I have an audiobahn amp that pushes 2,400 watts and i'm pushing 3 alum10q's with a 2.4 farad Cap. I had a fuse holder that held a 80 watt fuse and it melted after 2 or 3 days. I put a new one in thats 200 watts and it played for a while an then just shuts off. I started to drive a couple more miles and it turns back on and now its just not turning on at all. At first I thought that it was something wrong with the Cap but then I tried hooking the amp up without the the cap and a red light just turns on from the amp. Whats up with the system can anyone tell me?
Please reply i really need some help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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tnpkhmerboy
Sounds like the amp is in protection mode. You say you are using three woofers. What's the impedence load on the amp?
What is the model for the Audiobahn Amp? The A2300HCT? Also, what guage wires are you using? Finally, for your subs, those are the dual 6 ohm woofers, right?
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~WAYLAND
The subs are 6 ohm and its is the A2300hct. I'm using 4 guage for the amp and forthe subs i'm using 12 guage. I'm running them in series and they're at 1 ohm.
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tnpkhmerboy
Running them in a series means that one sub's postive terminal is connected to another's negative terminal. Doing that with 3 Dual Coil woofers would result in a 36 ohm load (see the calculator on this site). For a 1 ohm load, you need to be running them in parallel, or all postives together, and all negatives together. So make sure you have that down right.... Also, if you just mistook the meanings of Paralell and series, and actually had the subs wired correctly, search for a good ground, that's tightly mounted to a paint/rust free spot on the floor (scrape away ALL paint around the ground connection on the mounting point). Also, search the Positive wire for any breaks, or cracks in the jacket, and metal to wire contact.
If you see any cracks (which easily happen when you bury the wire under a carpet, and it gets stepped on) tape them up with electrical tape. It wouldn't hurt to put a couple layers on the hidden power cable for safety reinforcement either...
It seems odd that a fuse would melt, without there being a bad connection somewhere.
To finally check whether or not your amp is "fried", open it up. With it fully dissconnected, no wires at all plugged in, Carefully, and slowly unscrew the voltmeter, disconnect it, and do the same with the fan. Take the shrowd off, and look for what you'd expect in a fried amp....charred, or blackened components. If something looks abnormal, take it to a local PROFESSIONAL car audio shop. No circuit city or bestbuy stores. Take it to a single store (not chain stores) shop specializing in car audio. Usually when amps fry, it turns out to be a fairly cheap (well, compared to an entirely new amp) investment.
Basically there are only 4 main reasons why the protection circuit would turn on:
1. Thermal
2. Short Circuit
3. Overload
4. DC Offset
Thermal doesn't seem to be the problem, unless the amp is running at extremely high temperatures. Make Sure it is well ventilated
Short circuit would be the wire to metal scenario I told you about above, or with the power and ground wires completing a circuit by either touching, or not being properly installed. Short circuit would also be seen if you fried the amp internally, which you'll find out if you open it up....
Overload would occur if you were running the subs in a Series, as opposed to paralell
And DC offset would be a no-brainer.
Check out those 4 possiblities and you should be set.
Let us know how everything turns out!!!
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~WAYLAND