Lately my 1000/1 amp has been cutting out while playing loud music. right after it cuts out it starts back up in a few seconds. I looked at the amp while it shuts down and its giving the thermal protect light. for the last week it has been cutting off more and more often. Finally last night it bumped the volume up and it shut down and did not turn back on. I checked out my main power fuse from the front battery and it was blown?

I have a 05 4-runner

1000/1 v1 powering a 13w7 wired @3 ohm

stock head unit/speakers

Big 3

stock alt

no extra batteries

4 gauge power wire

Had a extra optima in the trunk but took it out thinking the amp didn't need it since the 1000/1 has the voltage/ohm advantage but ever since i took the battery out the headlights dim horribly.

Any ideas? maybe power wire is to small?

Edited August 28, 200916 yr by Mike-P

Did you measure the voltage at the amplifiier leads?

How did you set the gains?

No I'm going today to buy a new volt meter since my old one disappeared. i tried lowering the gain alot and still cuts out. Im going to run to walmart and get a voltmeter.

Edited August 28, 200916 yr by Mike-P

Switch up to 0 gauge wire and put the extra battery back in.

IIRC, that amp has a regulated power supply. So it will put out the same power regardless of input voltage because it will just draw more current to make up the difference. This differs from an unregulated power supply, which will just put out less power with lower voltage. So when your voltage dipped because the amp was outdrawing capacity, it tried drawing even more current so that it would keep that output power up. That's why your fuse blew. You need to keep your voltage high so that it doesn't have to draw so much current.

Plus as more voltage goes through a wire, the more it heats up and becomes inefficient, thus further reducing voltage once it gets to the amp. The extra current also heats up the amplifier faster. So that's probably why it kept tripping thermal. Each time you do that, it likely shortens the life of the amplifier.

You may also want to check the resistance of the sub's coils. One may be partially or all the way blown, thus reducing impedance for the amp and causing it problems as well. So when you go to walmart, get a DMM instead of just a voltmeter.

Thanks a lot this was a lot of help. I am going to upgrade the wire, the fuse, and I already added the battery back. It seems the battery is helping already I notice the amp is a bit cooler.