my setup
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=127971
Printed Date: April 28, 2024 at 8:58 AM
Topic: my setup
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Subject: my setup
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 5:36 PM
So I wanted a little bit of bass in my daily driver. As I feel it makes songs sound better. So I found a cheap set up since I didnt want to enter any bass competitions, hooked everything up and all was well for about 7 months. Then my uncle wanted me to give him a ride out of state, so I go to pick him up and as I am helping him clean out his rental car I see he is CRAMMING his suite case in my trunk while saying "there seems to be some kind of electrical box in my way". Then says "I got it". So as I take him to his destination I notice my sub woofer no longer works. GREAT. I check it and he ripped the ground out of the amp so Im like no biggie I will just hook it back up, Well now I have hooked it up and the sub woofer is making this weird buzzing noise almost sounds like a space ship. If I cut the radio down it is still there it only goes away if I cut the radio off or if I play with a switch on the front that says FRONT FP/LP/HP. If I move that switch around it will go away. Did it burn out that channel of the amp? Thanks
Ohh btw I dont know if it matters but this is the setup
MTX Thunder 404
12" Sony 1200w subwoofer
Replies:
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 6:03 PM
Product names and model numbers will help a ton, but yes... it is possible he fried something. Help us out with more info regarding your gear, and we'll alll be able to make a far more of an informed decision and diagnosis...
-------------
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."
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 8:37 PM
I am going to go WAY out on a limb and guess that he has a Pioneer Deck. If that is correct, Look at the following page.
https://bcae1.com/images/rca/temporaryrcashieldrepair.html
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 9:02 PM
You are correct it is a pioneer so are we thinking when the ground came loose it fried something in my cd player? If so I looked at that page and I am somewhat confused about what it is telling me to do. Sorry I am a newbie to all this.
The amp is a
MTX thunder 404
the subwoofer is a 1200w 12" sony explode.
Im not sure what other info will be needed.
Thanks
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 9:10 PM
When your amp lost ground, it tried to ground through your RCA cable. Pioneer decided to put a fuse in the path of the RCA shield connection.
The Model number of the radio will help.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 9:19 PM
Okay I went out and checked it is a Pioneer DEN-3900MP do you think the radio is messed up now.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 9:44 PM
The radio has a blown surface mount fuse that is located underneath the circuit board. There is a simple do it yourself repair available. Go to Autozone, or some other automotive parts retailer and purchase a fuse holder with a small wire. ReRead that link I posted.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 10:00 PM
Okay I read it and will do that tomorrow. Just curious as I was reading it the article says this is a "temporary repair" why do they say temp?
Posted By: ac0j
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 10:05 PM
The temporary repair will work. Pioneer does fuse the rca's other companies do not, but then it burns a piece out of the printed circuit board instead.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 10:08 PM
It says temporary repair only because it is done external of the deck. If done properly it can outlast the deck. If you want to repair it properly, you can. If you are able to remove the circuit board from the deck, and provide me with some high resolution, clase up photos of the area around where the RCA jacks connect to the board, I can help you repair it.
They use the fuse to protect your vehicle from a particular amplifier failure. With this particular failure, as stated above, it will open a trace on the circuit board. Worse case scenario, it can melt your RCA cable and catch your car on fire. Though this particular amp failure is rare, very rare, it will not catch your car on fire with the fuse.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 10:10 PM
Thanks alot I will try all this out tomorrow and jump back on here with my findings. Thanks again.
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: July 20, 2011 at 10:24 AM
i am an idiot wrote:
I am going to go WAY out on a limb and guess that he has a Pioneer Deck. If that is correct, Look at the following page.
https://bcae1.com/images/rca/temporaryrcashieldrepair.html
Oh, sure... MAKE the assumption that there was an aftermarket deck when nothing was mentiond at all about such a beast in the OP. [:P]
1qwk96gt, that's why I asked about names and models of ALL your equipment! When posting, please mention everything in the system at the time... It'll help.  ------------- 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."
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 20, 2011 at 7:42 PM
I even got lucky and guessed it down to the actual brand of the aftermarket radio. Can you tell I got my Crystal Ball working again?
