QuestionThe red wire that runs from my battery to my amp I have checked a dozen times. I replaced the fuse to be safe, all connections are tight. The skinny blue wire (amp turn on wire) that runs from my head unit to my amp is secure as well as I have checked it quite a few times. I got a suggestion that I should put a little bit of foil inside my amps power line fuse holder on one end in case the connection of the fuse to the contacts isnt 100% and there may be a little room for rattling. Would the foil idea be bad or good?
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I will buy the voltmeter you mentioned at walmart so I can keep an eye on my amps power line to see if it loses power or if it is still hot. I have checked and sercurely fastened my amp turn on wire from my head unit to my amp. I also just got back from getting my alternator tested and it is fine. There is not a certain type of music or volume that the amp cuts out on. The strange part is it sometimes wont come on right when I start my car, say, after my car has been parked overnight or for an hour or whatever. I will do the suggested remedies when I get a chance later this week as I have a very hectic week this week.
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I have a 600 watt lanzar vibe 4 channel amp that is bridged (wired in parallel) to power two ten inch audiobahn subs that are 4-ohm dual voice coil subs. My amp is stable at 2-ohms. Lately my amp has beeen having power issues and has been cutting out at random times. Sometimes it wont start right when i start my car, or later when I am driving it cuts out for 15-30 seconds before turning back on. It is not overheating because it has plenty of air space and is never hot to the touch. All fuses are fine. Checked all my wiring for good connections and fuses. I swapped my amp for a friends and had the same problem. I also swapped my subs for one 12" and had the same problem. Nothing is staying on in my car to drain the battery. The battery I have now is new and has never been jump started. My ground is clean on a sand papered metal bolt.
In a possibly related issue my cd player will sometimes shut off when I am playing my music pretty loud and then turn back on. The amp does not always cut off at a certain volume as it can be low/med/high. The gain is relativley low, at about 40%.
Hope you can help.
Answer -
Here is my question:
Have you checked it when it goes out for 12v line? That is to say, does the amp lose its power voltage or is it remaining in the power ON mode, but the output mutes?
Since you swapped the amp out with another and got the same problem, I am thinking the problem is in either the vehicle wiring, the cd on link to the amp or the speaker wiring.
And, since you swapped out the speakers and still got the same problem, it is getting down to vehicle wiring or the power ON lead from the cd head.
SO: Here is what I want you to do:
ONE: When the power amp cuts out determine if the 12v power line is remaining hot. (you can do this by running leads from a $10 Walmart voltmeter back to the amp).
TWO: If the 12v power line is remaining active, then switch the voltmeter leads over to the power ON line that turns the amp on and see if it is dropping out.
Then let me know the outcome if you haven't solved the problem on your own. You sound like you really know what you are doing; but I would still like to know the outcome as this is a real interesting system.
Cleggsan
PS: By the way, I was going to suggest it to be the loudspeakers that drop to a low impedance at some frequency and when the music (deep bass) hits that frequency range it sends the amp into protection. This is still a possibility, but since it does the same thing with other speakers, this is likely not the problem. But it is a real problem and even though speakers are rated at a specific impedance, when the impedance curve is measured dynamically some of them drop down to a much lower level than advertized. For example, I know of some woofers that are rated at 4 ohms, but the dc resistance of the voice coil is only about 1 ohm and when strong levels of music hit the voice coil when the pipe organ or Dark Side of the Moon or some of the Telarc records are playing it drops the amp out. If there is any pattern of certain music causing the drop out this could be an option to look at.
Answer -
Okey; let me know.
It looks more and more like the head end unit is not switching on the power amp.
Just to make sure you understand; there are two power wires going to the power amps. One directly from the battery (through a fuse - now there is an idea; sometimes fuses go intermittent!). This one is what powers the amp when it is ON.
The other wire comes from the head end and is the switcher line. It gives 12 volts to the input of the amp that turns it ON and OFF.
Good Luck,
Cleggsan
AnswerWell, the foil isn't a bad idea if you expect the fuse, but you should check or replace the fuse first. Sometimes they look good and will even measure good on your $9 walmart vom checker, but in use they open up randomly. So, that is a possibility.
Checking the wires and connections does not solve the problem of a wire that is pinched or even defective from the factory or a connection point that looks good and feels good but is weak inside. So, I still recommend you put a voltmeter on the lines to see where you are losing the power to the amp.
But remember you put another amp in and it did the same thing, so we have, at this moment, eliminated the amps internal organs as the problem area.
Keep on trucking,
Cleggsan
