I have no clue, just lost a coil

[Beandip 3]

So...I installed my new sax-125.2 amp for my components...got it hooked up...turn on the truck....HORRIBLE alternator whine.... so i grounded the RCA cables on the HU and bam its fixed(pioneer HU btw)...

so then i went ahead and tested my components. well i turned up the volume and BAM my Fi Q just died . i tested each connection with a DMM until i took out the sub and well i lost a coil...i have no clue what happened...the sub is going on 3 years old now and i know how that sub acts by heart. i know i wasnt pushing it too hard and i was at 2 ohm on my saz-1500d in a 2.4 cu ft sealed box before sub displacement. also it was on for maybe 20 seconds before it died so i know it didnt burn up the coil that way.

but prior to this, when i had that alt whine, i the sub did "pop" when the key was turned off since there was a feedback of some sort from the poorly grounded RCAs (you guys should know what i am talking about) but that only happened 3 times until i fixed the ground issue with the RCA... that might have been the last straw if a connection or lead was getting worn out. Sub lived a good life playing all sorts of music and abuse. i suppose i should order a recone kit, but never done one before and kinda worried about getting the coil centered. i figured you guys could give me an idea how "difficult" it is. i do suspension work and changed the clutch on my truck so i think a recone shouldnt be that difficult being very mechanically inclined.

pic of said fix. i grounded the sub and the front RCAs. stupid question but grounding the sub RCA to the front speakers couldnt have caused it right? i doubt it but i would rather ask then leave a question unasked. kinda feels ghetto but it did solve the issue....

anyways i do feel like one of the leads came loose inside, nick and scott, i can take pics of the coil if you guys want so you can give me a possible answer of what could have happened but i do believe it was just from normal wear and tear/age. one coil read .7 (dual 1 ohm wired in series) and the other coil read 00.0....or random numbers. so looks like a lead came loose. i can play the sub still with that one coil though.

Honestly i wouldnt mind sending it in to get you guys to recone it but i dont want to wait forever to get it back, i know you do recones only 1 day of the week. i suppose i could order another UFO style Q but i do like my old school one and that would be a waste not to recone it honestly..

RIP old buddy Just thought i'd make a thread to get some info. The old school double stack Q parts are still available correct?

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[altoncustomtech 773]

As I said in the other thread, I think you can handle the recone just fine.

Still sucks about the sub though. The fix on the HU may seem ghetto, but necessity is the mother of invention, it works.

[Beandip 3]

Yeah i might just tackle the recone. but i am thinking about taking a knife to it and seeing if i can find the problem....at the same time it works on one coil so i could run it like that until i get a recone in . gotta see what the Fi pros say though.

I still have that feeling its because something i did wrong....but i dont know what. seems odd i tear it all apart, get it back together and barely crank it and it dies. may be a coincidence but damn you know.

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[NDMstang65 403]

When it popped it probably went to full excursion and popped the lead on the inside rolls..much like a pop top on a coke can..

[Beandip 3]

Thanks for the reply, yeah it was a bit of excursion when the HU turned on/off only did it like 3 times but really it must have taken some decent power to make it pop the way it did. Kinda looked like a 5 hz tone as slow as it did pop. But that's just a guess. I knew it couldn't be a coincidence but for me i like to know what went wrong. The popping seems to be the likely culprit.

So getting down to business you guys do have the older style Q recone correct?

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[NDMstang65 403]

Yep in the fi recones shop on the site

[Beandip 3]

I thought the newer Qs had different soft parts since they use the btl UFO motor.

And I suppose I'll re-cone it to a dual 1 ohm again, I don't know if i want the stress of 1 ohm on my electrical and I dont think the sub is universal.

One more thing. The bp option can be added to the re-cone and work fine on a non original bp equipped sub correct? Not sure what is exactly different. I may not get that option since I am running the sub at 2 ohm.

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[Duran 387]

I thought the newer Qs had different soft parts since they use the btl UFO motor.

And I suppose I'll re-cone it to a dual 1 ohm again, I don't know if i want the stress of 1 ohm on my electrical and I dont think the sub is universal.

You select which motor you have, the old Q motor is not the same as the Gen 2 BTL motor.

[Beandip 3]

^ gotcha.

And don't see an option to select which motor?

Just see the size,dust cap, ohm, send in sub, bp option, and basket.

https://ssl.perfora.net/www.ficaraudio.com/sess/utn154e184e5fc413c/shopdata/0080_Recones/0010_Fi+Recone+Shop/product_overview.shopscript

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[Duran 387]

You are correct, it appears that the Q soft parts and motors haven't changed drastically enough to separate them.

[Beandip 3]

Ok. I just didnt want to order it and come to find out that the Q soft parts are not interchangeable.

Guess I will place my order then until I get the parts I suppose it's going to be wired to the one coil wonder lol.

