VCI-1 Voice Coil Temp Sensor

Monitor and protect your subwoofers from thermal failure and increase their playing life with the VCi-1 Voicecoil Tempurature Sensor! Never again will you have to worry about blowing your subwoofer(s) with the missing link in driver protection!

The VCi-1 is a universal, Non-contact infrared temperature sensor designed to continuously monitor the temperature of your voicecoil, preventing one from overheating and thus blowing ones subwoofer.

*****Modded to be in Celcius

 

 

 

Q1: Do I need multiple VCi-1's for multiple subs?

A1: No, as long as you are running identical subwoofers on identical amps, each subwoofer will heat up uniformly, which means the coil temperature for each sub will be about the same. 

Q2: What if my subwoofer does not have a ventilation gap? 

A2: If your subwoofer does not have a ventilation gap, the VCi-1 may not be a necessary to have for your system. Subwoofers that are considered "competition grade" (1500+ Watts RMS) have ventilation gaps and run at loads of 1 ohms down to 0.25 ohms which causes excessive heating of the voice coil. Entry level subwoofers (~1000 Watts RMS <) are not intended to run at low impedances and do not generate as much heat, thus eliminating the need for a ventilation gap. 

Q3: But what if I am running a high powered system that utilizes a large number of entry level subwoofers per se a dozen 12" 400 Watt RMS Subwoofers, can I still use the VCi-1?

A3: This would be one instance where the VCi-1 would be necessary to have, however it will require slight modification to one of the subwoofers baskets to visually expose the voice coil: Simply drilling a small hole on the side of the basket about a half-inch below from where the Spider lays will do the trick, though WE HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS AND DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CASE YOUR SUBWOOFER IS DAMAGED THROUGH THIS MODIFICATION.

Q4. My subwoofer only has vents on the bottom, can I still use the VCi-1? 

A4: Yes, however the temperature reading will be inaccurate, but not inaccurate enough to be rendered impractical. The IR Sensor works just like a video camera, in order to obtain the actual coil temperature it needs to visually see the coil. Through a normal side ventilation gaps, you can see the coil with your own eyes, however with bottom backplate/t-yoke mounted ventilation gaps, you cannot. The IR Sensor will however pick up the radiated heat from the coil if mounted in the bottom vent, but the temperature reading can be off anywhere from 5 degrees (F) to 10 degrees (F) BELOW the actual coil temperature. Extra caution must be used when monitoring ones voice coil  temperature in this setup.