Using 2520 opamps upside down. Premature death?

[Golgoth]

I got a BAE R53 lunchbox for a pair of vintage API 525C compressors.

To my surprise the module connectors in the rack are located at the top of the unit, meaning the modules are sitting "upside down" when installed, in regards of the components location on the pcb. I think the lunchbox was designed for specific BAE modules.

The components in the modules I have installed in the rack are facing down, including the 2520s. As many of you know, 525s are loaded with 3 opamps, these units create some heat! I am worried about exhausting my "Studio System Division" and "Melville" 2520s prematurely in that configuration.

What do you guys think? I'm thinking about flipping the rack over to have the modules circuits facing up. Won't be pretty but might help with heat dissipation a bit. Or am I being paranoid and the orientation wouldn't mind that much in such a packed unit as a 500 series module anyway?

Thank you for your insights!

 

[kags]

I would be more concerned about the heat affecting surround components, rather than the opamps themselves. Many units orient the opamps vertically, and they seem to do ok. In API consoles, the opamps are sandwiched between two pcbs and I’ve only had one or two 2520s fail in a 32-channel console over the last 10 or 12 years.

Is the BAE rack vented? I’ve also had several BAE racks’ power supplies fail over the last several years, but the r53 doesn’t require much power for only 3 modules.

 

[Golgoth]

I would be more concerned about the heat affecting surround components, rather than the opamps themselves. Many units orient the opamps vertically, and they seem to do ok. In API consoles, the opamps are sandwiched between two pcbs and I’ve only had one or two 2520s fail in a 32-channel console over the last 10 or 12 years.

Is the BAE rack vented? I’ve also had several BAE racks’ power supplies fail over the last several years, but the r53 doesn’t require much power for only 3 modules.

Interesting! Thanks for the feedback.

The rack is not vented, I would be worried for the internal psu too if using the rack upside down.

 

[Somkereki]

You may think that my habit is excessive, but I usually glue a TO-220 heat sink (Aluminum)) to the IC that gets hot. With silicone rubber adhesive (FBS). It is a good heat conductor and flexible. The hotter an IC gets, the noisier it is and the more likely it is to fail. But even its terminals, if soldered with lead-free solder, are more likely to develop micro cracks. (In the past, the quiescent current consumption of some NE5532s was so high that it was worth cooling them in mic preamp circuits to reduce noise, or in headphone amp circuits to avoid current limits. Many mixing consoles used them in headphone amp circuits. (Max output current 40 to 60 mA) The DIP-8 case has a small surface area for heat dissipation.)I still remember the RCA power transistor catalog published in 1980, which described how many thermal cycles a transistor lifetime has. According to physics, thermal expansion always works!