possible amp problems

I have a sony xplod 2150 gsx amp (specs: www.xplodsony.com/products/?CATEGORY=Amp/EQ&MD=XM-2150GSX)

I'm running 2 jl 10WOs bridged in single, slim, independent sealed boxes.  I also have a tsunami 1 farad cap.  I've noticed lately that when i leave work in the afternoon or during luch and crank up the volume the woofers don't bump as they should.  They still bump but not as hard.  After a little while (and swifting through songs to determine the problem) the woofers start hitting hard as they should.  What could be the problem the cheap a@#@#$ amp?

I do live in a very hot area.  Deep south texas with temps in the mid to high 90s.  I thought that could be a problem.  My truck is a black toyota tundra access cab with the amp and cap sitting under the rear seat in a storage area.  The storage area is covered with carpeting and a thick lid. 

I didn't wanna take off the lid since the amp go really hot for a while and thought it would melt the underside rubber of my rear seat.  I stuck a 12 volt large fan in the storage area to cool things down but I don't know if that is enough. 

I might just have a custom lid made that dissipates more heat and find a way to get some more air in there.  I might cut some of the carpeting and put a little plastic grille. 

Thanks pat28ca

relocating thigs is always good but if your where to do any thing it would be uncovering it. remember that heat rises if it can. if you have an obstacle letting it rise then the heat will stay there. probably the only thing cooling down your amps is the fan  but what you should do is aim it directly at the amp. it

(the amp )has massive cooling fins. they need the fins to discipate heat. so that would be the part you need to cool down.i'd even say putting the fan mere inches from the colling fins on the amp.  also protect your seat with either card board or a similar paper product. paper is a good insulator of heat.  good luck

Here's my theory: When it sits in the sun, everyting gets hot. Hence, distortion and quiet. As you begin to drive, you crank the AC, and there's air flowing over the underbody of the truck, it cools down, and away you go with good sound.

I have worked on a similar truck and have a couple of quick suggestions. Generally the carpet in toyotas is reasonably porous. Perhaps cutting away the plastic of the lid, but leaving the carpet could get you some more air flow? Cut out a grill pattern so it's still semi-strong. Or, find a way to duct more air into the storage area. a 2"-4" metal flexible ducting is available in hardware stiores, and if you could find anouther place to pull air from, it would help immeasurably (sp?). Perhaps wrok at cutting away the front of the storage compartment (where the persons feet are) under the carpet, to make an invisible vent hole there? Or maybe a duct, carved into the seat above, so when it's down, air is pulled from right by the back wall, and it'd be totally invisible. Get creative. Look around, try and find places to pull air from, and use fans! Good luck, tell us how you do!

Thanks NyxBass,

I was thinking of cutting a little vent on the front of storage area as u suggest.  The storage box is metal framing and has some holes.  I'm hoping I can find a little plastic grill attachement like on stock speakers to put in place of the hole so It won't look so tacky (just the hole). 

But I may look for the back door and some duct work for stealth mode as not to give away what I have in the storage area to the bad guys. 

Right now the fan is about 2" away from the amp and sucking air out of the left side (driver side rear seat) compartment where the jack is at.  It's closed too so the air in both storage boxes is really hot especially during lunch and afternoon, which is when i've noticed this.  I might just take that lid off hmmm...  .  I'll try that & see if the a/c air seeps in  and cools things off. 

thanks for the help!

I still think you could get away with cutting away the metal behind and leaving the hole infront totally invisible. I think that carpet is porous. If not, you can make it so with a little time and ingenuity. An awl and a razor scraper will take off the rubber waterproofing on lots of auto carpeting. ;)

Hey guys!  I'm baaaaack!  LOL!

Well just a little update on my problem.  I decided to take the lid off the storage compartment where the amp is in.  I noticed a rather welcomed improvement.  During days of 96+ degrees of heat the amp was doing well in the compartment w/o the lid.  I checked the underside of the seat to make sure it wasn't too hot.  It was hot but not burning hot!

