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Amp turning its self down?


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T.Hill 
Copper - Posts: 268
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Joined: February 21, 2003
Location: Missouri, United States
Posted: May 26, 2004 at 9:21 PM / IP Logged  
I have a MA Audio 5011x mono amp running a pair of 12" Punch HX2's. My problem is every so often the sub output will decrease about half and then return to full volume whenever it feels the need( usually about 30 to 60 seconds). I thought it was a bad connection so I checked all of those. Then I thought it might be getting too hot. I checked the onboard temp readout and it read 116 degrees. I went and bought a 3" 12v fan from RadioShack, but before I got it installed the amp did the same thing early in the morning when the amp was about 78 degrees. Could it be the amp itself or the remote bass control?
Pioneer DEH-P980BT, Zapco DCREF1000.4,Pioneer TS-C520PRS, Adire Extremis, MTX TA91002, TC Sounds TC-3000 15"
fuseblower 
Silver - Posts: 403
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Joined: June 25, 2003
Location: United States
Posted: May 27, 2004 at 10:41 AM / IP Logged  
It could be different issues.  If your amp gets low for a minute it could be your power suplly going to it.  Your car battery and alternator may not be supplying enough juice.  This would cause your amp to reduce power and than pic back up after it readjusts itself.  You may also have a bown voice coil if you have dual voice coild.
Manoftools 
Copper - Posts: 55
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Joined: May 27, 2004
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Posted: May 27, 2004 at 11:02 AM / IP Logged  
Play some music and put a multimeter on the amp.  If the reading drops below 12 volts or comes very close to it, then your amp is not getting enough power.  I have also seen this happen when the RCA outputs from your radio are going bad.
T.Hill 
Copper - Posts: 268
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Location: Missouri, United States
Posted: May 27, 2004 at 11:11 AM / IP Logged  
I have a 1 farad cap right next to the amp. Both the amp and the cap have digital volt readout's adn they both read about 13.8v when the truck is in park and 14.3v when driving( I had a friend climb back there and check since I was driving). The rca i'm getting to run the sub amp are coming from a LOC which is hooked up from the stock sub wires. Is there a way to check to see if all of my voice coils are ok? Like doing the AA battery test to the speaker leads?
Pioneer DEH-P980BT, Zapco DCREF1000.4,Pioneer TS-C520PRS, Adire Extremis, MTX TA91002, TC Sounds TC-3000 15"
fuseblower 
Silver - Posts: 403
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Joined: June 25, 2003
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Posted: May 27, 2004 at 12:39 PM / IP Logged  
It is very hard to check a coil on an amp unless it is tottally blown.  If the coil is weak it may be shutting down your system when it hits the bad section while playing.  You may be able to check the coil by hooking a voltameter to your sub and lightly pushing on the cone to see if it changes the ohm.
BangBang 
Silver - Posts: 287
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Joined: October 25, 2003
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Posted: May 27, 2004 at 12:47 PM / IP Logged  

Its  kind of hard to tell what the problem in your situation.

This has never happend to me in the past year that i have owned a sound system so i'm not sure what to tell you.
But you should go over your wires and make sure that your power wire is not hot,
or the plastic around is not hot where you can easily bend the wire.
go over your wiring. If everything is good. then do what fuseblower is advising.

Good LuCk!

T.Hill 
Copper - Posts: 268
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Joined: February 21, 2003
Location: Missouri, United States
Posted: May 27, 2004 at 2:19 PM / IP Logged  
Fuseblower, I have a voltmeter but have no idea on what to set the setting on to try what you say.
I went to 3 local shops today and one wanted me to leave my truck with them at $40 an hour for an undisclosed amount of time to "try " and find the problem. 2nd one wanted me to take out the amp and ahve them bench it. I may try what the 3rd said to do which is to disconnect one sub and play my system like normal to see if it still does it. If not then hook up the other sub by itself and try again. Hopefully it will do it then that way I know its one of the subs. Otherwise I'll take the amp in and have it benched. I'll try what fuseblower said to do first though.
Pioneer DEH-P980BT, Zapco DCREF1000.4,Pioneer TS-C520PRS, Adire Extremis, MTX TA91002, TC Sounds TC-3000 15"
DYohn 
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Joined: April 22, 2003
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: May 27, 2004 at 2:38 PM / IP Logged  

Yes, you have one of those hard to find problems that could be anything from the very simple (like the decrease in SPL corresponding to the air conditioning coming on) to the not very pretty (like a voice coil gone or partially gone or the amplifier having thermal breakdown problems.)  First make sure there are no parasitic loads on the elctrical system like A/C that might be causing the problem.  Then try by process of elimination.  Are your power and ground wires getting hot?  If so, you need a higher gage.  This is an unlikely source for the problem, but it is possible the amplifier's power is being limited by cable resistance.  Disconnect your cap and see if the problem gets worse or better.  If better, you have a bad cap.  If worse, the cap was not the problem.  Try running only one sub for a while and then the other one and see if it is related to one of the subs.  If the amp was getting hot and then you cooled it, but the problem did not change, then it is most likely not the amplifier shutting down, but it still could be.  Try a different LOC as they are notorious for being shaky.

Having the amp bench tested will at least tell you if it is OK.  Mightrt be worth the expense in any case.

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T.Hill 
Copper - Posts: 268
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Joined: February 21, 2003
Location: Missouri, United States
Posted: May 27, 2004 at 2:46 PM / IP Logged  
Thanks Dyohn, nobody have said to check the cap yet. It hasn't been very how here so I haven't used the A/C yet. It happens during the day when the headlights are off and at night when they are on. I did notice it once when I hit the brakes it made the volume go back to normal, but I haven't been able to do that again. I'm off tomorrow so I will try the subs by themselves and try the cap thing to see what happens. Thanks again for the help everyone. I'll get back to once I try everything.
Pioneer DEH-P980BT, Zapco DCREF1000.4,Pioneer TS-C520PRS, Adire Extremis, MTX TA91002, TC Sounds TC-3000 15"
T.Hill 
Copper - Posts: 268
Copper spaceThis member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.spacespace
Joined: February 21, 2003
Location: Missouri, United States
Posted: May 27, 2004 at 2:52 PM / IP Logged  
One more thing, I have noticed that when the engine is running with the truck parked and the system is playing at full volume that the voltage readouts drop to 11.9v on normal music, but down to 11.5v on a spl test disc I have. Are those levels low enough to cause some problems?
Pioneer DEH-P980BT, Zapco DCREF1000.4,Pioneer TS-C520PRS, Adire Extremis, MTX TA91002, TC Sounds TC-3000 15"
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