What do I do next?

[Chris1309ny 0]

Hello everyone just need a little bit of advice if someone could help me out! Here is the scenario. I have a 2001 ford windstar minivan with this done:

 

2 alpine type rs

hifonics brutus 1200 rms

4 guage wire with 60 amp inline fuse

NO big three

stock alternator

 

Today I switched out my battery and put in a kinetik hc1800. On my way to work I experienced very bad voltage drops to the point the amp cut out. I did not experience this bad of voltage drop with my stock battery. I have money at my disposal and I also don't want to hurt my equipment I just don't know what is the next step?

[jonbearsmt 919]

check all your connections .. did you test the battery  im guessing its used,

 

 do the big three... that should be step 1

[shizzzon 461]

troubleshoot why it happened.

 

You should own a DMM, Ammeter, battery charger.

 

You may not need all of these for this scenario but you should own them regardless.

[DanP 19]

60 Amp inline fuse seems very small considering the 1200RMS Brutus have what 2 70 Amp fuses in them?

[Chris1309ny 0]

Wow thanks for everyone's quick responses. I own a DMM only and I bought the Kinetik new.

So far i gathered:

 

check connections/ ground

Big Three

Inline fuse

 

Is 4 gauge wire too small? I'm running at 1 ohm btw.

[DanP 19]

Wow thanks for everyone's quick responses. I own a DMM only and I bought the Kinetik new.

So far i gathered:

 

check connections/ ground

Big Three

Inline fuse

 

Is 4 gauge wire too small? I'm running at 1 ohm btw.

I would say yes, but someone else might be able to give you a more positive answer.

 

It also depends on the brand/type of wire you're using though too.

[Sencheezy 689]

Check connections.

[EPerez 236]

What brand wire is it and is it copper clad aluminum (cca) or oxygen free copper (ofc)?

[Truconcept 58]

how clean is the metal for your ground?

 

60 amp fuse?  the hifonics brz1200 fuse rating is 140 maybe its protecting?

 

are your gains set correctly?  clip too hard and that amp will protect

 

                    

[sweendog 3]

1/0 wire for your power and ground, ~125 amp fuse, 1/0 for the big 3.

 

Is your kinetic bigger or smaller than your original battery?

[DanP 19]

1/0 wire for your power and ground, ~125 amp fuse, 1/0 for the big 3. Is your kinetic bigger or smaller than your original battery?

How do you figure a 125amp fuse with 1/0 gauge wire? I though you fused based on the amperage the wire can safely carry

[sweendog 3]

1/0 wire for your power and ground, ~125 amp fuse, 1/0 for the big 3. Is your kinetic bigger or smaller than your original battery?

How do you figure a 125amp fuse with 1/0 gauge wire? I though you fused based on the amperage the wire can safely carry

 

Idk that's why I put the ~ I've been told to not over fuse not sure if that is a myth or not. I guess it wouldn't hurt to use a 200-300 amp just seems over kill to me if he is only running 1200rms

Edited February 22, 2013 by sweendog

[Jason Witt 65]

This is becoming a confusion match. You fuse your power run to rms total wattage of the amplifiers. So your amp is 1200w rms: 1200/12= 100 amps.

 

To your issue, you should do the big 3 upgrade and check ALL of your connections. Make sure the battery is fully charged as well.

[Chris1309ny 0]

UPDATE: I checked all my wires and everything looked good but when I checked my inline fuse it looked melted a bit on one side and the fuse was blown. I shot over to best buy and purchased the Kicker FHA ALN fuse holder and also bought 2 200 amp ANL fuses. After putting this in everything seems to be much better. I will do the big three upgrade next week when I get my Kicker 0/1 gauge wire. Thanks for all the advice guys!

 

PS. My wires are pc richards brand wires (awful) and my gains are set with a DMM.