i just hooked up a rockford 401m amp to my 2 12 inch single voice coil he rockford subs and after 2 or 3 songs of solid bumpin it shuts down. amp comes with wired bass booster that i am not using and is bridged. very loud but wont run to long at high volumes. any ideas?
Replies (11)
swez on 06/15/2007 22:56:37
Need more details on this amp. If this amp is not gain balanced properly, it will shut down even when the amp is seeing the proper speaker ohmic value. (Thermal Protect circuits activate or low voltage protects come into play)
It seems like the gain settings are a tad too high. If you dial up the gain a bit, this problem often goes away.
Say more please,
Swez
bumpin_tom on 06/15/2007 23:00:12
gains are at full. should i try and turn them down? what kind of info you need
swez on 06/15/2007 23:06:33
When you say "gains are at full", we interpret that as the amp is well past clipping and heat is a major issue. Try dialing back the amp gain to say 2.0 volts. (Midpoint in gain settings for most amps) Yes, it will not be as loud as now, but the amp will not shut off either. A little trial and error adjusting is needed here.
Swez
PS Use minimal bass boost here, (+3-6dB Max) as this makes matters worse.
bumpin_tom on 06/15/2007 23:13:50
i will dial them down and just to let you know that i am not using the bass booster dial at all its not plugged in. also the amp this one replaced was a 301m single channel rockford gains were at full never over heated. why the difference on the 401m 2 channel? just curious and thanks for your help!!!
bumpin_tom on 06/15/2007 23:18:36
1 more question is it possible to run both the single channel 301 m rockford with the 2 channel 401 m rockford
swez on 06/16/2007 04:32:11
Ahhh.... a 2 channel amp bridged. That says a lot more and there is a fix for that. Try running 1 sub per channel for now.
When running in bridged mode, most amps will not handle a speaker load below 4 ohms well and do exactly as mentioned. It heats up at high power and will go into thermal protect mode and shut off.
Here, the better solution is to run the amp in 2 channel mode and 1 sub per channel for now. It won't be as strong as the amp is capable of delivering, but it will not shut down on you either. The best solution is a Class D Mono amp that is well matched to your subs.
FYI: It's good that you have a Rockford amp here. Most amp brands are not as robust as what RF makes and would not work well at all when bridged and a 2 ohm load. Some would have fried by now.
Swez
30Hertz on 06/16/2007 20:33:11
If your running it bridged......what impendance is the amp seeing? Are your subs 4ohm? If you have it ran in parallel to the amplifier its seeing a 2ohm load and my guess is the amplifier is not wired to run at 2ohm bridges hence your problem.
If my assumtions are correct, run it at one sub per channel for now till you get a MONO block amplifier that will produce the power at the impendance you need, or turn the gains WAY down and still could have your problems. You could also wire it to 8ohm and not have much power for your sub.
I hate being at work, I never can access the amp specs.
-30 COFFEE
Edit: Note to self:: Read the whole dang post before replying, Oh well double shot of the same information never hurt anyone::
jamesp on 06/16/2007 20:52:57
Hey. for people like me a double shot of info is what it sometimes takesGRIN
swez on 06/17/2007 00:50:57
That's because we are older Jimmy and "Senior Moments" are more frequent after ~45. LOL CLAP
Swez GRIN
30Hertz on 06/17/2007 01:57:29
Yah you old farts have ''Senior Moments'' more and from what I hear...More Frequet trips to the rest room also GRIN
-30 COFFEE
swez on 06/17/2007 09:22:48
Give it time young buck... you'll get there too. (Wize guy)
Happy Father's Day to those who are Dad's here too! (We survived being kids and now Fathers too) GRIN
Swez
Replies (11)
swez on 06/15/2007 22:56:37
Need more details on this amp. If this amp is not gain balanced properly, it will shut down even when the amp is seeing the proper speaker ohmic value. (Thermal Protect circuits activate or low voltage protects come into play)
It seems like the gain settings are a tad too high. If you dial up the gain a bit, this problem often goes away.
Say more please,
Swez
bumpin_tom on 06/15/2007 23:00:12
gains are at full. should i try and turn them down? what kind of info you need
swez on 06/15/2007 23:06:33
When you say "gains are at full", we interpret that as the amp is well past clipping and heat is a major issue. Try dialing back the amp gain to say 2.0 volts. (Midpoint in gain settings for most amps) Yes, it will not be as loud as now, but the amp will not shut off either. A little trial and error adjusting is needed here.
Swez
PS Use minimal bass boost here, (+3-6dB Max) as this makes matters worse.
bumpin_tom on 06/15/2007 23:13:50
i will dial them down and just to let you know that i am not using the bass booster dial at all its not plugged in. also the amp this one replaced was a 301m single channel rockford gains were at full never over heated. why the difference on the 401m 2 channel? just curious and thanks for your help!!!
bumpin_tom on 06/15/2007 23:18:36
1 more question is it possible to run both the single channel 301 m rockford with the 2 channel 401 m rockford
swez on 06/16/2007 04:32:11
Ahhh.... a 2 channel amp bridged. That says a lot more and there is a fix for that. Try running 1 sub per channel for now.
When running in bridged mode, most amps will not handle a speaker load below 4 ohms well and do exactly as mentioned. It heats up at high power and will go into thermal protect mode and shut off.
Here, the better solution is to run the amp in 2 channel mode and 1 sub per channel for now. It won't be as strong as the amp is capable of delivering, but it will not shut down on you either. The best solution is a Class D Mono amp that is well matched to your subs.
FYI: It's good that you have a Rockford amp here. Most amp brands are not as robust as what RF makes and would not work well at all when bridged and a 2 ohm load. Some would have fried by now.
Swez
30Hertz on 06/16/2007 20:33:11
If your running it bridged......what impendance is the amp seeing? Are your subs 4ohm? If you have it ran in parallel to the amplifier its seeing a 2ohm load and my guess is the amplifier is not wired to run at 2ohm bridges hence your problem.
If my assumtions are correct, run it at one sub per channel for now till you get a MONO block amplifier that will produce the power at the impendance you need, or turn the gains WAY down and still could have your problems. You could also wire it to 8ohm and not have much power for your sub.
I hate being at work, I never can access the amp specs.
-30 COFFEE
Edit: Note to self:: Read the whole dang post before replying, Oh well double shot of the same information never hurt anyone::
jamesp on 06/16/2007 20:52:57
Hey. for people like me a double shot of info is what it sometimes takesGRIN
swez on 06/17/2007 00:50:57
That's because we are older Jimmy and "Senior Moments" are more frequent after ~45. LOL CLAP
Swez GRIN
30Hertz on 06/17/2007 01:57:29
Yah you old farts have ''Senior Moments'' more and from what I hear...More Frequet trips to the rest room also GRIN
-30 COFFEE
swez on 06/17/2007 09:22:48
Give it time young buck... you'll get there too. (Wize guy)
Happy Father's Day to those who are Dad's here too! (We survived being kids and now Fathers too) GRIN
Swez
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