# amps keep burning out



## PG MK5 (Dec 10, 2010)

or so i think...

i dont know much about audio systems/installs so ill make this as informative as possible.
i have a 94 Golf with an aftermarket Kenwood deck. 
from that i am running a 10" MA Audio woofer. as far as i know, the woofer is 1000w and possibly 4oohm or 8ohm.

i had it hooked up to a 400W 4 or 8 ohm sony explode amp, and after a few months my amp stopped working. the red light kept flashing on and off and it wouldnt allow the sub to hit. i originally thought i blew the sub, but i measured and it was showeing either 4 or 8 ohm (dont quite remember)

i then replaced the amp, and it fixed the problem.

now i have the exact problem again, same symptoms. no fuses are blown, no loose or shorted connections. 

why does this keep happening


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## RonPopeil (Apr 26, 2012)

are you sure it's not thermal cut off? it's july.


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## PG MK5 (Dec 10, 2010)

i just went out and bought anohter amp, and it didnt change a thing. i am starting to think it is the woofer thats causeing the problem. the green led is lit, but when the bass tries to hit, the green light dims. i checked all connections and everything is fine.

it is possible to be temperature related. today it is 93F (106F with humidex), but i installed the new amp right after i bought it and it had no time to heat up


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## RonPopeil (Apr 26, 2012)

check your speaker wiring. check the wiring in the sub box. check the ground wire for the amp.

humidity isn't going to effect the temperature seen by electronics though the fact that it's 93F outside means your car is seeing +110F inside. mine did today.

i'm guessing your amp is still a sony. i'm looking at the manual for a sony 330w mono amp and it says that if your power light is blinking you have a short in the speakers. if the amp cuts off you have a thermal cut.


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## lewp91 (May 9, 2011)

could your power to the amp possibly not be good enough? what size cables are you running? measured the power to earth when the bass hits?

does it play ok when you flick the cross over to treble and remove all bass?


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## PG MK5 (Dec 10, 2010)

RonPopeil said:


> check your speaker wiring. check the wiring in the sub box. check the ground wire for the amp.
> 
> humidity isn't going to effect the temperature seen by electronics though the fact that it's 93F outside means your car is seeing +110F inside. mine did today.
> 
> i'm guessing your amp is still a sony. i'm looking at the manual for a sony 330w mono amp and it says that if your power light is blinking you have a short in the speakers. if the amp cuts off you have a thermal cut.



I have check the wiring of the woofer to the box and from the box to the amp. no shorts. i briefly checked the ground and it seems fine. i will try to get a better cable and grounding location to see if that helps.



lewp91 said:


> could your power to the amp possibly not be good enough? what size cables are you running? measured the power to earth when the bass hits?
> 
> does it play ok when you flick the cross over to treble and remove all bass?


the power to the amp might be a possibility. however i have used the same power cable for a long time with out problems. i am not sure what gauge cable it is. i will def. upgrade the power cable and ground and see if that helps. 

yes it does play ok when i flick the cross over and turn down the bass and volume. if i play music quietly the green led remains solid, and minimal bass is heard. 


i am no longer using the sony amp. just a cheap piece of no-name crap. 
link to the amp


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## lewp91 (May 9, 2011)

if its ok without bass then i will deffo say that they power lacks out at high output (bass especially) 
its like running an amp on a battery charger and battery plugged in at home (ive tested alot of equipment like this) when the battery begins to drain or has a low charge it cant meet demand and the relay in the charger cuts.. causing the amp to clip early (cut out briefly) 

put on some thumping bass and pull out your multimeter. you really shouldnt see much variation, it should stay fairly constant at around 14.4v (engine running)


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## witecap4u (Feb 23, 2000)

sounds like either wiring/ground issue or the sub is toast. 

Checked the power wire from the battery, it should be close to the size of our pinky finger or larger(8gauge AWG or lower) with a fuse close to the battery for safety. The ground should be the same size and should be bolted to the main section of the car. The paint under the bolt should be sanded to bare metal to allow good contact. 

If that checks out, verify the sub is still reading 4 or 8 ohms but no lower for now with the cheap amp. Also, push the sub in and out quickly while measuring the resistance and make sure it doesnt drop to 0. Also, if you push the sub in the center, it should feel smooth and should not hear any rubbing or scraping sounds. If you get it working again, you should hear a nice clean sound someing from the sub at full volume. if it distorts, turn it down. Over driving a speaker with a weak amp could kill the speaker or the amp. Also, you shouldnt be turning the head unit up much past 3/4 of the max, and also bass levels should not be set too high either, these could induce distortion also, which would be amplified by the amp and cause issues/poor sound.


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## PG MK5 (Dec 10, 2010)

so i stated trouble shooting
got a loaner sub to see if it works, no dice.
got a new loaner amp with new sub, still nothing.
checked remote cable and upgraded ground cable to new 8g wire...nothing
upgraded power cable from an 8g to a 4g, along with new inline fuse...voila! not only does it work, but it sounds better too.
reverted back to my old woofer and amp, and all is good

after i pulled the old power cable, i inspected it and didnt find anything wrong with it. so im wondering why it would decide one day that it wasnt sufficient to power the amp.


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## Glegor (Mar 31, 2008)

you need to upgrade your ground..

if you are running an 8ga power wire off the batt to the amp..

then add an 8ga supplementary ground to the body as well..

4ga even.. there is no such thing as overkill..

there IS underkill tho, and it will fry the capacitors inside your amp if there is a crappy ground or power connection..

dont run a stereo off an electrical system with factory grounds..

ive fried my fair share of amps from under-grounding them..


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## witecap4u (Feb 23, 2000)

You said you replaced the fuse...could that have been blown and causing the problem?

Also, you need to have the same size ground wire as the power.


