key to your answer .......This is my experience with this issue and my take on it,seen it right to the present version......

MAC ;)

[ 08-15-2002: Message edited by: mackin ]</p>