[Al Skierkiewicz]

Mech,
To answer your question in a round about fashion. The fans are sometimes shipped separately from the Victors so removing them does not truly modify the Victor. However, the controllers need the fans for operation and to protect the warranty. Although I have seen teams with alternative methods of cooling, nothing works quite as well as that little fan on the top. There is very little heat generated by the FETs when they are fully turned "ON" but the transitions do generate heat, so when operating at less than full speed, some heat will be generated. An ideal, non electrical, fix would be a large heatsink out in the open. However, the tabs of the FETs cannot be electrically tied together and the added weight would be significantly heavier than the fans. For the most part, the fans do not consume that much current. If you wire them to the power input of the controller, they will indicate that the controller is powered, and since they run whenever the robot is powered, they will precool the
FETs before the match starts. If you still have a question, that you don't want to reveal your thoughts, please PM me.