I'm running 2 Rockford Fosgate P3s at 2 ohms from a RF P5002 in stereo, and I've started getting some strange things out of my woofers recently.
The first thing is when I have my headunit on pause you can still hear some sound coming out of the woofers - it's just one woofer doing it (which is a symptom of the next issue).
The second thing has become much more frequent in the alst few days. My amp will cut power to one sub and it sound like it'll double the power to the remaining one...and won't necessarily revert back to "normal". I think it might be a bad channel, but when I opened it up I couldn't see any busted or burned sauder. Any ideas besides a new amp? I love the thing and really don't want to part with it. in case it's important - it's the 2005 model with the chrome covers.
-------------
--Matt
2001 Chevy Mailbu
Headunit: Pioneer DEH-P4900IB
Door: T1462C
Rear Deck: T1693C
2 P3D412s in a sealed box
1 P5002 Amp
1 1 Farad Stinger Pro Capacitor
OK... First, the sounds "like it'll double the power to the remaining one" tells me that there might be something mis-wired from the get-go. If one amp channel is failing, and when it turns off, the other one get louder, that's indicative (to me) of one woofer or voice coil being wired backwards.
You can test this theory by unhooking the one that gets louder, COMPLETELY, then listening to the one that is intermittent. If it remains intermittent, then there could very likely be something wrong with your amp, and we will have to troubleshoot further.
That being said... what other components/steps have you troubleshot to make certain it is the amp or woofers causing the issue? Any signal processors in the line? Are your RCA cables any good? (Don't just say yes... Have you tested them?) Is it the RCA output on your head unit? (It *is*, after all, a Pioneer - not known as a high quality deck.
See this KNOWN issue...) Have you swapped the woofer leads on the amplifier? Does the issue follow that swap, or does it remain in the same woofer?
Lastly. There will not necessarily be any burned traces or melted solder... You have no idea what the failure mode is, or if it is even the amplifier causing the issue. My opinion was that you opened your amplifier prematurely.
-------------
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."
The amp was well out warranty when I opened it a few weeks back and didn't change anything, just took a look around.
If I unhook the woofer that works, the "intermittent" woofer stays just the same. You can feel it move, but only slightly. If I take the leads from the amp channel that seems to be causing the issues and hook to the intermittent woofer, that woofer behaves like the "loud" woofer. I guess it's possible the RCAs might be bad. They're made by RF and they're less than a year old. They run down my passenger side away from any power wires so that's out of the question. It seems the woofer is getting a dirty signal from the amp, so I guess the it could be the HU originating it all. The woofer will move with my HU on pause, and when it's not on pause the woofer moves oddly...like it's still getting the dirty signal but can play the music just fine. How do you test RCAs? I guess I could hook them up to my buddy's amp and try it that way, but other than that I have no idea how to test them.
-------------
--Matt
2001 Chevy Mailbu
Headunit: Pioneer DEH-P4900IB
Door: T1462C
Rear Deck: T1693C
2 P3D412s in a sealed box
1 P5002 Amp
1 1 Farad Stinger Pro Capacitor
Connect the woofers, correctly. Swap the RCA leads. Put the left cable on the right input. Does the issue swap, as well? If no, then the amp is to blame. If yes, then the RCAs or the deck are suspect. If the amp comes to light as the offending device, then you either repair or replace it. Those are your choices!
-------------
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."
Sorry for taking so long to get back to y'all. When I swapped the RCAs the issue continued, the issue still continued on the same woofer. I went ahead a bridged the amp at 4 ohms and the issue still happened, however it was with both woofers (obviosuly). Look slike I'll be getting a new amps ooner than expected...T1000-1bd here I come!
-------------
--Matt
2001 Chevy Mailbu
Headunit: Pioneer DEH-P4900IB
Door: T1462C
Rear Deck: T1693C
2 P3D412s in a sealed box
1 P5002 Amp
1 1 Farad Stinger Pro Capacitor