Yamaha HTR-5890 running very hot. (1 Viewer)

[Timmy Bee]

I have a couple of questions. First, is it normal for these units to run hot? Plenty of space around it to breathe.
Second, if I don't actually have speakers connected, does it still use power for the amps and generate heat (headphones)?
Third, if I set it to "Stereo" does that mean the other amps are turned off?

 

[JohnRice]

Receivers can generate quite a bit of heat. It can also be a sign of a failing receiver if it really gets hot.

As a general answer to your questions, amps typically stay "On" whenever the receiver is turned on. How much of a difference that makes in heat depends largely on what type of amplifier class it uses. Most receivers have class D amps, which consume very little power and generate very little heat when they are powered on but idle. The other type would be Class A/B amps, which consume more power and generate more heat when they are idle. Again, most receivers use Class D amps.

Heat buildup can also be due to dust/cobwebs/spiderwebs inside the unit, which is more likely on an older receiver like yours. What's important is that the top and bottom are unrestricted, so air can flow and heat dissipate. There are fan powered cooling units from AC Infinity that do a great job of cooling equipment. They sit on top of the receiver and pull air in through the top of the receiver and exhaust it up, forward or back, depending on the model.

 

[Timmy Bee]

I've had people look at it because it stopped running completely, theoretically due to the heat. There were some capacitors that were replaced (6 or 7 around the power unit) and now it is working again but still runs extremely hot.
It's a clean machine.
Do people just run it with the case off so the heat can exit easier?

 

[JohnRice]

Honestly, it sounds like it's failing. Chronic overheating is a common symptom of a dying unit.

 

[willyTass]

Looking at the manual of your Yamaha receiver it appears that model doesn’t have a “preamp mode” even if speakers aren’t connected or your using its headphone plug the internal amps are running and generating heat

some receivers allow you to disable the internal amplifiers if you wish , yours doesn’t it seems

Like mentioned earlier grab an ac infinity or else the caps will prematurely age. For every 10 degrees you lower the temperature inside your Yamaha you can double the life of your capacitors .

personally I prefer noctua fans from a dedicated power supply, they are more silent and have tremendous static pressure to push air through vent holes

i have an Integra receiver that’s 15 years old and still runs perfectly , I always had a fan on it

now I use denon in other room

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Adding an AC Infinity product fan is a great idea. After learning about AC Infinity products from a friend, I reviewed their options at their website and bought the AC Infinity Aircom S7 - Top-Exhaust unit at Amazon for my Yamaha TSR-7810 receiver.

Installation was a breeze. After reviewing the instruction panel on top of the unit, I choose setting it up using "Smart Mode". It comes with a nice Instruction Manual that I read later on.

Back in June, we've been experiencing 95+ degree F weather in the SF Bay lately and even though my 20' x 25' family room is air-conditioned to 81-degrees F (for my wife), the Yamaha does warm up internally up to 88-degree F and activates the "Smart Mode" using the lowest & quiet fan speeds. Once it lowers the temp to 84-degrees F, it shuts off (AC Infinity spec).

I'm sure that my Yamaha internal heat normally goes beyond the 88-degrees F target set by AC Infinity, since before I bought the Aircom S7, I felt the top of my cabinet and it was very warm to hot to the touch after being on for an hour or so.

Since the shelter-in-place order here, I've had my Dell laptop connected to my Yamaha & LG 55" HDTV to do work, watch the news, TV shows and an assortment of movies (Blu-ray or Prime or Netflix, etc.). So the Yamaha is probably on 15+ hours during the day / evening, meaning it's generating a lot of internal heat way above 88-degrees F. Well, not anymore with my Aircom S7 installed! Yes, I'm a very satisfied customer!!!

It's nice to have such a nicely designed quality fan accessory product that works efficiently and quietly. Heat is the enemy of any audio electronic components and keeping it cool will extend the life of that unit for years if you use a product like, ... the AC Infinity Aircom S7!!! I highly recommend this investment.