more power for my civic

 ok i was just wondering what to do stop my woofers fom tuning off i have two 10" hx2 and 2 500s rockford apms and i was just wondering  sould i get a new altinator or just get a second battery or if i do get a new altinator will i have to change my existing battery because when i turn the volume past 20 the woofers just cut of but when i turn it down it cuts back on and at night the lights  dim alot its like a strobe to the beat.rimey

The Punch 500s is 125x2@4ohms, 250x2@2ohms, and 500x1@4ohms bridged. Which model HX2's do you have, the Punch or the Power? And are they the 2 or 4 ohm model? Also, how do you have them wired? I'm assuming each sub is bridged to its own amp, but unless you have the 2ohm model wired in series you're putting too low of an impodence on the amp. What I mean is with the 2ohm model wired in series you get a 4ohm total load at the bridge, which is stable and you'll get the 500 watts (at least if you're putting enough power into the amps!) But, if you have the 4ohm model wired in parallel then you're putting a 2ohm total load at the bridge, which is not stable. RF specs show 8-gauge minimum, but I'd suggest 4. If you were only running at 125 or 250 watts I'd say stick with the 8, but since you're running 2 amps at 500 watts a piece I'd suggest 4-gauge going to each amp. If you want to run with 4, you can use 2-gauge from the battery to the distribution block then 4-gauge from there to the amps.Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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wvsquirrel wrote: The Punch 500s is 125x2@4ohms, 250x2@2ohms, and 500x1@4ohms bridged. Which model HX2's do you have, the Punch or the Power? And are they the 2 or 4 ohm model? Also, how do you have them wired? I'm assuming each sub is bridged to its own amp, but unless you have the 2ohm model wired in series you're putting too low of an impodence on the amp. What I mean is with the 2ohm model wired in series you get a 4ohm total load at the bridge, which is stable and you'll get the 500 watts (at least if you're putting enough power into the amps!) But, if you have the 4ohm model wired in parallel then you're putting a 2ohm total load at the bridge, which is not stable. RF specs show 8-gauge minimum, but I'd suggest 4. If you were only running at 125 or 250 watts I'd say stick with the 8, but since you're running 2 amps at 500 watts a piece I'd suggest 4-gauge going to each amp. If you want to run with 4, you can use 2-gauge from the battery to the distribution block then 4-gauge from there to the amps.

rimey

 i have the punch hx2 and i have a 4 gauge from battery to the distribution block and 8 gauge to the amp becuse 8 gauge is the only one that would fit ther set up at 2ohms  and then i briged them should i live it like that or suld i hook it up regularlyrimey

I had a nice long message typed up that dissappeared when I posted it (internet crash!) So give me a few minutes to retype it...Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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We still need the model number of your subs to be certain. It should be either RFD2110 (2ohm version) or RFD2210 (4ohm version). From the way you described your setup, I think you have the 4ohm version, which is what is causing a majority of the problem. If you have the 4ohm DVC version, and each sub is wired in parallel then bridged to its own amp, then you are putting a 2ohm mono load on each amp. The Rockford 500s amps are not 2ohm Mono stable, they are only 2ohm Stereo and 4ohm Mono stable. What is happening is at higher volumes the amp is going into protect mode and shutting down due to the impedance being too low for Mono operation. About the only thing you can do to fix this is either... 1) Exchange the subs for the 2ohm version (RFD2110) and wire each sub in series for a 4ohm total load each then bridge stably for 500 x 1 @ 4ohms 2) Keep the subs but exchange the amps for either two 500 x 1 @ 2ohms amps, or one 1000 x 1 @ 1ohm amp. 3) Keep your existing equipment but get rid of 1 of the amps. Wire both subs in parallel to their own channel for a 2ohm load per channel. The drawback to this is you will only be getting 250 watts to each sub (250 x 2 @ 2ohms), instead of the 500 watts each as before. Your system will not have as much bass as before, but it will not shut down anymore either. As for the dimming lights, you already said they dim with both amps running at the 500 watt mono rating, so you will need to upgrade your alternator if you plan to continue running at that power level (apx 1000 watts total). If you drop to the 500 watt total level (like in Option 3 above) you may get away without having to get a new alternator. If the lights still dim with only 500 watts then you would still want to look at getting a high output alternator. As for the power wire, I think you got hosed (unfortunately). I prefer RF products, but this one got me dissapointed. I checked the manual and I guess RF decided that 8-gauge was the most that the amp needs due to the 125 and 250 rating, but it's like they completely disregarded the 500 watt rating!!! But like I said before, for a 500 watt amp you would be better off using 4-gauge to each amp. I believe Phoenix Gold or Stinger make some adapters that will allow 4-gauge wire to fit into an 8-gauge input. If I can find it again I'll post the link for you.Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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