Spaces between rack gear?

[ToneSetter]

I currently have in my rack a furman power conditioner, scarlett 18i20, warm audio wa73 preamp, art mpa II preamp, presonus studio channel, klark teknik kt2a, dbx 160x, art p16, and a samson s patch. After getting my last couple pieces of gear I dont have enough room in the rack to keep empty spaces between everything so my question is do I need to keep spaces between gear or only certain pieces of gear. Thanks guys!

[Top Jimmy]

Gear is designed to be racked and usually heat tolerance is factored into the design. If you're worried, just leave the warmest items with an empty space above. And if you're obsessed with the issue, put a small quiet fan behind the rack to assist in venting.


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[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Top Jimmy

Gear is designed to be racked and usually heat tolerance is factored into the design. If you're worried, just leave the warmest items with an empty space above. And if you're obsessed with the issue, put a small quiet fan behind the rack to assist in venting.


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Something to watch out for is any gear that's dsp powered - those chips can get hot. My 11 Rack gets VERY warm during a 12 hour day. It's not just tubes that generate heat. My Marshall DSL 401 tube amp runs cooler than the 11 Rack. My Moog Voyager Rack Mount synth gets warm after a few minutes as well. So can power centers. There's a lot of things that can get warm that people don't think about.

If expansion is in the future for the OP I'd suggest getting a second rack and moving some of the gear over there. Putting a fan in the back is a good idea however......... If it's a wood rack they generally don't have rear rack mounting rails. I ran into that here and had to buy & mount rack rails in the back to mount a pair of fans in a rack blank. It's not that easy of a job to get things right.