i installed some of my older gear into my buddies ride just to see how it would work but for some reason the amp that i gave him keeps cutting out and blowing fuses. i think it might be the sub that is causing the amp to cut out because when i disconnected the sub the amp stayed on but that could mean many things i suppose.
when we first installed the amp it worked fine for a 2 days then the older sub that i gave him (orion XTR3 4+4 ohm dvc connected in parralell to make a 2 ohm load) ended up having the cone crack, this is when the amp started to cut out. we hooked up an old kenwood sub (i don't know the model number off the top of my head) and its still cutting out.
any suggestions of why it would be cutting out and how to fix it?
Replies (7)
ryan2 on 07/29/2005 14:26:18
First off what kind of amp is it brand and model number. Make sure you have a good ground and that none of the wires are shorting out. Also make sure you have the sub wired correctly and the gains on the amp set properly
oldmazda on 07/29/2005 20:43:48
i have tried 2 amps and they both do the same thing, the first one i tried was an alpine mrv-t505 i beleive and the other is a clarion apx400.2. and the sub that is hooked up doesn't have the polarity on the terimails but i tried hooking it up both ways and it did the same thing both times. i have the gain dialed back quite a bit prolly only at about 3/4 of how far it could go. all the wires are brand new and i was very careful not to nick the insulation when running the wire, i have all the proper gromets going through the firewall so i don't think it'd be shorting. the ground is a little more iffy i let him install it it seems to be attatched to the frame but i reckon i could clean up the ground and take the paint off a little more.
Tinker18 on 07/29/2005 21:12:13
Ok first, the most likely reason for a fuse blowing is either
1) a stray pos. wire touching either the amp.. or ground.. check that.
2.) a bare wire anywhere touching the fram and grounding out the amp.
second. the amp cutting off.
-Neither of the amps above are 2 ohm stable when they are bridged.
Since the DVC 4 ohm sub is wired in parallel @ 2 ohms, the amp would not be stable and would turn it self off because of the circuitry protection.
do this.
-go here, and wire the sub @ 8 ohms to the amplifier and see if it works....come back and give us some more info.
-this is a woofer wiring wizard to help you out.
-http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/wiringwizard.asp?WoofQty=1+woofer&WoofImp=Dual+Voice+Coil+-+4+ohms+x+2&image.x=21&image.y=17
-TINK
Victor on 07/30/2005 00:45:58
You can also wire each voice coil to a seperate channel, but you wil have to be careful and do exactly identical gain and bassboost and LPF settings on both the channels..
wiring it for 8ohms will cut down a lot of power.. I dunno how much your subs are rated at and how much power ur amps give out.. will need a lot more specs and details on them to suggest you the right way out..
Victor...
swez on 07/30/2005 08:44:18
Think the best option here is to wire the sub for 8 ohms as a test and see if the amp stays on. If it does, then try Victor's suggestion on wiring one coil per channel. If that works, the amps are probably OK. Just make sure you double check his grounding... if that ground is not good, the amp(s) will react in many strange ways. (bare metal ground to floor pan on HU and amps)
Swez
oldmazda on 07/31/2005 01:01:58
sorry guys i gave some misleading info there. the sub that was first tried out was a 2 ohm but being old and having a paper cone or another reason the cone ended up cracking after 2 days use and this is when cutting out started to happed so i figured it was just a blown sub and replaced it with a crappy old kenwood that isn't a dvc but a svc 4 ohm sub but the cutting out continued to happen which is really why i'm confused. i said something along those lines earlier just not with enough emphasis. i think it might be the ground and am going to try to fix that up tomorrow and get back to you, but right now i don't think that the ohm load is why it is cutting out.
also the clarion amp might not be a 2 ohm stable but it definately can handle it. when i was a little more reckless (and stupider) i had it wired to a 1 ohm load and it ran it without cutting out. since then i've been running it at a 2 ohm load in my vehicle and it's been working just fine which is probably quite lucky seeing as how it was abused when i started out.
but i'm going to try to fix the ground and i'll get back to you with the results. thanks for all the replies
swez on 07/31/2005 10:05:03
OK, that's good info for background on this process. Paper cones can fracture when dried out and brittle. They also have a tendency to take on moisture as well. Fine for home use in all cases. But in a car, sealing the cone (polyurethane paint) can help extend the life of a paper cone. But using only enough to seal them is key. Too much added mass to the cone can effect performance of the motor system of a speaker. That's why paper cone speakers can sound muddy or sluggish after many days of high humidity.
You mentioned the amp gain settings earlier... (2/3-3/4) I believe was mentioned before. Assuming a setting of 1 is high sensitivity and 4-5 is low sensitivity, where are we on that scale?