Well, guess what?  When I went out to luch today again I noticed the problem returned.    The truck (black w/ texas leagal tint) was sitting under the sun  since i got to work.  The weather must've been like 93-97 w/ wind 15-25mi/hr.  It was probably hotter due to the parking lot heat factor. 

I ate for an hour in my truck under the shade of a tree (w/ it on) and the a/c on!  & still the amp hadn't cooled down.  I went back to work i was about 1/2 mi away.  Still didn't cool off.

I stuck my hand under the seat to feel the heat.  In my opinion the amp wasn't burning hot.  It was hot but not that much to cause that problem again.

I don't know what to do now.  I'm thinking of taking the lid off the other storage area (since it's that same area connected) to see if more air seaps in.  I'm getting a little tired of this. 

Does anyone still think it's the heat?  I don't know anymore!    I hadn't had this problem in about a hole week until today. 

It's only gonna get hotter down here.  I don't have this problem in the morning or evening.  Only during lunch or afterwork. 

Hmmm. very odd. I wonder if the problem coudl possibly be soemwhere else? Headunit heating? Ummm......expansion of something pinching RCA's or something else? Perhaps try using a portable cd player plugged into the amp next time it happens. If it goes away, it's probably not the amp. Try plugigng and unplugging stuff?!?! Perhaps try leaving the seat open next time it does this, w/ the AC on and stuff, if you didn't this time. Sometimes the chassis isn't even that hot when the amp's internals are too hot. Maybe the prolonged heat is switching the amp into protect mode? I think perhaps a call to sony might be in order...but i don't know how helpful thier company will be. I personaly woudl work on an improved ventilation system for it. Maybe even ducting from near an AC vent ;) Just be creative. The point will be to get it as cool as possible as soon as possible.

Thanks NyxBass!

Could this be a cap problem?  Could it be that the cap is busted and is taking charge from the amp until it charges.  I mean I had this amp hooked to a pair of 15 old series one Punch woofers (no cap) and that thing got hot and never shut down. 

Which kinda makes me second guess the heat problem.  And when I type hot I mean HOT "can't keep my hand on amp for more than a few seconds or I'll get a major burn!" 

Let me know if this is a posibility.  I did take it off (the cap) a while back to make some adjustments in the storage area.  I noticed that with no power the thing started to fluctuate up and down from 6-8volts by itself. 

Is this normal?  Thanks in advance for the help.

NyxBass,

Not the cap!  I checked it today during lunch.  It holds it's charge at 14volts standstill and 13.7-13.9 with the subs pumping.

It was 96degrees with 15-20+ mi/hr winds today.  I checked the amp before i went to lunch and it was nice & cool.  I had no problem.  The speakers were hitting right.  So, were back to the amp heating up during the day.  

It should be around 98-99 when i leave today.  I'll check it again & see what happends.  I'm all confused now! 

That is very odd...

Waiting to see what happens this evening...

Sorry it took a while to respond NyxBass.  Well guess what nothing happened.  The amp was thumping normally.    What's going on?  I don't get it.  It was 98degrees with windy conditions and the amp worked well. 

I just don't know any more.  Thanks for all the help buddy!  Really!  I'm baffled!  If you have any suggestions I'm still here!

Hmmmmm. Big Hmmmmm.

Alright, now get to start stretching. We have to think about what might cause that fuzzy signal. I know 3 ways:

1)it's in the signal from the head

2)The amp is getting low voltage

3)The amp is too hot and in protect

For the signal, you're going to have to wait till it happens again, and then test w/ a portable cd player or similar to see if you have a clean signal or not. For power - a meter next time it happens. Too hot...Ummm? I thought we tried that one.

My only thought it that somehting is happening when it gets hot, something's expanding and the power and/or signal form the headunit is getting pinched/stretched to cause it. But I'm stretching. I would definitely do a full run down on every wire, make sure they are as clean as new, no cuts, kinks, stretches, etc...I'd check evey wire there is, fully. Maybe even check for resistance to ground. All grounds should be 0, all others should be infinitely high.

You have the folding seat over the storgae compartment, right? Maybe try leaving that seat up for a few days, especially if the problem coomes back regularly. If it never shows with that, you can work on better venting, passive and active. Keep coming back...we will get this!