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## PG MK5 (Dec 10, 2010)

i did replace the fuse, however i inspected the old fuse and there was nothing wrong with it.
i tested the amount of volts my battery was producing and tested the amount of power going to the amp, and it was identical as to what the battery tested at.

the amp i am currently using is a crappy 300w amp that hardly accommodates the 4g power cable. 
does the ground HAVE to be the exact same guage as the power?


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

PG MK5 said:


> i did replace the fuse, however i inspected the old fuse and there was nothing wrong with it.
> i tested the amount of volts my battery was producing and tested the amount of power going to the amp, and it was identical as to what the battery tested at.
> 
> the amp i am currently using is a crappy 300w amp that hardly accommodates the 4g power cable.
> does the ground HAVE to be the exact same guage as the power?


same or better.


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## sk8fish (Jun 23, 2012)

Sony amp you say? i fried a 1000 watt sony amp with two 12" alpine e's, lol, i guess the name says it all, Xplode, lol ilike stated above id check the temp of the amp, also if your power cable and ground wire are to large of a gauge they could be delivering to much amperage for your amp which could be frying the motherboard in the amp, try putting in a smaller fuse in the breaker, only one size smaller, or possibly a smaller gauge wiring kit?


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## BassNotes (Mar 16, 2005)

PG MK5 said:


> the power to the amp might be a possibility.


 That wouldn't burn out the amp, though.


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## BassNotes (Mar 16, 2005)

sk8fish said:


> also if your power cable and ground wire are to large of a gauge they could be delivering to much amperage for your amp


 No, it wouldn't. Larger cable would not boost voltage, so therefore it wouldn't boost current (or "amperage" :facepalm.


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

sk8fish said:


> Sony amp you say? i fried a 1000 watt sony amp with two 12" alpine e's, lol, i guess the name says it all, Xplode, lol ilike stated above id check the temp of the amp, also if your power cable and ground wire are to large of a gauge they could be delivering to much amperage for your amp which could be frying the motherboard in the amp, try putting in a smaller fuse in the breaker, only one size smaller, or possibly a smaller gauge wiring kit?


 Just pleas never give advice again. Besides the Sony Xplode comment (about them Xploding), nothing you said is true....just....no.


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## sk8fish (Jun 23, 2012)

sure im not the most expierienced with amps but i do know some stuff, after reading back yeah i sound like a moron, and the sony xplod thing was a joke, no need to jump down my throat,


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

sk8fish said:


> sure im not the most expierienced with amps but i do know some stuff, after reading back yeah i sound like a moron, and the sony xplod thing was a joke, no need to jump down my throat,


The sony thing is true.  not trying to just down your throat, but what you said was not even close to being correct in any kind of electrical sense.


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## sk8fish (Jun 23, 2012)

lol yeah it is, i work at best buy and we got rid of all our sony car audio stuff, praise the lord! and yeah i realize that, i was like half asleep when i wrote that and i was trying to say try a smaller inline fuse only i went way off track and what not,


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## John Reid (Jun 30, 2010)

I think NFrazier was more concerned about folks "not in the know" getting misinformation and either wasting time and money or harming their car electrical systmes. 

I'm personally glad that someone with a good knowledge of the electrical side of mobile audio makes it a point to help out. If I was him, I'd have already just given up posting. :banghead:

Car audio is already full of "advice" that make no sense from an electrical or acoustical engineering perspective, and lord knows that the Vortex doesn't need more confusion, right?
 eace:

Oh, and I agree that Sony shot itself in the foot by naming their budget line "xplod" :facepalm:


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

John Reid said:


> I think NFrazier was more concerned about folks "not in the know" getting misinformation and either wasting time and money or harming their car electrical systmes.
> 
> I'm personally glad that someone with a good knowledge of the electrical side of mobile audio makes it a point to help out. If I was him, I'd have already just given up posting. :banghead:
> 
> ...


:thumbup:


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## blazerpounds (Mar 19, 2008)

Oooooh my god! We have a best buy employee in here guys we should fall to our knees and praise the goodness of god that we have received his blessings of the absolutely least trained audio staff in the country praise be to god Allah john smith jesus and the almighty lord and tyrant obama! I hope he can help us fix all of our audio problems


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

blazerpounds said:


> Oooooh my god! We have a best buy employee in here guys we should fall to our knees and praise the goodness of god that we have received his blessings of the absolutely least trained audio staff in the country praise be to god Allah john smith jesus and the almighty lord and tyrant obama! I hope he can help us fix all of our audio problems


Who are you referencing....As his profile shows that he is a cashier, not an installer?


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## lewp91 (May 9, 2011)

NFrazier said:


> Who are you referencing....As his profile shows that he is a cashier, not an installer?


the one who thought that you could have a cable "too big" for a system, which would raise the voltage n amperage to the amp... if so that would be called free energy? haha:banghead:


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## blazerpounds (Mar 19, 2008)

I didn't bother to read his profile, I just took his statement and ran with it, and focused on the fact that he works at a big box retailer, and thus, knows all.


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

blazerpounds said:


> I didn't bother to read his profile, I just took his statement and ran with it, and focused on the fact that he works at a big box retailer, and thus, knows all.


Everyone on the internet knows all.


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## sk8fish (Jun 23, 2012)

an 18 y/o whos in college to be a mechanic, and works like nfrazier said as a CASHIER obviously does not know all. understand where a person is coming from before you asume


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## NFrazier (Jul 22, 2006)

sk8fish said:


> an 18 y/o whos in college to be a mechanic, and works like nfrazier said as a CASHIER obviously does not know all. understand where a person is coming from before you *asume*


Sorry, I had to. There's more, but....


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## sk8fish (Jun 23, 2012)

lol its all good


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