Swez
when we first installed the amp it worked fine for a 2 days then the older sub that i gave him (orion XTR3 4+4 ohm dvc connected in parralell to make a 2 ohm load) ended up having the cone crack, this is when the amp started to cut out. we hooked up an old kenwood sub (i don't know the model number off the top of my head) and its still cutting out.
any suggestions of why it would be cutting out and how to fix it?
Replies (7)
ryan2 on 07/29/2005 14:26:18
First off what kind of amp is it brand and model number. Make sure you have a good ground and that none of the wires are shorting out. Also make sure you have the sub wired correctly and the gains on the amp set properly
oldmazda on 07/29/2005 20:43:48
i have tried 2 amps and they both do the same thing, the first one i tried was an alpine mrv-t505 i beleive and the other is a clarion apx400.2. and the sub that is hooked up doesn't have the polarity on the terimails but i tried hooking it up both ways and it did the same thing both times. i have the gain dialed back quite a bit prolly only at about 3/4 of how far it could go. all the wires are brand new and i was very careful not to nick the insulation when running the wire, i have all the proper gromets going through the firewall so i don't think it'd be shorting. the ground is a little more iffy i let him install it it seems to be attatched to the frame but i reckon i could clean up the ground and take the paint off a little more.
Tinker18 on 07/29/2005 21:12:13
Ok first, the most likely reason for a fuse blowing is either
1) a stray pos. wire touching either the amp.. or ground.. check that.
2.) a bare wire anywhere touching the fram and grounding out the amp.
second. the amp cutting off.
-Neither of the amps above are 2 ohm stable when they are bridged.
Since the DVC 4 ohm sub is wired in parallel @ 2 ohms, the amp would not be stable and would turn it self off because of the circuitry protection.
do this.
-go here, and wire the sub @ 8 ohms to the amplifier and see if it works....come back and give us some more info.
-this is a woofer wiring wizard to help you out.
-http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/wiringwizard.asp?WoofQty=1+woofer&WoofImp=Dual+Voice+Coil+-+4+ohms+x+2&image.x=21&image.y=17
-TINK
Victor on 07/30/2005 00:45:58
You can also wire each voice coil to a seperate channel, but you wil have to be careful and do exactly identical gain and bassboost and LPF settings on both the channels..
wiring it for 8ohms will cut down a lot of power.. I dunno how much your subs are rated at and how much power ur amps give out.. will need a lot more specs and details on them to suggest you the right way out..
Victor...
swez on 07/30/2005 08:44:18
Think the best option here is to wire the sub for 8 ohms as a test and see if the amp stays on. If it does, then try Victor's suggestion on wiring one coil per channel. If that works, the amps are probably OK. Just make sure you double check his grounding... if that ground is not good, the amp(s) will react in many strange ways. (bare metal ground to floor pan on HU and amps)
Swez
oldmazda on 07/31/2005 01:01:58
sorry guys i gave some misleading info there. the sub that was first tried out was a 2 ohm but being old and having a paper cone or another reason the cone ended up cracking after 2 days use and this is when cutting out started to happed so i figured it was just a blown sub and replaced it with a crappy old kenwood that isn't a dvc but a svc 4 ohm sub but the cutting out continued to happen which is really why i'm confused. i said something along those lines earlier just not with enough emphasis. i think it might be the ground and am going to try to fix that up tomorrow and get back to you, but right now i don't think that the ohm load is why it is cutting out.
also the clarion amp might not be a 2 ohm stable but it definately can handle it. when i was a little more reckless (and stupider) i had it wired to a 1 ohm load and it ran it without cutting out. since then i've been running it at a 2 ohm load in my vehicle and it's been working just fine which is probably quite lucky seeing as how it was abused when i started out.
but i'm going to try to fix the ground and i'll get back to you with the results. thanks for all the replies
swez on 07/31/2005 10:05:03
OK, that's good info for background on this process. Paper cones can fracture when dried out and brittle. They also have a tendency to take on moisture as well. Fine for home use in all cases. But in a car, sealing the cone (polyurethane paint) can help extend the life of a paper cone. But using only enough to seal them is key. Too much added mass to the cone can effect performance of the motor system of a speaker. That's why paper cone speakers can sound muddy or sluggish after many days of high humidity.
You mentioned the amp gain settings earlier... (2/3-3/4) I believe was mentioned before. Assuming a setting of 1 is high sensitivity and 4-5 is low sensitivity, where are we on that scale?
Swez
Copyright ClubKnowledge 2009 * All Rights Reserved