And on the bp option....might as well right? It's no added cost but I thought it was something machined into the motor.

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[Duran 387]

Ok. I just didnt want to order it and come to find out that the Q soft parts are not interchangeable.

Guess I will place my order then until I get the parts I suppose it's going to be wired to the one coil wonder lol.

And on the bp option....might as well right? It's no added cost but I thought it was something machined into the motor.

It is, get BP if you have the BP option already, don't get it if your Q was built without BP power.

[Beandip 3]

Awesome thanks for the support!

Well guess I will do some SSA searching to make sure I get this re-cone done right!

[ford302redneck 15]

Honestly, in your install, I don't see the need for adding the BP option anyways.

Heck, I've played my Gen 1 Q past is mechanical limits for minutes at a time and never had any problems. I know yours was just a thing that happens, but for the most part, I don't see how people break these things without knowing. Granted I had double rated RMS, it would of still took me trying really hard to break it. Also, at the time I didn't know my Head unit clipped at my normal listening level, so it was also being clipped. And still I could play it full tilt on 2k RMS clipped just past the mechanical limits for over a minute without breaking anything. After 1 minute, it would start to smell a little, but with clipped double RMS, I could understand why.

I tried to burp it on 5k, now it didn't like that at alllll, even at/around tuning. I'm sure in the right box it would of been possible though.

[Beandip 3]

Yeah I did abuse mine quite a bit on "bass I love you" and such. Clamped I was running ~900 watts on a test tone. I just set the gain by ear, the Q let's you know when you have too much power. Though I always kept an analog volt meter on the sub, I could always see how much "power" it was getting no matter how messed up the cd was on the recording level. Kinda hard to explain but basically gave me a visual on how much voltage the sub was getting regardless of the source volume.

As far as reaching Xmax I don't think I have yet. At least there isn't marks on the spider. Being in a 2.2 cubic ft box after displacement would make reaching Xmax with 900 watts a bit difficult honestly with the box being on the small side. But hits plenty low and happy with the setup. I just need a re-cone lol.

Edited July 9, 2011 by beandip

[Beandip 3]

OK guys just took a few pics of the coil for fun. for sure looks like it just popped a lead inside somewhere.

for now its just playing on one coil (softly) i can tell the sub sounds more "heavy" or slower moving like this but gotta have something until the recone kit comes in.

Tiny tear in the spider. who knows if its related to this incident. i lifted up the cone so you can see the "tear" better. its like one strand of the spider, surprised i even saw it.

gotta love the old Qs.

Edited July 10, 2011 by beandip

[NDMstang65 403]

If there is a tear in the spider that is indicative of over excursion. When the spider locks up it creates 4 fold pieces which are the stress points in the spider and it becomes close to a right angle..

[Beandip 3]

^didnt know about the right angles, I figured it tears because it stretches, not because it tires to fold. I learn something every day here on SSA

It could have been from those pops, or from another time in it's life lol. But like I said not sure if I can reach Xmax in such a "small" box with the power i was throwing.

Edited July 10, 2011 by beandip

[altoncustomtech 773]

gotta love the old Qs.

Yes, yes I do.

[NDMstang65 403]

^didnt know about the right angles, I figured it tears because it stretches, not because it tires to fold. I learn something every day here on SSA

It could have been from those pops, or from another time in it's life lol. But like I said not sure if I can reach Xmax in such a "small" box with the power i was throwing.

We'll get you a recone with BTL tinsel lead setup..should be good to go for many moons again.

[altoncustomtech 773]

WOOHOO!!!!!!! Now that's awesome!! Killer Q coming right up!

[Beandip 3]

Wow really? I knew I made the right choice going with FI. So will that work fine with the old Q motor being beefier and all?

And the leads on the coil roll, I thought those would be coil dependent. Or I am probably confused on the exact part your talking about

But I suppose I will send you a pm with all my info/address and just send a paypal your way? With the upgraded leads would the re-cone price be the same?

With the beefed up re-cone now you guys are putting more pressure on me not to mess up the re-cone hahaha.

Edited July 10, 2011 by beandip

[NDMstang65 403]

Coil and everything is the same as you got now..just 16 tinsel leads instead of 8

Watch the recone process video on the youtube channel..

www.youtube.com/fitechtube

[Beandip 3]

I watched that video last night I figured since it was a "special order" recone it would be handled though PM.

[Beandip 3]

alright just ordered a recone, some shirts and stickers woot!

oh and nick i think i messed up... i had 2 tabs open on firefox when i ordered , apparently one of the shirts didnt make it to the final order as far as order confirmation goes (email i get from Fi)..... yet the paypal amount was for $148.14...the total with that missing shirt included, the email you guys sent me confirming the order but without the shirt says 129.39.

Damn...how did i mess this up lol. sorry for the trouble. sent an email to sales@Ficaraudio as well.

Edited July 12, 2011 by beandip