Cooling for Blizzard Cards (Trapdoor Mod)

[eva]

I have seen two types of mods floating around for cooling Blizzard cards, notably 1230 III and IV - one of them involves heat ducts, the other is just a recommendation to remove the trap door.

What I noticed is that even though I have a 1230 and it should not need any cooling, is that if I place my hand on the bottom it is literally burning my hand. I think that the problem is that the card is mounted with the CPU facing downward, literally pushing onto the trap door and, even though the 1230 is known to not heat up too much, the heat accumulates between the trap door and the Blizzard card.

So, I have come up with the following simple mod that adds a metal wire grating over the CPU, thereby letting the heat escape. I also have, in addition, a fan on the top of the card blowing air down.

[rikbliz]

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[Hewitson]

Nice cover rikbliz. I bet you could sell quite a few of those if you wanted to.

[amigasith]

If the price was reasonable, I would buy one of those 3D printed 1200 covers immediately Looks really cool in my opinion, although I would definitely prefer Amiga beige over black.

@rikbliz: Did you print it yourself or did you use one of the online 3D printing services?

[Michael Sykes]

My 040 card(also a Blizzard) has a fan glued to the cpu. A spare trapdoor with a round hole in it was already included.

Never had any problems with an overheating 030 in the Amiga.
But some older 030 macs I used had a chassis fan for example.
Wich makes sense because of the internal Haddisk and the AC converter.
A noemal 3.5 inch harddisk alone can reach upto 40-50°C.

[Devlin]

I was thinking of getting a spare trapdoor to drill some holes into for airflow. but if i could buy a new part with the holes pre-made it might be less ugly

[rikbliz]

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[Steve T]

Originally Posted by amigasith

If the price was reasonable, I would buy one of those 3D printed 1200 covers immediately Looks really cool in my opinion, although I would definitely prefer Amiga beige over black.

@rikbliz: Did you print it yourself or did you use one of the online 3D printing services?

I've designed one for great airflow!

You can grab one from here in white or black:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/3U5PSQTUC

[rikbliz]

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[Hewitson]

Those covers are brilliant. Certainly not willing to pay that price though.

[Leffmann]

Here's my own mod. Some benefits of this model:

1. Maximum possible airflow
2. No time required for manufacturing, ordering, and installation.
3. Low price of €0.0

[DDNI]

Lol Leffman. +1

[rikbliz]

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[Leffmann]

If you keep lots of caltrops on your desk and refuse to wipe it clean before placing the A1200 there, or decide to transport it in a bag full of screwdrivers, then a trapdoor cover is definitely needed to protect the board.

I place my A1200 on a flat desk like everyone else, so the surface of the desk shields it. There is no way anything is going to squirm its way to the trapdoor and start stabbing at the board from underneath.

[highpuff]

I used a ceramic heat sink that I removed and refurbished from an old Fiber CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). Also, I had a damaged trapdoor that I cut out a rectangle and put a steel-net with good heat conducting abilities.

The result was 10-20% cooler Phase 5 Blizzard 1260 and still have the card in its place. compared to earlier when the trapdoor was solid.