Amp problems! Help please

[lilblacky 0]

So this is just some crappy system that I bought from my friend cuz he needed money. Its a Sony Xplod GTR2022 amp with 2 Kenwood 12s.

After using it in my car for a few weeks the amp decides to go into protect mode. So I turned off my car and took a look at the amp and it looks like my ground wire fell out of the amp when I was driving. So i connect the ground back up and make sure everything is all hooked up right and started driving again.

Here is where the problem is, the amp and subs are fine until I turn the volume up to 14 then the amp goes into protect mode and the subs of course cut out. Now I usually had the volume up to about 36 on the regular. Since its Arizona the amp seems pretty hot but I don't think that would mean it would play at low volume levels and then instantly cut out at the slightest sign of turning it up.

My friend and I measured the voltage and it came up right above 12v from the battery and the amp. (I have an Optima Yellow cap just in case that was needed info).

Any other suggestions?

[sqjeep 9]

Check all the fuses that are inline with the amp.

1. the fuse under the hood on the power wire

2. the fuse at the distro block (if u have one)

3. the fuses on the amp.

Also tell us your entire system aswell, also what size power and ground wire u are using??

[KU40 173]

What impedance are the subs and how are they wired?

[lilblacky 0]

Already checked all the fuses on the amp and inline fuses and they are fine. No problems there.

Both subs are wired at 4ohms, one on each channel of the amp. all the wire is 4awg rockford. It's only running at like 250w rms... not sure about the peak though.

Pioneer h/u that I have had for some time now but I have never had any problems with it before. I pulled the deck out and checked all the connections and what not there, any fuses that were tied into that and everything was fine...

Do you think i could have screwed up the amp when the ground fell out?

Edited June 19, 2009 by LilBlacky

[sqjeep 9]

what kennwood subs do u have??

[lilblacky 0]

i have

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainmen...ofers/KFC-W3012

I was thinking about maybe wiring the woofers down to a lower impedance.

[lilblacky 0]

oh and just to add... my car runs fine. Starts up great and I dont see any problem with any of the other electrical stuff in my car

[sqjeep 9]

Already checked all the fuses on the amp and inline fuses and they are fine. No problems there.

Both subs are wired at 4ohms, one on each channel of the amp. all the wire is 4awg rockford. It's only running at like 250w rms... not sure about the peak though.

so u have one of the subs + and - match to channel ones + and - on the amp right??

The subs could handle 400 watts rms each, So that gives u 800 watts total but the amp u have is probably only giving about 180 watts to each speaker.

So where do u have the gains set as well as do u have the the bass boost off??

[lilblacky 0]

yea all the + and - connections match. the gain isnt set too high and the bass boost isnt on

[sqjeep 9]

I dont think it your amp cause if it was the amp it would be in protect all the time so im leading it is something with wiring. Could u take a pic of the amp installed in your car??

[lilblacky 0]

It's really cloudy where I am at and my phone cant take a good picture w/o a lot of light haha but if its a wiring problem I'm pretty positive that its not any of the connections into the amp. Maybe my ground wire for my actual car?

[tech2332 3]

Make sure the ground to the car is really tight! Really Tight!

[lilblacky 0]

Make sure the ground to the car is really tight! Really Tight!

yea i tightened it down really good... I mean the big thing that I dont get about this ordeal is how everything could work fine and then the ground falls out of the amp and boom nothing works

[tech2332 3]

The ground has came out of my amp on me and the music just shut off also. But after I put the ground in everything was fine. I think there is another problem with the setup.

Edit: Did you make sure the ground to the Amp & Car were really tight??

Edited June 20, 2009 by tech2332

[sqjeep 9]

by chance do u have another amp laying around u can try??

[lilblacky 0]

yea the amp to car ground is very tight... yea i have a lil puney rockford amp i could try i i suppose

[lilblacky 0]

so i hooked up the rockford amp that i had laying around and it worked fine =( im guessing the other is messed up ey?

[sqjeep 9]

with the rockford u got the volume past 14 without going into protect?? also was the rockford a two channel amp?? if everything wotked well with the rockford i would rehook up the sony to see if it works now, if it still has the same problem then ur sony amp done.

[lilblacky 0]

yea the rockford is a 2 channel i bridged it and wired it to 2ohms i cranked it all the way up to 36 and it was fine... though it wasn'd nearly as loud as the sony before the prob, it was louder than it after.

[sqjeep 9]

Now u know that all your electrical is a ok. So jus for laughs I would hook up the sony again to see if it works. Now also when u rehook up the sony I would wire it to 2 ohms. At least that way you are going to give them more power. If it still doesn't then the problem is the amp.

[lilblacky 0]

yea i hooked it up the sony amp... and it went back to the saaaaaaame problem.

[sqjeep 9]

I have heard a few stories about an amplifier getting grounded through the casing. Which is like blowing a fuse but not as easy to fix. Maybe this could be your case. Unfortunely I'm not an amp guru.

[lilblacky 0]

hmmmmm well i do believe we need an amp guru then! haha