System Is "Boosting" Itself - What's Going On?
 

Post #19 - Update

I'm posting this in SPL due to the equipment I'm using.

2001 2-Door Oldsmobile Alero
Stock Alternator.
Yellow Top upfront, 2 batteries in the back.
2 12" TF1's
American Bass 500.1
O Gauge throughout, Big 3 Upgrade Complete
Jalat Designs

I'm experiencing something that's hard to explain but I'll tell you what I know:
If I have the system on at a mid level, the system is hitting but it will go through phases (throughout any track) where its "Bass Boosting" itself ... its as if I'm playing with a button or something. What this means is that the bass will hit harder and then it will fade away.

Or

I'm playing it at full tilt and its NOT at full tilt ... then, in and out of the track, it reaches the peak where it should be.

The only thing I can add to this is that the temperature outside has seemed to make a HUGE difference.

Tuesday morning - Hot - I can't get loud
Tuesday night - Cold - no problem getting loud - for at least 30 minutes+

Today its raining and cold, my system is pounding without issue.



If something was loose, I wouldn't be getting bass at all IMO
Alternator can't handle it ... maybe, but I have no idea why its in and out (sometimes on for several songs, then other times off all day).
Or is the 500.1 known for getting so hot that its not putting out power?

Ideas, ideas, ideas - Please.

bad rca...had the same problem the other day...check either the rca's themselves or the connection at the board, play a tone at med volume and move the rca's around

should be the problem

I tried this a few nights ago but with a track instead of a tone. Played it at a level I'm familiar with and started moving it all around, no flux in the volume (where there should have been).

I'll try it again with a tone. This was the first thing I thought of but now this weather thing is a whole other curve ball.

Edit: I just want to say that going over bumps on the road doesn't shoot up the volume, nor does braking or anything else.

hmmm, weird....what kind of vehicle?

i had somthing kinda like that , what are u using for music? does it do it with radio + cd+ aux? mine was just the rca for the aux in got bent to much and wasnt connecting full all the time and would fade in and out.Kinda of like what yours sounds like.

I'll try a different USB or just a different method altogether, never thought of that so I never tried it.

I was just demo'ing the system for someone parked in a parking lot. The system would be on, possibly at full tilt, and it started "boosting" itself again. I tried holding my rpm's above 2000 to see if that would permanently keep it boosted up and it didn't ...
I tried driving around and that didn't help ...

The only I can see as problematic is that the amp is on top of the box and when its turned up, it rattles like a mutha. So much that it's scratching the box hard.
So maybe I'll try the position of the amp itself.

This is a 2001 2-Door Oldsmobile Alero. Firing into the cabin, seats are folded down.

The thing I want to point out is that the music or level of volume doesn't fade. It's the level of bass that doesn't go off, just dims in and out, usually very quick in speed.
It's going in and out and lasting seconds. Sometimes minutes. It does what it wants.

did u ever fix that bad connection on the battery? could be that.

bad rca too. or maybe one end is coming off at the back of the deck.

yea mine was anything below what ever hz got messed up .i actually figured it out by accident. When i got p.o'd and smacked my dash and it faded away.lol

The battery connection is very tight. I can't move it at all.

Bad RCA, RCA, RCA ... all about the RCA's ...
The RCA's are newly installed for this system but I guess the deck will have to come out to check again ... or maybe the actual connection to the subs through the box is weak, but so far moving that hasn't changed the sound at all.

I tried it with the radio and with a CD, instead of just a USB stick like normal ... still fluxing (though this time, its down, meaning I can't get the system to go loud).

What kind of head unit?

Is it just the subs that are playing with the volume, or is it everything?