Could my amp be bad or did i miss something?

sansoo24 · 03-31-2005, 02:50 PM

Amp -> Audiobahn A1500HCQ
RMS -> 2000x1 @ 1 ohm
SUBS 2 12in Audiobahn ALUM12Q's
3 or 6ohm DVC, 1000watt RMS

NOTE: Havent hooked to amp yet and still getting problem

The problem is the Protection circuit keeps coming on. The amp is wired with 4 gauge stinger audio with the same size ground. The ground is only 1ft long and connected right to the body of the Blazer. The power wire has a 150amp inline fuse exactly 6in from the battery. The amp has 3 40amp fuses on it equalling 120amps. I do have a 1 farad capacitor in before the amp though. It uses the same size power and ground wire, also with a 1ft ground wire. Both amp and cap are attached to the back of the rear seats. THis allows pelenty of airflow. So i dont think the amp is overheating. Plus i live in Kansas and it was like 40 Deg. F last night. The amp was ice cold to the touch. The led indicator would blink blue and then right back to red and the cap would see a slight drain at the same time. And as soon as the ignition was turned off the LED went to blue then the amp powered down. This has my brain hurting and i cant figure it out. I thought maybe the cap was wired backward but it has a reverse polarity protection circuit on it.

Someone told me that the 4 gauge power wire wouldnt be big enough for that amp. But it will only be running at 1.5 ohm with an rms of ~1333. And the problem is occuring without and speakers hooked up.

Any suggestions would be great. As of now i cant figure anything out at all.

lgbr · 03-31-2005, 03:16 PM

Check the ground is the first thing I'd say. make sure the paint is all scratched or sanded off where you're getting your ground from.

skeeter007 · 03-31-2005, 03:22 PM

I am having the same problem. I have 1 Audiobahn ALUM12Q subwoofer hooked up to an Alpine 5 channel amp. When the music is turned up loud and there is a lot of bass, the amp will go into protection for a few seconds. If I don't lower the volume when the amp turns back on it will usually go right back into protection mode. I have tried a couple of different grounding points but they all have the same problem. I do have a problem with engine noise in the system but I haven't been able to narrow it down to a bad ground on the amp.

sansoo24 · 03-31-2005, 06:35 PM

I havent scratched the paint off yet but i have never had this sort of problem before. I'll try it though anything is worth a shot right now.

Could it possibly be that the Cap is wired up backwards. Ya know positive on negative and visa versa? But i would think the cap and/or the amp wouldnt even power on then.

meddler · 03-31-2005, 07:00 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by skeeter007

I am having the same problem. I have 1 Audiobahn ALUM12Q subwoofer hooked up to an Alpine 5 channel amp. When the music is turned up loud and there is a lot of bass, the amp will go into protection for a few seconds. If I don't lower the volume when the amp turns back on it will usually go right back into protection mode. I have tried a couple of different grounding points but they all have the same problem. I do have a problem with engine noise in the system but I haven't been able to narrow it down to a bad ground on the amp.

Sounds like you are driving the amp too hard. Do you have a sub channel in bridged mode? Maybe turn down your gain on the sub channel. the amp may also be overheating. I don't think this one is a power related problem.

meddler · 03-31-2005, 07:04 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by sansoo24

Amp -> Audiobahn A1500HCQ
RMS -> 2000x1 @ 1 ohm
SUBS 2 12in Audiobahn ALUM12Q's
3 or 6ohm DVC, 1000watt RMS

NOTE: Havent hooked to amp yet and still getting problem

The problem is the Protection circuit keeps coming on. The amp is wired with 4 gauge stinger audio with the same size ground. The ground is only 1ft long and connected right to the body of the Blazer. The power wire has a 150amp inline fuse exactly 6in from the battery. The amp has 3 40amp fuses on it equalling 120amps. I do have a 1 farad capacitor in before the amp though. It uses the same size power and ground wire, also with a 1ft ground wire. Both amp and cap are attached to the back of the rear seats. THis allows pelenty of airflow. So i dont think the amp is overheating. Plus i live in Kansas and it was like 40 Deg. F last night. The amp was ice cold to the touch. The led indicator would blink blue and then right back to red and the cap would see a slight drain at the same time. And as soon as the ignition was turned off the LED went to blue then the amp powered down. This has my brain hurting and i cant figure it out. I thought maybe the cap was wired backward but it has a reverse polarity protection circuit on it.

