[Elecraft] KPA1500 Fan Noise - Not An Issue

[Don Butler]

A post this afternoon refered to KPA1500 fan noise as an "issue" that might
need to be addressed.   I personally think that is an unfair suggestion.
Fan noise with this amplifier is NOT an issue to me.   I have made previous
comments and have also posted a video on this thread, and if I have given
the impression that fan noise is a problem in my shack I apologize, because
that is simply not the case.
  
Quite frankly, I think all the hubbub about KPA1500 fan noise is a huge
overreaction.  The reality is that the fans will NEVER be required in most
operating situations.   I've had my amplifier for three months now, and it
has gotten many hours of use.   Typically, with the amp idling in standby as
I tune and complete occasional short CW QSOs, the fans NEVER do kick on.
And if they do they will rarely rise above Level  2.   Levels 3, 4 and 5 may
be required during very heavy duty only, and, at least at my station, I
cannot foresee that happening more than 1 or 2 percent of the time.   I have
manually selected level 3 on just two occasions, and have never had to use
levels  4 or 5.   I personally believe that folks out there are fretting
over fan noise that may never occur. 
 
IMHO the KPA1500 is a great amp.   Amps are going to get hot.  The more an
amp is put into transmit mode the hotter it's going to get.   So it has to
be cooled.  There's no free lunch.   When my amp does get hot enough to
require speed level 3 or above I will simply put on my earphones and
continue to operate (I use earphones most of the time anyhow).  As I
mentioned above, in the three months that I have owned this amplifier, I
have manually switched to level 3 just two times (once while CQing for hours
while running in a CW contest and once when I spent about 30 minutes chasing
a DX station in a major CW pileup). 
 
To me, increased fan cooling capability is one of the KPA1500's uniquely
great features.  Yes, the fans create noise, but they also rapidly cool the
heat sink (probably better than any other amplifier out there).   But folks
seem to be more concerned about this noise thing when (I think) they should
really be appreciating the KPA1500's superior cooling capabilities.
 
I think we should get over this fixation on noise and just enjoy our
amplifiers.

As far as I'm concerned fan noise is NOT as issue with the KPA1500.

Don, N5LZ
KPA1500 S/N 45