d5000 orion amp/system issues guru neede

Well this is long, but stay with me it's all important. This problem has been with two different vehicles now. OLD Equipment: 1995 Ford Explorer 4.0 300 Amp Alternator Kinetic Battery (800) Pioneer Deck (forget model) D5000 Orion Amp (2500 RMS) ( 1 ohm stable ) 4 12" HCCA 12.2 subwoofers in a ported box (2000 RMS each) (Wired per instructions on this website @ 1 ohm) This stereo was professionally installed, and here is the problem it had then: Clipping. While turning the volume up past 3/4 way, the amp clips for 1-10 seconds (depending on how bad it clipped) then resumed fine. If I kept it below that volume, all was well... sort of. Eventually, it cut out to less volume one day all the way up... and then a few days later it got to the point where it would only work sometimes and barely. Time for a new amp. Installed New Amp: (Same, warrantied) Worked great. (Still clipped) but no issues other than the clipping. Sold the truck. Fast forward to now: NEW TRUCK, SAME SYSTEM: Now dual DVD screen. (Laugh, go ahead, dual sucks... but unlike my pioneer the bass doesn't skip the cd player, and it sounds great. I hate dual but it's actually not a bad unit at all) I now own a 2003 Ford Explorer 4.0, factory alternator (anybody who has owned one of these trucks knows they actually do quite well. My friend has a 2000 RMS amp and none of his lights dim and the battery gauge doesn't budge, factory (a 2002 explorer, same truck). Lights didn't dim at all with my 1300 RMS amp, now they do a little with the D5000. (Maybe 10-15% dim). When playing, the battery gauge doesn't budge. Ever. I know it works, because A) when the car is off it goes down. B) When my alternator started dying it slowly went down to LOW in voltage. Clipping problem still exists. Higher bass seems to have less of an effect (less of a draw I assume, but this is no different from the old set-up). The alternator is brand new, the battery is brand new. I have 0 Gauge from the battery, to a distribution block where 4 gauge runs to the amp. This amp takes Dual 4 Gauge inputs, and dual 4 gauge grounds. The grounds are put together at one spot in the back. The ground worked fine for a week. Everything worked great (minus the clipping) then today in mid-song, my bass cut-out to 1/2 volume.   Still clips as it did before at higher volumes, but isn't as loud. All 4 subs are playing. No lights displayed on the amp other than the typical lights. Also, when this happened the cabin of my truck smelled as if something fried (but QUICKLY went away). Smelled the amp, it smells perfectly normal. Smelled the alternator, battery absolutely normal (I'm a redneck I can smell when I've fried something). The battery gauge is in normal operating (Just where it was before I Installed the monster system). The alternator makes no sounds or smells, and even when idling my battery gauge is fine. Turn on a bunch of stuff and the alternator is still fine. Tried revving to 3k RPM and playing the system, doesn't help. So the clipping has always been an issue, and now the half-volume issue is arising. Last time in my old truck it was much quieter than this time. What I've Checked: - Ground is tight and secure. - Re-connected all remote/power/ground connections and RCA's. - Found semi-loose remote wire. Fixed it. Did nothing. There are no fuses on the outside of the amp whatsoever. The fuse on the battery has not blown. The sub outlet on my deck was at 0. (Out of -7 through +7) and the gain was 1/2 the way up. Mids and highs are powered by the deck, and are unaffected by these issues. Any ideas? Ideas on fixing the clipping issue, and why the hell are they messing up? Here's some reading I found to give you some insight in to the D5000 Amp Problems: [url]http://www.recommendedbuys.com/electronics/car-amplifiers/orion-hcca-d5000.htm[/url]2006 Dodge Charger show car

2003 Ford Exploder DD

Recheck your sub impedence the way they are wired up.  Probalbly below 1 ohm.  Smell could have come from voice coils.

is your ground screwed tightly to bare unpainted metal? also check each sub to make sure one of them didn't blow. if they share the same chamber in the box you wont know if one is blown because it will still move when the others hit. if one IS blown it would change the total ohm load that your amp sees.

soundnsecurity wrote: is your ground screwed tightly to bare unpainted metal? also check each sub to make sure one of them didn't blow. if they share the same chamber in the box you wont know if one is blown because it will still move when the others hit. if one IS blown it would change the total ohm load that your amp sees.

The ground is good, and no subs are blown, they all play fine (feeling at low volumes) and 2 share together. 2006 Dodge Charger show car

2003 Ford Exploder DD

lspker wrote: Recheck your sub impedence the way they are wired up.  Probalbly below 1 ohm.  Smell could have come from voice coils.

The subs handle 2000 RMS each, I seriously doubt even at 1/4 ohm they would fry. The amp puts out 2500 RMS among 4 subs, so 620 watts a piece. Severely underpowered. Also, the clipping problem occurred before all of this. Seems liek some of you didn't follow ,my story lol2006 Dodge Charger show car

2003 Ford Exploder DD

lspker wrote: If you have the subs at 1/4 hooked to an amp that is 1 ohm stable it will shut down.   If you under power the sub you can cook it.   The amp at 1/4 would have high distortion rates, and clipping will cook a sub. What is the actual measured impedence of your set up. if I remember the 2 ohm coils were 1.6 ohm.

I'll have to measure it. I've not heard of underpowering a sub causing them to blow, but I'm not an expert. My sponsor/audio vendor never mentioned this to me. I don't want two amps, what should I do, sell 2 subs? Would it kick as loud and stop breaking?2006 Dodge Charger show car

2003 Ford Exploder DD

He also never explained to you that what you are describing (or at LEAST, what I am reading) IS NOT CLIPPING. Clipping is a more-or-less continuous situation that is a terrible sounding (but otherwise difficult to describe) noise. The only thing tyhat can make your system do what you are describing (which is simply "shutting off") is a defective amplifier, running too low an impedange for the amplifier, or an installation issue somewhere.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."

haemphyst wrote: He also never explained to you that what you are describing (or at LEAST, what I am reading) IS NOT CLIPPING. Clipping is a more-or-less continuous situation that is a terrible sounding (but otherwise difficult to describe) noise. The only thing tyhat can make your system do what you are describing (which is simply "shutting off") is a defective amplifier, running too low an impedange for the amplifier, or an installation issue somewhere.

Hmm well this is the second amp that's done this, what should I do first?2006 Dodge Charger show car

2003 Ford Exploder DD

And what did they measure out to?