Bad connection or something else

[mikecdm 0]

Well a few days ago I got a FI Q powered by a Sundown SAE-1000D. So far I'm loving it and everything seems to be working right. I previously had a different amp with a pair of sundown SD-1's and I used all of the same connections. The only thing I really changed was the ground. As ghetto as it may seem, I had a 4awg power cable with 8awg ground. Since I just bought a new to me amp, I didn't want to run it this way anymore and replaced the ground with 4awg.

So today I was heading out to the store and I happened to glance into the trunk. I have a Bmw 325i sedan with folding seats and I had a clear view of where the fuse holder is. I kind of noticed something but wasn't sure. On a second glance I realized that what I saw was a spark. Whenever the bass hits, the fuse holder would spark. After confirming that this is what was happening I turned off the radio.

I'm wondering if there is anything that might cause this to happen other than a bad connection or damaged fuse holder? Seems like it should be one of the two but maybe there is something that I don't know that's causing this. What if the fuse is to rated to high and it doesn't blow, but there is some sort of problem? Might sound dumb, but I'm scared it might be something else that I don't know about.

As it is, I think I'm going to order a new fuse holder. Before I sold my old subs I was having a problem where the amp would just cut off and it was had something to do with the fuse holder or the connection. A quick tap on it would make things start working again. I was also wondering what would be the recommend fuse size? Right now I only have one amp but I plan on adding a 4ch amp in the future. It's rated at 600w but I'd say maybe puts out 200w if I'm lucky.

Thanks

Edited August 2, 2008 by mikecdm

[KU40 173]

yeah sounds like something is up with that fuse holder.

As for fuse rating, 120 amps or so should work for you.

[shizzzon 461]

i'd def up your ground to 4awg for future reference.

Havent you looked to see why it's arcing?

Disconnect the ground to your battery and go back there and see what's loose.

The fuse size for that amp needs to be no higher than 90A.

[mikecdm 0]

i'd def up your ground to 4awg for future reference.

Havent you looked to see why it's arcing?

Disconnect the ground to your battery and go back there and see what's loose.

The fuse size for that amp needs to be no higher than 90A.

Honestly I didn't get a chance to see why. I noticed it around 9pm and I was leaving the house. It was too dark and I didn't feel like messing around with it. Normally I would try and figure it out before I make a new thread, but i was wondering if there is a slight chance that something other than the connection might have something to do with it. I also meant to say that I replaced the 8awg with 4awg. I'll have to edit the first post.

[mikecdm 0]

Well I finally got a chance to look at it today. Been driving with the radio turned off ever since I noticed the problem. After looking at it, nothing really seemed loose or strange. Only one side of the fuse holding was doing it and all the other connections were fine. Inside the fuse holder were the bare wire goes, there was a little bit of corrosion. The cable also had some sort of pinkish/redish tint on it. Might have been some of the red plastic stuff from the cable that melted on to it.

It had to of just started doing this when I put the new sub and amp in. The fuse holder was fine prior to that. Only thing that has changed was the ground wire going to the amp and the amp itself.

I took some pics to show what the damage looks like. This was on the side that goes to the battery. This was a fuse holder I bought a couple of years ago and have been using it ever since. The digital readout hasn't worked for a while.

The spot right in the middle is where it was sitting and kind of melted the plastic a bit.

Edited August 3, 2008 by mikecdm

[Duran 387]

That is why your ground is supposed to be just as big as your power wire.

[shizzzon 461]

since you say it has corrosion in it, definitely buy a new fuse holder.

You dont need a volt readout anyway... you're only gonna see it when you are back there and a DMM can tell u that as most of those meters on these blocks are wrong anyway.

[mikecdm 0]

That is why your ground is supposed to be just as big as your power wire.

This actually happened after I replaced the 8awg ground with the 4awg ground. When I had 8awg ground and 4awg power I never had a problem.

since you say it has corrosion in it, definitely buy a new fuse holder.

You dont need a volt readout anyway... you're only gonna see it when you are back there and a DMM can tell u that as most of those meters on these blocks are wrong anyway.

The read out hasn't worked in years and I really don't care about having it. I have been wanting to run 1/0awg in preparation for the time when I have two amps. It still might be much, but I kind of wanted to do it right once and not have to worry about it any more. Since this happened I really don't trust the fuse holder I have and was already planning on replacing it. I also want to replace the wiring with 1/0awg while I'm at it, only problem is that the amp only supports 4awg.

I'll just have to order a new one, hopefully one that can support both 4awg and 1/0awg. I still don't know how it happened though. Could there possibly be a problem with the amp, or it most certainly had to do with the wiring and fuse holder?

[shizzzon 461]

this is what u do-

The power line that runs from your battery up front to your amp, there should be 2 fuse holders.

One right after the battery and one right before the amp.

Run 1/0 wire all the way from up front through that fuse holder to the back into the other fuse holder. Output 4awg wire from that fuse holder into your amp. The fuse holders right after the battery and right before the amp should be no more than 18" away.

Also use about 53 1/0 grounds, lol use 4awg minimum grounds no longer than 3ft.

[mikecdm 0]

Thanks for the suggestion but my car only has 1 battery. The battery location is in the trunk. I had about 1ft, maybe a little more, of power cable from the battery to the fuse holder. From there it went to the amp. I will admit that the ground is probably around 4 ft.