Car Stereos: Blowing fuses on KAC-7201, kac 7201, blown fuses

Question
My son had a Kenwood KAC-7201 installed in his corolla about 2 years ago.  It worked just fine up until recently.  It is now blowing the two 30 blade fuses on the side of the amp.  We replace them and then turn on the head unit and the light on the amp comes on for a sec or less and then nothing as the fuses have blown. Any suggestions on what might be causing this would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Ed,

Unfortunately, I'm not a service technician, so I can't tell you what might be going on inside the amplifier.  However, I'm fairly certain that's where the problem lies.  Nothing related to the installation or the wiring is likely to cause the problem you're having.

Sometimes, a problem with the speakers (a shorted voice coil, or grounded speaker wire) can result in blown fuses on the amplifier.  However, usually when this happens the fuse will blow when the volume is turned up.  The fact that it's blowing immediately after power-up makes me think it's an internal problem.  You can confirm this by disconnecting the speaker wires, then testing the amplifier again.  If it still blows fuses, then it's certain to be an internal problem.

Hope this helps!

Brian