I recently purchased a shock-mounted 10-space rack with casters.  I didn't realize that the casters are mounted on the side of the rack rather than the bottom, meaning everything mounted in the rack will be at a 90 degree angle while the case is rolling on casters.  My question is would my F-2B be safe to operate in this position?  My gut tells me it's probably fine, but I figured it's best to check with the experts.  Obviously I'd have to get used to tilting my head to make adjustments to settings, but the other options are either lay it flat on the ground or hoist the 100+ lbs onto a cabinet.  Im starting to think the better option is just to leave the rack on wheels.  I asked this question to Chat, and my F-2B was the one piece of gear that Chat said best to confirm nothing about the design of the F-2B requires operation in a flat position for proper ventilation and heat dissipation.  Thoughts?

I'll jump in to say that all Alembic gear is built like a TANK so mounting it vertically shouldn't matter physically.  There are two tubes inside so it does generate some heat.  Normally that's just dissipated by the metal chassis which can feel warm when operating.  But even dispersion of that heat is not likely to be a problem if operated "on end".  

That's my opinion - you might wait for further confirmation.

Also, even though those tubes are shielded with metal caps (and the chassis) it might make a difference what gear is directly next to it in the rack.  If you get any strange interference you may need to experiment with placement.

Jimmy J

If it were me, I would leave the wheels on the rack, roll it on to the stage, then flip it a quarter turn (gently) so the wheels are on the side, and the racked up gear all where they should be for easy knob turning.

I'm guessing you can't remove the wheels from the side and remount on the bottom?

If your F-2B is old, make sure the foam insulating the filter caps for vibrating off their leads is still intact. Turn off the F-2B and wait a good 15 minutes for the capacitance to dissipate. There is high voltage on the top trace of the board, you really REALLY want to wait so you don't touch it accidentally. 

There should be foam under the 4 filter caps and on the lid to hold them steady. If the foam is powdered out, you need to replace it, or you'll be replacing the filter caps.

Dad says F-2B is ok vertical, upside-down and backwards. 

Thank you all for the info!  Mica, my F-2B is a modern unit, so I assume all is good but I will double check to be sure.  Dave, I thought about moving the casters to the "actual" bottom, which is a possibility,  but that would put the handles at top and bottom thus introducing a new problem.  I think I'm good to go, and I really appreciate the input from everyone!  Excited to put this together and finally get my power conditioner, tuner, etc., all in one place.  Btw, I'm going to be feeding the F-2B into a Trickfish Bullhead 3k, one signal into the effects return of channel 1 (bypassing the 3k's preamp), and the second stereo signal into channel 2 which is a power amp only.  Can't wait to hear how this sounds.  This will be my first time using my series II basses in true stereo all the way to the cabs.  The amp is riding around on a FedEx truck, due for delivery today.

I have my F-2B mounted jn a two space rack along with a Carvin DCM200L.  It gets moved on its side all the time, and is often stored that way, too.  I've been treating it like this for at least ten years with no issues.

Bill, tgo

Thanks, Bill.  Yeah I wasn't too concerned about moving the unit around, I just wanted to be safe knowing that it wasn't designed in such a way that it needed to be flat for proper operation.  I appreciate your input!  

No problem.  To paraphrase John Cameron Swayze (showing my age here), the F-2B can take a licking and keep on ticking!

Now if you were talking about a Hammond B-3, that has to be kept upright at all times as, IIRC, there are trays inside holding oil that will spill if turned sideways. 

Bill, tgo

Well i didn't know that. What is the oil for?

The oil in a B3 is for the tone wheel.  If you want a Hammond B-3, but don't want the maintenance or weight, you want the XK-5 or XK-7.  Those are both probably safer to play upside down or on their side.  

I have never in all my born days seen a rack with wheels on the side!  Where was it made, the little town of Methlahem?

And I did not know that about the B-3; I have carried one up & down a fire escape at a 2nd-floor venue many times; we did not keep it clear upright (probably 45° side-to-side).  Guess we lucked out (and Sid about killed me when a gust of wind took one of his Leslies off a flatbed trailer stage - in a flight case, thus both wheels and the 100% lack of damage.  Can't imagine what he'd have done if we broke his Hammond.
And while the XKs, Ss, etc., come close, they're not the same as a B-3 through a Leslie or 2.

Peter

Well I agree about the odd rack configuration.  It was a bit of a surprise when I got it home, popped off the lids/covers, and saw rack rails mounted at the top and bottom instead of the sides.  Still pretty happy about getting a nice case, shock mounted, for $100 on marketplace.

I've got nothing in the way of input on the Hammond.  I'm not a player, just someone who has had spells of B-3 curiosity over the years.  The full extent of everything I know is in the thread up above, but I don't doubt your info.  

Hey Craig, I just read the 'shockmounted' part, or it finally sunk in...

Is there any possibility that the rack itself is slid into the shockmount sleeve 90° off? I built a ot of strange, custom roadcases back in my day, and this is a head-scratcher. There must be some logical reason for it. It probably doesn't matter.

One of the things I remember about building rack cases, particularly shockmount ones, was there are so many directionally oriented parts... front and back lids, tops, bottoms, valances, all look about the same but fit better one way, because you build the box first then saw the lids off and mount stuff on them. They always fit better one way; the way they came off. We'd often be building these in batches of multiple units. As many as 50 time for some pro-audio rental service that had bought a truckload of Tascam DA-88 recorders. They wanted a roadcase for every_single_one. 4u, 1" shockmount, front and back lids, and red skin. I got good with letter and number stencils.

Anyway, you couldn't have accidentally gotten one of those flipped on its end but I'm imagining if a rack was roughly 19×19... and would be easier for a 19" rack to get slipped into a shockmount with rails up if it was close and someone either didn't care or didn't know better. Just a thought.

Hey, Gregory.  Thanks for your suggestion.  I knew that a 90 degree rotation wouldn't work because the opening is not a square 19x19.  On wheels, it's taller than it is wide.  But just out of curiosity I measured and you are sort of correct.  I could remove the shock mount insert and install rack rails for a perfect 19" fit, and have more spaces top to bottom.  For now I think I'll keep it as is, but I appreciate your input because I doubt I would have come to that realization on my own.  Perhaps i will make that change down the road, but at least I know I have the option.