C84 Op-amps - Running hot at +/-18V?

[Randyman...]

Are the C84's Op-amps supposed to get really hot at the specified +/-18V? Mine are (just built 2 of them - they both exhibit this)

The upper op-amp gets alot hotter than the lower one. I just completed my C84's, and tested them briefely. Nothing smoked yet; they sound fine, but the Op-amps seem very hot to me. The Op-Amps are socketed FYI... I'll get to use them for an extended period later this week.

Thanks for any info.

PS - I found that the C84 was more time-consuming compared to the A12 N72 and J99 - lots more of those smaller parts to sort through The cheapest module in the series takes the longest to assemble I'm not complaining!

[tpryan]

They'll get pretty warm, it's normal. Soldering them directly to the board may help them run cooler, since there's less thermal resistance between the pins and copper traces.

[Randyman...]

Is there any harm in putting a little heatsink on the op-amps? Like those little ones that are attached by "Thermal Adhesive"? I have some laying around (I use them to cool my PC's Power Mosfets).

Or should I just not worry about it? Thanks.

[hopelessennui]

My C84 is very hot as well. Too hot to touch for longer than several seconds (The voltage regulators and the upper op-amps) all the Voltages are right and it sounds great. Im just worried that over an extended period of time it wont handle the heat.


And just for clarity's sake since the older instructions pertain to a different silk screened PCB, the back of transistors Q8 Q9 Q15 and Q16 line up with the double lines on the PCB? so the text of the transistor is pointed away from the double lines?