power troubles

amp cuts out when i:

hit brake pedal OR

turn on electric fans OR

turn on compressor OR

turn on a/c OR

turn volume to loud (with gain turned almost all the way down and/or set properly)

i have a red top under hood, a 280 amp alt., big 3, and kinetik 2400

running a hk4000d (i know these are power hungry, but not that much?) to a 18" fi btl(full loaded), all 1/0 gauge, knukonceptz rca's, jensen in-dash(vm9412)

thought it was rca's, changed them, still does it

so its either headunit rca signal(volts) or the amp

any help appreciated, been having problem awhile and just want to get it figured out!

thanks, i believe i've tried that but not at the volume that it cuts out at, the voltage read out on the amp is at 13.8-14.0 volts when cutting out, but i'll check at the terminal on the amp with a meter.

i have the kinetik grounded to a big seatbelt bolt, i might try and change that to see if that might be a factor. should i go to the frame or the cab? im thinking the frame cuz its pretty much on the cab now.

UPDATE: sometimes the bass doesnt even come on to begin with, even with the amp on and showing 14.0 volts! something in the amp maybe...with signal?

jensen vm9412 in-dash, my remote comes from the headunit to the amp

UPDATE: ok i checked the positive input on the amp when the bass cuts out with a meter and doesnt even drop below 14.0, actual reading is around14.04-14.08

have not tried switching my ground yet, will try and do that today

yea i just put my black meter lead to where the kinetik is grounded to(big seatbelt bolt) i'll try putting lead to the ground terminal of the amp. and if i have voltage drop then does that mean a bad ground?

yea i was thinking the headunit might be bad, like the rca line output level, but i had a system previously hooked up in this truck and it was fine. i might try running some long rca's to a friends headunit in another vehicle to see what that does.

when this problem first started i bought a second amp thinking it was the amp, so i'll try the other amp and see if it still does it.

and i was also thinking i might have an electrical problem too, i just dont know what it could be and no fuses are blowing anywhere(that i know of) like nothing has stopped working.

you check your remote turn on lead? that might be loose causing your amp to turn off, but will still show voltage across positive and neg terminals.

connect the dmm red probe to the remote turn on lead, and black to ground. pump it and iff you see a voltage drop to 5v or less for example, you have a bad remote turn on lead. if so a relay might help fix this issue.

UPDATE: i ran my ground to the frame instead of the seatbelt bolt...still does it, but what i've noticed is that no matter how high i set my gains and boost it still does it around the same volume on the HU and still cuts out.

i did a little reading up on clipping and it sounds like it might be doing that like the speaker is cutting in and out, but i think it might be cutting in and out due to signal to the amp or signal in the amp.

i also did a proper voltage test and when hitting the brakes the volts do not drop below 14.0 volts and the signal still cuts out. now when i hit my button for my solenoid for my shaved doors the volts drop to about 13.95 from 14.08, and yes it cuts out then too.

im going to try my other hk4000d to see if it is the amp, then im going to switch in a different HU to see if it is that, but i might just have a weird electrical problem maybe i'll test my HO alt to see if it is kicking all the way.

DA*N! i totally didnt even think of that. i saw meade do that once on his new T15K's rockfords

thanks man i'll try that, beats the heck out of switching in a new HU!