Someone told me that the 4 gauge power wire wouldnt be big enough for that amp. But it will only be running at 1.5 ohm with an rms of ~1333. And the problem is occuring without and speakers hooked up.

Any suggestions would be great. As of now i cant figure anything out at all.

My suggestion is to go back to basics. When fault finding, you want to get the system at a basic level. Take the cap out and just wire the amp to the battery (fused of course!). Disconnect the speakers and see if it does it. It sounds like a speaker wire could be shorting. Also checking power and ground is a good idea.

sansoo24 · 03-31-2005, 08:14 PM

Thanks for all the help.

I dont have any RCA's or speakers hooked up right now. But i havent tried taking out the cap just yet. It worked so rock solid with my last install that i didnt even think of it. thanks again

skeeter007 · 03-31-2005, 09:34 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

Sounds like you are driving the amp too hard. Do you have a sub channel in bridged mode? Maybe turn down your gain on the sub channel. the amp may also be overheating. I don't think this one is a power related problem.

Yea I thought about that...but the thing is that the gain on the amp is turned well below half way, and there is no distortion coming from the speaker (just 1 12" mind you). I'm not running it bridged either, just straight to the amp. I'm using the Alpine MRV-F450 5-channel amp.

Stonewall78 · 03-31-2005, 11:12 PM

That wirring is definely not big enough for that much current if you are doing a long run (say more then 10ft). Never look at the fuses on an amp and guess that is how much current it draws, the fuses could be for all types of things etc I think the problem is the alternator is not able to keep up with the current demand and the amp is sensing the problem and shutting down rather then killing the car. I know from experiance with my friends 1000watt alpine that it can kill a running engine if idling. You have to make sure you have a solid charging system and battery before running that type of power. That is the price you pay, you have to make sure everything is up to snuff if you want the big numbers and 4ga won't cut it.

DK888 · 04-02-2005, 03:49 AM

maybe your ground is too tight. don't choke it.

Nic · 04-02-2005, 04:20 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Stonewall78

That wirring is definely not big enough for that much current if you are doing a long run (say more then 10ft). Never look at the fuses on an amp and guess that is how much current it draws, the fuses could be for all types of things etc I think the problem is the alternator is not able to keep up with the current demand and the amp is sensing the problem and shutting down rather then killing the car. I know from experiance with my friends 1000watt alpine that it can kill a running engine if idling. You have to make sure you have a solid charging system and battery before running that type of power. That is the price you pay, you have to make sure everything is up to snuff if you want the big numbers and 4ga won't cut it.

4 gauge is definatly enough in this situation. Theres nothing wrong with looking at the fuses to see how much something could draw, its not going to tell you how much something will draw but its going to give you a maximum.

Teknoledgi · 04-02-2005, 09:11 AM

One point, have you upgraded the car shell ground to the battery negative, sometimes you can run a 4Ga ground to a good point on the body, but the body is only connected via old 10 or 12 guage to the battery negative

code- · 04-02-2005, 09:16 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by sansoo24

I havent scratched the paint off yet but i have never had this sort of problem before. I'll try it though anything is worth a shot right now.

Could it possibly be that the Cap is wired up backwards. Ya know positive on negative and visa versa? But i would think the cap and/or the amp wouldnt even power on then.

Thats the problem right there, strange nobody reacted to this.
The ground must be metal to metal, not metal to paint

sansoo24 · 04-07-2005, 07:46 PM

Thanks a lot everybody who tried to help. Beleive it or not i tried almost every suggestion and nothing would get this thing to work. So i had to take it to a place that fixes and tests amps in my area and spend 50 bucks to have it tested and another 175 to get it repaired since its out of warranty. Sucks a phat one but even with the added cost i paid well under retail.

Thanks again for all the help.

Downside · 06-15-2005, 11:26 AM

Most amps will now go into protect mode if you do not have your ohms correct...make sure that this is the case...the other thing is that you could have a bad speaker somewhere...try them all out at a very low gain individualy and see if that works.

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