Amp kicks out, any idea why?
#1
Amp kicks out, any idea why?
i have a solobaric L7 set on 4ohm, i have had a Clarion 1001.1 and currently have a Kicker ZX1000 running the sub. right now i cant have the gain over 50% or the sub will kick out. well, the amp protect light flickers once and then the amp slowly powers back on until it kicks out again. now at first i thought it was the clarion amp so i bought the kicker amp. both are doing exact same thing. so i hooked the sub up to my brother's setup (hes running an Alpine PDX 1000. the data sheet from alpine stated it was 1255watts RMS stable/constant) so with it set for 4 ohm we wired it to the L7 and boom, it worked great. uped the gain to 95% and the sub just kept bang out the beats. that thing can fly. we ran a bass setup disk that plays pretty much every range of frequency producable by any equipment and the sub ran through them all. now i know its not the voice coils in the sub, is it possible it is both amps are bad? are they not powerfull enough? could it be any of the other wiring?
#3
Power issue .... my JBL was doing that, had to switch from 2ga to 2/0ga (well 1/0 might have done it ) and the problem disappeared. Even though setting your gains over half way is likely sending the amp into clipping. Causing huge draws for nothing. Does it do it when the gains are all the way down?
#4
im using 4awg power and ground. 2 1 farad caps seperately grounded. and i added a 3awg ground wire from the battery to the truck frame. it doesnt do it if the gains are set low but then there is no sound from the sub either.
#8
It can't be 2 or 4 ohm impedance.It has to be either one or the other.
If it's a dual 2ohm sub then it's either 1 or 4 ohms.
If it's a dual 4ohm sub then it can do 2 or 8 ohms.
So check the impedance again at the amplifier. Also check for voltage drop at the amp. check your grounds from the caps, you said there was more than one which is usually a no no. Everything should have the same grounding point.
Last edited by godzilla1978; 08-03-2009 at 04:26 PM.
#9
you have a power input issue OR an output issue, my money at this point is also on power but I need more information
input:
- is your voltage to the amp sufficient (check with volt meter while hitting big bass notes if voltage drops less than 11 you have a input issue),
- are the connections everywhere in the circuit good (if not clean the connections (metal to metal) and re-terminate as needed, is the wire big enough (4 gauge should not be the issue though I would recommend bigger wire... did you upgrade the power wire from the alternator to the battery or the ground wire from the battery to the frame?)
output:
- You have consistently NOT answered the questions on your woofer (oh yeah the woofer could be bad BTW but if the alpine works OK then it probably isn't that)
- what is the woofers impedance? and don't say "either 2 or 4 ohms" and can you measure its actual resistance?
- is the woofer single or dual voice coil?
- is the wiring to the woofer in good shape with no exposed metal (this problem could crop up with frayed wiring that produces a ground or short)
#10
according to Kicker it is a dual voice coil and is 2 or 4 ohm impedance
check out kicker .com and look on the Solobaric-L7 page (cant post links yet i am too new of a member) (i have the 12")
as for my setup i will confirm tomorrow when i have more time to remove the sub but i am pretty sure i wired it in series (i believe than makes it 4ohm load?).
as for all the power connections on input they are good, tight, not frayed and are making metal to metal contact. the voltage drops but never below 13.86V (measured at the cap and the amp) when it kicks out it is not usually even below 13.9V.
i have a multi-meter but i am not sure i am using it right. how would i test the sub's impedance? every time i check i get .2 (pretty sure i am doing it wrong)
as for the wire in the enclosure i will check tomorrow when i have more time.
thanks for your help so far.
check out kicker .com and look on the Solobaric-L7 page (cant post links yet i am too new of a member) (i have the 12")
as for my setup i will confirm tomorrow when i have more time to remove the sub but i am pretty sure i wired it in series (i believe than makes it 4ohm load?).
as for all the power connections on input they are good, tight, not frayed and are making metal to metal contact. the voltage drops but never below 13.86V (measured at the cap and the amp) when it kicks out it is not usually even below 13.9V.
i have a multi-meter but i am not sure i am using it right. how would i test the sub's impedance? every time i check i get .2 (pretty sure i am doing it wrong)
as for the wire in the enclosure i will check tomorrow when i have more time.
thanks for your help so far.