subs popping/hot amp

strodda · #1 01-14-2003, 06:06 PM

i just noticed it recently since i rarely go anywhere far, but when i have the subs running consistently for about an hour or so, the amp gets real hot, which i know isnt good. and the subs start randomly popping. could the hot amp be causing that? if i drive to work or just around town it never happens.

PaulD · #2 01-14-2003, 06:49 PM

I take it you listen to your bass at loud levels pretty much all the time .......

strodda · #3 01-14-2003, 08:22 PM

if its on yes. durning the day im always blasting it, at night i turn it off. am i just running it too hard causing the amp to heat up?

electronblue · #4 01-15-2003, 12:44 PM

It could be that it's getting hot, but I bet it's a grounding problem...I know that sounds weird but that seems to be the case all the time when I see subs just stop working all of a sudden....You may try turning your subs up and popping your trunk and watching your amp to see if kicks on a protection light of some sort....that will be a dead give away answer.

strodda · #5 01-15-2003, 02:17 PM

no protection light. it works fine for a while. and even when the amp gets hot and the subs start to pop, the protect light never goes on.

PaulD · #6 01-15-2003, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by electronblue
It could be that it's getting hot, but I bet it's a grounding problem...I know that sounds weird but that seems to be the case all the time when I see subs just stop working all of a sudden....You may try turning your subs up and popping your trunk and watching your amp to see if kicks on a protection light of some sort....that will be a dead give away answer.

Let's look at this logically ... a bad ground is similiar to putting a resistor in line with the ground wire. The result will be that, the more power your amp tries to draw, the more power the bad ground scheme (resistance) wil dissipate. If anything, your amp should run cooler, since it just doesn't recieve as much power from the car's electrical system.

strodda · #7 01-17-2003, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PaulD

Let's look at this logically ... a bad ground is similiar to putting a resistor in line with the ground wire. The result will be that, the more power your amp tries to draw, the more power the bad ground scheme (resistance) wil dissipate. If anything, your amp should run cooler, since it just doesn't recieve as much power from the car's electrical system.

the subs pop got really bad today, ill record a sound later so you can hear what im dealing with. im sure the noise is always there, since i can hear a little hiss inbetween tracks. i think the noise is also there in the subs, im just not hearing it. but when the amp gets hot, could it be magnifying the interference?

i need bass, so all i could think of is rewire it back to a 2ohm load, which im assuming will make the amp not run as hard. are there ANY possible last ditch efforts to get rid of this damn sound?

i have rewired everything from receiver back, separated rca/12v(eventhough some say it doesnt matter, im not really sure), and the grounds are good(direct to chassis, no paint). the noise happens even with engine off, so its not the alternator either. what else is there?

GSteg · #8 01-17-2003, 07:41 PM

what headunit do you have and what kind of amp for the sub?

strodda · #9 01-17-2003, 08:42 PM

i have the aiwa cdc-mp3, and the sub amp is a lanzar sl800d.

gunnmen01 · #10 01-17-2003, 09:12 PM

Are the heat sinks on the amp covered or screwed up or anything like that maybe? And a bad ground could cause the amp to draw more power which would cause heat...

gunnmen01

strodda · #11 01-17-2003, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gunnmen01
Are the heat sinks on the amp covered or screwed up or anything like that maybe? And a bad ground could cause the amp to draw more power which would cause heat...

gunnmen01

im not sure what you mean by "screwed up", but its not covered at all. its mounted vertically on the rear seat. the only thing i thought of to cool it was to take off one of the side plates and mount a fan to blow air into the amp.

and about bad grounds creating heat, ive heard both sides here, so im sure whats right. but either way, i have a good ground, screwed tightly to the chassis and there is no paint. maybe ill just grab a wire and run it to the car battery, see if that makes a difference.

and thanx for the help everyone

PaulD · #12 01-18-2003, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gunnmen01
And a bad ground could cause the amp to draw more power which would cause heat...

gunnmen01

read my post above

GSteg · #13 01-18-2003, 06:06 PM

how many volts is the preout? one thing i did noticed when i went from my clarions 1.7v preout to the alpine 4v was that the man run WAY cooler. the gain is set all the way down.

strodda · #14 01-18-2003, 08:07 PM

theyre 2.2v, i sure hope thats not the problem though, cause i dont wanna buy a new receiver because of a rca out.

PaulD · #15 01-19-2003, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GSteg
how many volts is the preout? one thing i did noticed when i went from my clarions 1.7v preout to the alpine 4v was that the man run WAY cooler. the gain is set all the way down.

The gains on an amp are really just a matching device ...... so it should not have effected how hot or cool the amp runs.

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