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amp is shutting down, sorry if repost

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=129491
Printed Date: April 29, 2024 at 3:36 PM


Topic: amp is shutting down, sorry if repost

Posted By: newatthisvegas
Subject: amp is shutting down, sorry if repost
Date Posted: December 02, 2011 at 3:41 AM

Hey guys, first, sorry if this is a repost, i didnt want to hijack someone elses posts.

So my amp is shutting down if i turn up the volume, my headlights also flicker when the bass hits.

My system is installed in a 2005 Crown Vic police interceptor. Has the 200A alternator and a decent battery.

The system consists of a Kenwood HU, pushing the stock front and rear speakers, and has a separate rca output for the subs, which goes to my Kenwood KAC-9105 amp. the speakers are 2 12" kicker cvr in a ported box.

When i turn my volume up to where i like to listen to it, (loud), my amp will cut out and my headlights flicker with the bass. The amp soon comes back on after about 5 to 10 seconds.

Ive read good and bad things about the capacitors you can use, so i figured i would give it a shot..... dont ream me too bad about that lol. anyways it helped alot with the dimming of the headlights, but the amp still shuts off.

The cap has a meter on it, you can clearly see that the volts drop when played at high volumes, once it gets below 11v even if for a millisecond, the amp goes out.

Anyways, the wiring kit i used to wire all this up is 4G 100% OFC, but is made by an off brand, (raptor). I would think with the 200A alternator and good battery i wouldnt have these problems. But here i am asking for knowledge of how to fix the problems lol =)

Any responses are greatly appreciated =)



Replies:

Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: December 02, 2011 at 9:18 AM
Single or Dual voice coil woofers? Any idea of the impedance of each voice coil? If Dual voice coil, did you wire the coils in series or parallel?   What is the minimum operating impedance of that amp? Have you checked the voltage at the power and ground terminals of the amp? This needs to be done with the amp playing very near the volume that makes it shut off.




Posted By: newatthisvegas
Date Posted: December 02, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Yes sorry forgot to add that info.

The speakers are 2 Ohm DVC, wired in series, then paralleled to the amp. So its a 2 Ohm load on the amp, The amp says its 1 Ohm stable, so should be perfectly fine at 2 Ohms.

The voltage at the amp is the same reading that i get at the cap. It fluctuates with the bass when played at high levels, and when it drops below 11v the amp shuts off, the second the amp shuts off, the volts are back to 14.4.




Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: December 02, 2011 at 8:26 PM
The amp is probably shutting off because the voltage is dropping.  You need to investigate to find the cause of the voltage drop.




Posted By: itsyuk
Date Posted: December 02, 2011 at 8:32 PM

did you upgrade the ground cable to the battery to keep up with the new power cable from the battery.

are you familiar with "the big three" as discussed frequently on this forum? if not, you might find it interesting to research it.



-------------
yuk
quiet rural missouri, near KC.
If your system moves you physically and not emotionally, you have wasted your money.




Posted By: jeffsomeone
Date Posted: December 02, 2011 at 10:17 PM

itsyuk  is 100% correct .... make sure your completing the loop

also make sure your using a big enough wire from battery if running 2 amps





Posted By: newatthisvegas
Date Posted: December 03, 2011 at 7:14 AM
Yes I have researched the "Big 3" have not done it yet, but was wondering if that would be a fix to my problem, and also thinking that i may want to spend the money to upgrade the wiring for the amp if that may be the culperate. I guess ill try teh big 3 and and upgrade the wiring to the amp, see if that works.

But with the alternator i have and the battery i have should i be having this problem?

Thanks for all the replys =)




Posted By: itsyuk
Date Posted: December 03, 2011 at 11:23 AM

i wouldnt worry aboutthe raptor being inferior if you are only running that amp alone on it.



-------------
yuk
quiet rural missouri, near KC.
If your system moves you physically and not emotionally, you have wasted your money.




Posted By: offroadzj
Date Posted: December 06, 2011 at 7:58 AM
What size wire do you have running to the amps. The alt size and battery condition do nothing if you have inferior / undersized wiring.

-------------
Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205




Posted By: beowolf150
Date Posted: December 06, 2011 at 1:16 PM
Most likely man (hard to troubleshoot w/o seeing the car) your Cvrs are clipping causing the amp to kick into protect mode. Does the led go off or change color? whick would explain why it turns back on after a few seconds.




Posted By: beowolf150
Date Posted: December 06, 2011 at 1:17 PM
Where is the amp grounded?




Posted By: fuster
Date Posted: December 10, 2011 at 1:08 AM
1. Check your ground for the amplifier. Use a volt ohmmeter to test its resistance.   There is a thread on this site that discusses testing the resistance of the ground circuit, stating it should read (as I recall) 0.2 ohms or less. I would first look at the quality of your ground connection, remove it, sand the metal on the vehicle for the contact along with your ground eyelet, and reattach.

2. Check the voltage reading on the wire feeding the amplifier. With the engine running you should get around 13.4 volts or thereabouts. With the engine turned off (and the amplifier not running), that wire should read around 12 volts. If the voltage reading of either situation is one or more volts less than stated herein, I would search for a defect in the positive connection to power if you ruled out the ground connection as the source of the problem.

3. Based on the foregoing, if your voltage reading is low and you rule out a defect in the positive connection, check this web site for the table showing proper wire gauge for your amplifier's power rating. Take into consideration the length of the wire to figure out proper wire diameter. If the wire diameter is not large enough, you will have a voltage drop when the amplifier demands more electrical current.

4. If you have the correct wire diameter, and the ground is good, and the voltage delivered to the amp is correct, then the problem is something else. Chances are your amplifier power supply is shutting off because the voltage dropped (which I would first suspect a bad ground) and when the amplifier is turned up that voltage is critical for the amplifier to maintain proper temperature, and if too little voltage it either shuts off or you burn up the power supply.

-------------
Chronic, late stage optimist.




Posted By: fuster
Date Posted: December 10, 2011 at 1:10 AM
When I say "burn up the power supply" in number 4, I am referring to the power supply board on the amplifier.

-------------
Chronic, late stage optimist.





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