TheTechMan

Hey Guys,

So I installed a new system this summer consisting of a 4 channel Kenwood amp, 2x infinity 6.5" speakers, a 10" Alpine Type E sub and an Audiocontrol LC2i.

The installation took me a few days to complete but overall it went pretty smoothly and I was really happy with the results.

Within the last 2-3 weeks my music has been randomly shutting off and on while driving. I usually notice this happening after 15-20mins of driving. Sometimes when the music shuts off it will come back right away and other times it will take time before it restores itself.

While the music stopped I checked my amp and it was on and I had voltage readings on my farad cap. However, I noticed my lc2i (mounted in my glovebox) was randomly powering on/off causing the sound outages.

I thought the problem might have been due to heat but the unit isn't hot or even warm to the touch.

Could this be a problem with my power/ground wires? (checked them and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary)

If you need any more info let me know. I will be quick to respond.

Thanks

TheTechMan

perhaps someone could suggest where I should start troubleshooting and I could give it a go. I would bring it into a shop myself but it's too close to x-mas and I just don't have the extra funds available....

I have a multimeter but have never used it before and wouldn't know where to begin to test my power/ground wires.

Dukk

String a power and ground wire directly from the LC2i to the cap or amplifier. A run of speaker wire will work.

This will let you know if it's your wiring or the piece itself.

TheTechMan

Thanks for the idea. I will go try this asap and drive around for the next couple of days to test it out.

TheTechMan

So I wired up my LC2i to my amp and had my car on a lengthy <100km ride today and it was fine right up until the final 10-15km when it shut off again. Unlike before though, it wouldn't turn back on.

I pulled over to the side of the road and decided to check my amp and sure enough, it had shut itself off. So the problem isn't with my lc2i after all but with my Kenwood amp.

I wonder what's likely to be the problem with my amp given the symptoms I mentioned above. Does it sound like a faulty amp or maybe a power/ground problem?

I was thinking it could possibly be a fuse issue as well....I'm not really sure to be honest. I'm hoping someone more experienced with this kind of stuff can post some suggestions.

Thanks

Sinemeup

If you have a DMM, check voltages at battery and amp (should be above 12.5 volts car off or 13.0 - 14.5 with car on)

When the amp turns off, check to see if any of your battery connections are hot (don't burn yourself either) this will indicate a poor connection.

When I make a ground I follow these steps:

1) Crimp a ring terminal to the end of your ground wire
2) I use a knife to scrape away the paint before sanding/grinding to bare metal
3) After you have shiny metal, clean off the surface with alcohol / or such
4) Drill out a hole big enough to fit a bolt through your ring terminal making sure not to drill into anything that shouldn't have a hole in it
5) Spend the extra 50 cents at the hardware store on a washer and lockwasher to make sure the nut doesn't back off, ever.

Do this everytime and you can easily rule out it being a bad ground.

GL

TheTechMan

Ok so I went out and purchased a DMM today and did some voltage tests. Here's what I got.

All tests were done with my car running.

1. Battery voltage tested at 14.5volts at point of battery
2. 12v and Remote Wire at my amp was 14.5volts (no loss of voltage along the lines)
3. ground from chasis to amp reads 0.18-0.25 (I read that this may be far too high)

Any more suggestions?

TheTechMan

I believe my amp is going into protect mode. What are the best ways to troubleshoot this type of a problem?

Dukk

That's a tough one because it depends what is doing it. You can start by dropping the gains a bit. Then try unhooking one speaker at a time incase it's a shorting problem.

TheTechMan

Ok cool at least that gives me a place to start. Thanks

Is it ok to unhook speaker wires from the amp while my amp is on and music is playing?