Alpine MRD-M501 Troubles

hi there i recently bought two Alpine type R 12" subs and to power them I got the alpine MRD-M501. Everything is all wired up, but the problem is that when i turn the music up to about 14-17 (usually i listen to drum n bass), after about 10 - 15 seconds, much to my annoyance the amp completely turns off. After between 1 minute and 10 minutes the amp turns back on and functions as normal until i try to turn it up again. Also on occasions, the amp doesnt even turn on when i turn my car on, but after about 5 minutes of driving it then decides its going to work. I am just wondering if anyone knows what is causing this - would it be that im trying to push too much power into the amp and it just cant handle it? Or could it be that my battery cannot push out as much voltage as the amp is asking for? Is there any settings on this amp which I could adjust to help this? Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated!!!

Have you checked your ground wire? I had a Punch 150 that would cut off whenever I shifted my weight in my seat. It did not take long to figure out the problem. I had a poor ground connection through the bolt that held my seat down. I trimmed my wire back an extra inch or so and really wrapped it tightly under a bolt that I knew went directly to the frame of the truck. After that, the problem went away. Check your power wire as well. Mike

If its a new amp it sounds like some sort of wiring problem. Also that amp is very complicated to set up. Look at what tcss had to say in my post titled "Alpine Break-in" Nik

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What ohm rating are the R subs? If you are under 2 ohms at the amp the amps protection circuit is kicking in.

the type R's are 2ohm i am pretty sure (it says 2+2 on the box). how do i found out what ohm it is running at the amp? is there any way to increase this level by just tweaking some settings on the amp? i really appreciate the help so far!

I think that means there dual 2 ohm? If they are wired in parallel you are putting a 1 ohm load on the amp which will cause it to go into protection mode and possibly cause permenant damage. If you wire them in serial you will have a 4 ohm load but only be getting 250 watts. Unfortunatly thats your only option. Nik

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Oh wait, I just saw that you have two of 'em. Scratch what I just said. Wire the voice coils in serial to get 4 ohms on each speaker. Then wire the speakers to the amp in parallel to get a total of 2 ohms.Nik

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When the amp goes into protect mode, it will say a code, like E-1, E-2, or E-3 , check out which one it is.  If you have it wired to 1 ohm, then the overcurrent protection will kick in,  ,since you are pushing near 1000 watts at 1 ohm haha.  I sucessfully ran a m-500 at 1.4 ohm for a summer, but it shut down once and a while.2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.

thanks for the replies- the problem is the amp does NOT say a code when it shuts off (i was hoping it would) - the power just literally stops and the amp shuts down. there is no noise or anything when it shuts off, and my splits and other amp continue to run fine. i have recently adjusted the input from +6db to 0db and this let me turn it up louder without cutting out, but it still did not fix the problem. the way I have it set up at the moment is the two type R's are in a ported Beva box, and the cables from these run into the one port on my MRD-M501. Another point to note is that the MRD-M501 does not turn on if my car is off. Whilst my car is off it gives the amp 11.9v, and when the car is on it provides 13.9v. As soon as i start up the car and drive for about 30 seconds then my amp kicks in. I dont know if this is indicating a power problem or not, but I was advised by the store that i bought my equipment from that I would not have any power problems unless i bought any more equipment. alpineguy - are you saying i am trying to push too much power into my amp? Can this be altered by the cables or by a setting on the amp? once again I appreciate all the help! hopefully i can get this sorted soon!!

To me it sounds like its not an output problem, , but more of a power supply to the amp problem.  Try the amp in another car with a very solid electrical system that runs at 14 volts while the system is running.   From the voltage reading you got with the car off, , it sounds like 1 of the cells, or all of them are nearing there life end.  You cant tell for shure unless you bring it in to get tested,,,thats usually free..2003 Chevy Avalanche,Eclipse CD7000,Morel Elate 5,Adire Extremis,Alpine PDX-4.150, 15" TC-3000, 2 Alpine PDX-1.1000, 470Amp HO Alt.