Syntakt Heat

I bought a 3D printed stand from Etsy for my Syntakt. I just noticed it’s not sitting flush with the middle piece any more. I think the Syntakt got hot enough to warp the plastic stand.

They call it Analog Heat, and not also Syntakt Heat?

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Haha

I dont think its a matter of laughter. Its a worrying issue, At ambient temp of 25 degC Syntakt casing reaches 45 degC which means temp on the actual PCB is even higher. This shortens electronics lifespan.

I am not fancying the idea of external cooling as heating issues must be tackled at design…

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Elektron have addressed this directly on here previously.

They have said that it’s normal for it to get up to 50°c and that it won’t be a problem.

Can’t find the actual post, but there have been previous assurances that that temperature is fine, at least from an operational perspective.

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3D printed plastics often warp at very low temperatures, so that wouldn’t concern me too much.

The thing that does concern me is that sometimes my Syntakt won’t start again after it’s been running for a while.
I’ll switch it off to go do something else - then want to switch it back on because plans changed, or I wanted to add one last thing before I forget.

And I’m greeted with this screen until I leave it for a minute or two to cool down.

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Of course, and I apologize.

It worries me too. I cope with laughter.

(kinda crazy that you made an account and your first words on this forum was to rebuke someone. But hey. Internet be interneting.)

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Wow, that’s not a nice easter egg :unamused:

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hard boiled.

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…hilarious… thats so well executed… setup, and punchline… boom.

wait… I forgot the comedy police were here.

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I’m holding out for Syntakt Heat +FX.

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Hey @achliopa…. I’m just busting your huevos….

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry you’re worried. If it’s a problem where it impacts functionality, just reach out. The Elektron support is great, as is the community support.

Trust what people say.

Did you make a support ticket? Maybe you need to reflash the firmware.

I can see some process having a run off and is causing it to run trying to resolve itself.

I don’t know. But support definitely will.

Keep us updated.

Sorry for that. have been following the forum for almost 2 years now… just never felt I had something important to contribute to the collective knowledge of the fellow elektronauts…

Anyway that’s the way I keep syntakt temp under control now (monitoring with a multimeter) :smiley:

IMG_5319

People that own an Analog Heat (which also gets hot) know that case temp is at least more reasonable. Elektron offers this box perforated at the bottom (with grills) so I think it helps dissipating the heat better.

As an engineer I question Elektrons verdict that 50o C on the case is tolerable. It should not. PCB temps of 55 plus usually shutdown systems and ICs (microchips) being able to go over 80o C are not considered consumer grade but automotive grade. They put unnecessary strain on the electronics reducing their lifespan…

It’s definetely bad design in the casing. I am not optimistic though about my support case. I hope they could replace the bottom part of the case with an Analog HeatMKII one. I think I will end up building some external active cooling thing like a base with a fan or something…

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I can’t say it will help extend the life of the chips or the other components, but the muscovite mica sheets that are used to suspend the nichrome heating coil inside a hairdryer are thin, rigid, dissipate heat, make excellent electrical insulation, and are resistant of temps up to 1000 degrees - even an open flame. You could feasibly line the bottom of the syntakt case with a sheet, potentially suspend another sheet between the boards. It wouldn’t interfere with your plans if you want to set up a draw fan and port the syntakt case but I’d be looking towards achieving some results with non destructive methods before I got out the drill. A lot of better information at the link which I’m not going to copy but you can check out if you’d like.

FWIW there are also tooling kits you can buy to stamp metal to achieve the radiator style fins you’re talking about, but you’d obviously need to have the casing powdercoated or use appropriate paint as it would ruin the finish and other superficial bodywork might be required. I don’t know if the bottom of heat would be a direct fit so I can’t comment but one would assume there’s a 50% chance they line up with minimal effort.

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Personally, I would have a stream of neutrinos flow beneath the base plate to cause the electrons in the Syntakt to achieve a state of flux and switch to a downstate in a probabilistic Schrödinger manner. They should phase through the internals without interacting by existing in a parallel reality.

But hey, that’s just me.

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Going to try this - thanks.

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50c is honestly fine on a PCB, I can’t imagine Elektron would allow something which is a risk to persist given the legal and recall cost implications. But perhaps their lawyers and engineers are worryingly lassaiz faire about safety.

I just noticed the profile pic. Hilarious.

I’m not disabled or anything so possibly ill-advised. Its just lego Stephen Hawking.

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