I was listening to my Fi Bl 12 today when it began to make a tapping sound. I assumed it was the dustcap, so i stopped my truck to check and found nothing wrong. I noticed the noise at a low volume, and when i turned the volume up it was gone. About 30 minutes later, while i was listening to shizzzons rendition of Dream On, my amp pooped out and began to smell. It also made the tapping noise i was describing earlier for a few seconds before it shut down. I pushed on the cone of my sub and did not notice any "jump" or hear any noise. So im not sure who is the culprit. Is my amp to blame, or did i blow my sub and that caused my amp to fail?

amp is aq1200

Edited August 4, 201114 yr by trod2902

Blame it on me.....lol

IF you have a dmm go measure the coils.

If you do not, now is the time to go buy one.

Your Fault!!!! haha

Ill go get one when i go to town later then come update with the readouts.

if it is the sub it could be because your box is pretty big, maybe the gains where a little too high, i know they recommend 1.8-2.25, i had mine in a 2.5 and was always skeptical to turn up the gains too high

if it is the sub it could be because your box is pretty big, maybe the gains where a little too high, i know they recommend 1.8-2.25, i had mine in a 2.5 and was always skeptical to turn up the gains too high

The recommended is up to 2.5, my ssf is set, and my gains are half way

Checked the coils with a multimeter and both read 1.8 ohms. The amp seems to be the sole culprit, but that doesnt explain the tapping noise, or does it?

Not saying it was...but if it was clipping and it went out like that, you might of heard shit giving up (in the amp) and then finished it off. Just a thought.

Not saying it was...but if it was clipping and it went out like that, you might of heard shit giving up (in the amp) and then finished it off. Just a thought.

The noise was most prominent at low volumes though.

Not saying it was...but if it was clipping and it went out like that, you might of heard shit giving up (in the amp) and then finished it off. Just a thought.

The noise was most prominent at low volumes though.

Was the volume low when you first heard the noise?

Yes, so i got out my vehicle to look at the dustcap and i saw no sign of it coming off, then i cranked it up and the noise was gone. So i played it at full volume for about 30 mins before it blew, and right before the amp pooped the noise came back. It was too quick for me to even turn the volume down.

Just a guess, but the tapping noise could have well been the amp giving out. Best thing to do to be certain is hook the sub up to another known good amp and listen for any sign of the noise again. IMO if the coils are both reading 1.8 it's most likely the amp was the culprit.

Thats what i will try to do. I would like to know why my amp fried though so it doesnt happen again. I think it may have been low voltage since i have no electrical upgrades, but i never noticed lights dimming or my voltage dipping below 13(factory meter).

The factory volt meter may not update as quickly so it looks like you have good voltage yet it dips and recovers faster than the gauge can show.

:edit: and no big 3 upgrade either? What size alt do you have?

Edited August 5, 201114 yr by beandip

The factory volt meter may not update as quickly so it looks like you have good voltage yet it dips and recovers faster than the gauge can show.

:edit: and no big 3 upgrade either? What size alt do you have?

130 amp alt and no big 3.

I believe i might have found the problem though. I was looking at all the wiring and found one of the speaker wires going out of the box to be totally fried. It was some cheap wire as well, and looked to have made a very poor connection if any at all.

So is everything working now? And it wouldn't hurt to do the big 3, its cheap insurance.

Oh and now you know what that crackling noise was for future reference

Edited August 5, 201114 yr by beandip

So is everything working now? And it wouldn't hurt to do the big 3, its cheap insurance.

Oh and now you know what that crackling noise was for future reference

Its all good now haha, and yes the big 3 is in the near future. I thought since the amp smelled that it was burnt for sure, glad its not. Thanks for the assistance fellas!

Shizzzon made his amp "tap out"?........LOL Sorry bro, I had to.

Shitty wire couldnt handle the lows lmao

sounds like a loose wire was arcing.. that's why it's burnt to shit.

Hopefully you cut that part off and secured it very well this time.