Inline fuse keeps blowing when I replace it

Ok, here is the deal.

I was running my 15" Kicker comp with my 1000 watt amp for about an hour straight. (it was a long drive :frown: )

My inline fuse blew and I replaced the 8 gauge power cable with 4 gauge cable and the 50 amp fuse with a 80 amp fuse.

The fuse blows after about 10 seconds.

It keeps on blowing everytime I replace it. :banghead:

Any ideas? Thanks.

Is the headunit turned on while you're doing this or is everything off?

either the power wire is shorted somewhere or your amp is drawing too much power for some reason

When I replace the fuse, I turn on the HU and everything (amp and sub) fires up. After about 10 seconds, the power cable fuse blows and the amp and the sub shuts off but the HU is still playing. I can't for the life of me figure out what is wrong. I just replaced the power cable with brand new 4 gauge wire so that is ruled out. What would cause the amp to draw excess power? Thanks for the replies

But it doesn't blow if you leave the headunit (and therefore, the amp) off?

If I leave the HU off the fuse won't blow.

Well that rules out a short in the power cable, and normally when an amp's PS is blown it will kill the fuse instantly, whether the amp is on or off.

Do you have a DMM?

use a bigger fuse??? lol

Unfortunately, I don't have a DMM. And if I were to use a bigger fuse, I would run the chance of a fire.

Unfortunately, I don't have a DMM. And if I were to use a bigger fuse, I would run the chance of a fire.

i promise you wont...you have a bigger amp...1000watts draws a lot of amps...you need at least something more than 100 for a fuse

I was running that same amp with 8 gauge power cable and a 50 amp fuse for about a year so I don't think a bigger fuse will solve the problem.

it's possible that's all the current the 8 Ga power wire was letting thru, but not likely. More likely you had weak connections before if this is truely your problem

I don't think I have ANY weak connections. I already double checked them all. Having no bass in my car blows. :banghead: A bad amp is all I can think of.

Also, I replaced the fuse in the 8 gauge cable PRIOR to changing the cable and it still blew.

then it's definitely time to have the amp checked

Yeah, all I can think of is when I had it running for that hour I messed something up inside the amp. I almost burned my finger when I touched the outside of the amp. It was running hot. Thanks for all the replies, I'll let you know what's up when I get it checked.

Is it possible that a blown sub could have tripped the inline fuse? I replaced the ground wire and replaced the fuse once more and everything worked fine until the sub cut out like it usually does. Except this time, the fuse didn't blow. The amp was still on. I check my trunk and sure enough, smoke was rolling out of the port. Could the sub have been blown the whole time?

yep, a blown sub can cause a lowered impedance, causing the amp to shut off. Put a multimeter (set for ohms) to the voice coil(s). A 4 ohm coil should read about 3 ohms DC.

That sub is trash now. I just bought an Elemental Designs 16Ov.2 to replace it. Can't wait for that baby to come. I've had experience with the 13Ov.2 and it was excellent. Anyways, thanks for all the help!

Turns out when I had my Kicker going for that hour, it ruined it. I replaced it with the 16Ov.2 and WOW. Two thumbs way up for Elemental Designs. VERY satisfied with this sub.