How Hot should the chassis get?

[zorro]

How hot is a 5E3 chassis supposed to get after two hours of playing not fully cranked? The way the layout of the rectifier tube and two power 6v6's hanging upside down and the power transformer mounted horizontally in close proximity seems setup for producing a hot chassis. My chassis gets hot right above these parts on the top where my on/off switch is. I first thought it was just the Weber power transformer that does get hot, but I separated the tranformer away from the chassis and the chassis still gets very hot just from the tubes. I don't hear much of adding a fan to blow the heat off the power tubes, so I am assuming a very hot panel on top where the power switch is not normal. Or is it?

[MWJB]

Without seeing/feeling the amp it's hard to say whether it is normally or abnormally hot. Bear in mind that...

Tubes are supposed to get hot, much too hot to touch - so don't.

Power transformer may also normally run at temp higher than it is comfortable to touch with bare hands.

Your amp is cathode biased and the tubes run at max current all the time, even with no signal - more current = more heat.

Turning the amp off in breaks is a good idea if you are concerned about heat, playing for 2 hours solid would make any tweed cathode biased Fender chassis hot to touch - something like a 5C5 Pro will get so hot you feel it a few inches away.

I would confirm what plate current the 6V6s are running at, if it's over 40mA sub the 250ohm cathode resistor with a 330ohm. This won't necessarily stop the amp from getting warm to the touch.

[petemoore]

...

words like 'very' are 'somewhat' imprecise ...amps get 'hot'.
This is a fairly common concern..I have heard they get 'worry' hot [mine are 'upside up'], but haven't heard of that being anything other than worry...amps may sound good hot.
Heating and cooling is one of the '#1 wearer outers' of tubes, when I get them warm I try to use them for a while, and try to avoid 'thermal transfers'...heating and cooling...
Joe was having tube meltdowns, I said if it was in water [some radio stations have submerged, water cooled tubes]...I didn't know he was going to take me seriously...and cracked the very hot-glass by dipping it in a cold glass of water..which caused large, jolting sparks before a fuse [and who knows what else] blew...dont' try this at home or at the gig..water and HV are no good when combined.
I'd say...let it heat, or put a fan on it.

[zorro]

I am not concerned with the tubes getting hot, I know they are supposed to. Actually, if it normal for a deluxe type amp chassis or the top of the amp to be hot, then it's alright with me.
I never had the chance of playing anybody's deluxe or 5E3 amp to see if it is normal for the top to be hot. If it's not normal, then I want to find out what is wrong with my amp.
It seems if it is normal to get hot, which I am starting to think it might be, since heat rises and the tubes are hanging upside down on the bottom of the chassis, the chassis will get hot on the top. The cabinets have a pocket on the top that will trap the heat. I would think you would want to avoid baking your capacitors inside the chassis. If it's normal, then I will add a small fan.

[MWJB]

Voltage and current check will show if your amp is running components so hot as to cause a problem.

[The Captain]

I have a Weber PT which gets the chassis damn hot too- another Torres in place is warm only- so its a weber thing Imo and not neccessarily a concern.. I was alarmed at 1st too, but advice/ help from MJWB as per above a great help so I lived with it as 'normal'.

[zorro]

Thanks, I feel better knowing my amp won't go into thermal melt down. I still wonder if putting a small wisper fan is of any benifit considering the upside down tube's heat rises adding to the heated chassis.

[R ski]

combo heat

I remember working on a Messa Boogie combo.....they place a heat sink near the output tubes...to help disapate the chassis heat....still felt hot