Posted By: tommy...
Date Posted: July 21, 2011 at 8:27 AM
i am an idiot wrote:
I even got lucky and guessed it down to the actual brand of the aftermarket radio. Can you tell I got my Crystal Ball working again?
Its working again... You probably already saw this post,then... BTW,Hola,Friend...!!!! ------------- M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 21, 2011 at 8:42 AM
I did not see the post, but I was able to see you typing it.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: October 17, 2013 at 10:57 PM
Okay update: Everything with this system/setup has been working great over the years. Now all of a sudden it quit working. I checked power and ground to the amplifier (all is well there). I ended up doing the temporary repair on the external fuse in the headunit and everything is still in tact. I checked all wiring to the speakers and everything is hooked up properly. The factory speakers all work properly its just the subwoofer is not "hitting". Any ideas? I read online you can take a DMM and check AC voltage and it should be around 44.9 give or take with the radio turned up loud. I checked mine and nothing. Could I open up the amp and repair something.
thanks
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: October 18, 2013 at 8:10 AM
A buddy of mine is suggesting the amp just went bad. It is 11 years old. What are the life expectancy of amplifiers?
Thanks.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: October 21, 2013 at 1:08 PM
anybody? cant seem to figure out why my sub quit hitting but all wires are hooked up properly and the amplifier light is lite. Fuses are not blown.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: October 21, 2013 at 2:50 PM
Sounds like time to replace the amp to me. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: October 21, 2013 at 8:56 PM
did you check for a proper ohm load on the sub woofer's coils? even if it turns out to be the amp is bad, you still would need to check the sub woofer for damage because that could have been what killed the amp and you wouldn't want to put a brand new amp into the same situation and blow a second amp.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: October 28, 2013 at 1:04 PM
how do I check the ohm load on the subwoofer coil? Is there any way to repair a blown amp? or are they not worth it? I saw a little rust on the speaker wire hookup on the amp but I am thinking my dmm was still reading zero because the amp maybe bad? would the RCA ground repair I did become faulty over time?
Thanks
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: November 01, 2013 at 12:52 PM
Anybody? Im lost and I miss my woofer 
Posted By: tbjoe
Date Posted: November 07, 2013 at 9:58 AM
If you have a DMM, set it to read ohms. Then place the leads on the speaker wires at the amp or at the sub. It should read around the 4ohm mark. if you get O.L. on the screen, the voice coil is out on the sub. If everything measures good, trim the speaker wire back and get a good connection going to your amp and try again.
More than likely, a transistor went out on the circuit board. Smell the amp and if it smells like burnt electonics, there's your answer. Something also could've come loose, so you could take it apart and check for that. While you have it open, look for any areas that have corrosion. Even small amounts can cause havoc for the amp.
IMO, if you have had that amp for 11 years, you got your money's worth and it is time for an upgrade. There are many models out there that will drive that sub for very little money.
Posted By: 1qwk96gt
Date Posted: December 24, 2013 at 2:07 PM
okay so I found out the amp was bad. I hooked up another amp and it works. My question is with grounding the outer case of the RCA to the external ground of the head unit could this of burnt up my amplifier? I remember you guys said ground the rca outer case of the head unit and it worked could this of anyway over powered or burned up my amp? Sorry for being so difficult I just got another amplifier and I do not want to prematurely burn it up because of my jerry rigged head unit.
Thanks,
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: December 25, 2013 at 9:00 AM
1qwk96gt wrote:
okay so I found out the amp was bad. I hooked up another amp and it works. My question is with grounding the outer case of the RCA to the external ground of the head unit could this of burnt up my amplifier? I remember you guys said ground the rca outer case of the head unit and it worked could this of anyway over powered or burned up my amp? Sorry for being so difficult I just got another amplifier and I do not want to prematurely burn it up because of my jerry rigged head unit.
Thanks,
No, that can't damage an amp. More likely is you do not have your gain set properly or your system voltage is dropping and the amp does not have an adequate protection circuit. ------------- Support the12volt.com
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