If you’ve ever scrutinized an invoice or a proposal for an avionics upgrade, you might have spotted a line item that mentions an avionics cooling fan. While it’s an option that could add $500 to as much as $1000 to the project, it’s a sign that the shop is thinking about long-term reliability. We’ve seen too many high-dollar avionics installs completed without protecting the avionics from heat damage, which is easily handled with an avionics cooling fan.
While the market has fewer choices than it once did, all fans aren’t created equal. Some have single outputs for cooling one radio, while others can cool an entire stack while also providing warnings of impending motor failure. Here’s a fresh look at the current offerings for retrofit.