Audiobahn A1800D amplifier troubles

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wayland1985

Silver - Posts: 353

Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: September 26, 2004 at 9:30 PM / IP Logged

I have an Audiobahn A1800D amplifier. I had it running two woofers at 1ohm (1800 watts rms) over the winter. During the 3 week break in period, the subs pumped hard. I turned the amp up to normal listening power over the spring, where for several weeks I had no trouble. As the summer heated up though, the amp began to shut off, without any warning lights. It would just cut off, and pause several seconds before it started playing again.

The problem progressed over the summer, to a point where i disconnected one sub. It continues to cut off at loub beats, though not as often

What options do i have to fix the problem.....(I"M NOT GETTING RID OF IT YOU AUDIOBAHN HATERS!!) Audiobahn A1800D amplifier troubles -- posted image.

~wayland

stevdart

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Joined: January 24, 2004

Location: Pennsylvania, United States

Posted: September 26, 2004 at 9:34 PM / IP Logged

Are you using a bandpass enclosure?

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

wayland1985

Silver - Posts: 353

Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: September 26, 2004 at 9:35 PM / IP Logged

It's ported, 2.5 cu ft per woofer, as the factory recommended. The woofers work fine....it's the amp

~wayland

haemphyst

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Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 3:49 PM / IP Logged

Sounds to mee like insufficient cooling. Summer temps cause shutting down, winter temps do not. Two woofers at one ohm is TWICE the load of one woofer at one ohm, and when you disconnect one, it plays a little longer without shutting down - this indicates cooling. If possible, raise the load the amp sees by playing with your woofer wiring - i.e. series, parallel, series/parallel, etc. Does the amp get hot? Check these options, and let us know. BTW stevdart, what does the enclosure have to do with it?

Oh, and one more thing, get rid of the Audiobahn... Audiobahn A1800D amplifier troubles -- posted image.

(jab, jab, jab)

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

DYohn

Moderator - Posts: 10,741

Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 3:58 PM / IP Logged

Yep I concur, it's overheating. Cheap amps are very prone to this, and it is an indication that it may be getting ready to die altogether. Running at one ohm will do that, especially when the weather is hot. Try running it at a much higher impedence loading, like 8-ohms.

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jeffchilcott

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Joined: April 11, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 4:30 PM / IP Logged

or tey adding cooling fans to the bottom of the amp, will void any warranty but should work use cpu fans they run on 12 volts

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forbidden

Platinum - Posts: 5,352

Joined: November 01, 2003

Location: Alberta, Canada

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 5:16 PM / IP Logged

Turn the gain back down dude, it's not a volume control. This is a good part of what is sending the amp into thermal protection.

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wayland1985

Silver - Posts: 353

Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 7:25 PM / IP Logged

Okay, first of all, I tried to fix the heat situation already. It was originally in a small 2 in. area, out of view. There were a few air holes, but not many. I Moved it to a place where the A/C could hit the amp directly. It doesn't get hot, just warm to the touch, like body temperature.

The gain has been set at about 1/4 power, for several weeks, but it only solves the problem by very little.

By the way, wouldn't a over-heat shut off yield a warning LED??? No warning LED's here.....just cuts right off.

I did re-wire a bit, as well. I was running 1 ohm, but I'm only running 4 right now. Still a problem...

~wayland

stevdart

Platinum - Posts: 5,816

Joined: January 24, 2004

Location: Pennsylvania, United States

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 8:13 PM / IP Logged

haemphyst wrote:

BTW stevdart, what does the enclosure have to do with it?

Overall picture of the system and what's going on. The indicator lights aren't warning of heat, and I thought there might be a fault in the sub wiring inside the enclosure.

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

wayland1985

Silver - Posts: 353

Joined: December 31, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: September 27, 2004 at 8:20 PM / IP Logged

The wiring has been checked, and rechecked twice before. Every single portion of the wiring looks fine. And the subs are wired 1ohm. (Although one sub isn't hooked up). Audiobahn beleives my problem may be due to my alternator. They feel my stock alternator may not be sending enough current to power the woofers, so the amp Shuts off on the larger beats.

Would this make sense? I'm not running a capacitor (Everyone here insists that you should just save for a high-output alternator)

~wayland

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