overheating amps?
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=73643
Printed Date: May 13, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Topic: overheating amps?
Posted By: zoomie4485
Subject: overheating amps?
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 12:56 AM
my amp was cutting out and i assumed it was because it was overheating(alpine v-12 4 channel(150 per channel). so i went out and bought the new sony 1200 watt xplode amp and its doing the same thing. i got the amp running to two brand new rockford fosgate P1 12 inch subs. is overheating the problem and what can i do about it?
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calvin
Replies:
Posted By: phattbazturd
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 1:12 AM
its not overheating. first of all are you using the correct ga. wire? for a 1200 watt amp i recomend 4ga. if you are you using that ga. you might wanna look into a cap for your system . you might have alot of resistance using thin power wires ------------- BigC
Posted By: mad550
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 5:08 AM
Should also check the speaker load on the amp if it can handle 1, 2 ohm etc
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WOW Sight and Sound
Maroochydore
Nothing is impossible!
Do it right the first time or don't do it at all.
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 10:03 AM
The way you have the subs wired could be the cause. Have you checked the ground wire to make sure it is free of rust or paint? There could be other causes also. Does it get "hot" to the touch?
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'85 Toy
Posted By: zoomie4485
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 10:05 AM
yes it gets hot to the touch and i have the amp bridged then running to one speaker then the other
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calvin
Posted By: blackmica3
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 10:27 AM
Are the subs 8ohm or 4ohm? Single or Dual Voice coils?
Posted By: zoomie4485
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 10:30 AM
4 ohm svc ------------- calvin
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 10:56 AM
Don't bridge it. Run a wire from each channel to each speaker, + to +,- to -.
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'85 Toy
Posted By: Soundforce
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:16 AM
Most amp cannot load 2ohm resistance when tey are bridge. so you have to connect one wire for each woofer. i think tha is you problem try it and post reply. Good Luck Sound Force Car Audio Agamemnonas Charalampous
Posted By: zoomie4485
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:17 AM
it dont pound as hard un bridged though ------------- calvin
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:26 AM
You'll have to get an amp that is 1 ohm mono stable if you want to run it like you have it now. Try the Hifonics Brutus line. They are very reasonably priced for the power they give. The Xplode will explode if you keep playing it at 1 ohm.
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'85 Toy
Posted By: zoomie4485
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:34 AM
is that why it is getting so hot and cutting out? ------------- calvin
Posted By: xtremej
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:51 AM
more than likely
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Posted By: zoomie4485
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:54 AM
thanks everyone, ill let you know how it turns out ------------- calvin
Posted By: sroberts4927
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 12:27 PM
I had a amp that cut out and got very hot it did not matter if I was bridged or not the issue was it was in the truck of my mustang the car was black and i live in florida so the outside heat took is's toll on the amp I tried 3 amps and it would start cutting out after 20 mins or less of over half volume the would cut out and turn back on after 15 mins once it cooled, I routed the amp under the passenger seat and never had another issue, the amp stayed cool enough in the ac, you might want to place the amp in a cooler location with a good ground. I also had a chevy caliver the started the same thing after about 2 hours of running I had it mounted on the back of the back seat, I had to drop the back seat down so the ac keep it cool, that was a jbl amp my other amy was orion not cheap amps at the time.
Posted By: tcss
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 12:27 PM
Uhhhh fellas could you mind telling me how you would get a 1 ohm load with 2 4 ohm SVC woofers? If he has the amp bridged and has 1 sub on each channel he's showing each channel a 4 ohm load which is perfectly acceptable.
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There is no such thing as free installation!
Posted By: sdime87
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 12:38 PM
he could be running 2 ohm parallel..but i think that amp he had only runs 4 ohm min. when it is bridged...
Posted By: tcss
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 12:52 PM
Somehow I don't think he's bridged a 4 channel amp to two channels and is putting both woofers on one channel. He never said the amp was running anything else then the subs.
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There is no such thing as free installation!
Posted By: supradude
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 8:50 PM
zoomie4485 wrote:
yes it gets hot to the touch and i have the amp bridged then running to one speaker then the other
Is the Sony a 4 channel amp? I was thinking it was a 2 channel amp. ------------- '85 Toy
Posted By: tcss
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 9:12 PM
The Alpine is a 4 channel.
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There is no such thing as free installation!
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 9:15 PM
Sounds to me like he parallel-wired two SVC 4 ohm subs, making it a 2 ohm load. Then bridged this 2 ohm load across two channels, when the minimum load bridged should be no less than 4 ohms. That puts a 1 ohm load onto each channel. ]yes i wrote:
gets hot to the touch and i have the amp bridged then running to one speaker then the other.......it dont pound as hard un bridged though
zoomie: of course it hits harder when you put such a low load onto it. But it's burning up. You will find out what the Xplod in Xplod means. Either wire one sub to each channel as suggested, or change the wiring from sub-to-sub to series, then bridge that. This is a classic case where you should be using a mono amp to power two 4 ohm SVC subs. ------------- Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Posted By: Silvrefox
Date Posted: February 28, 2006 at 11:30 PM
i have the amp bridged then running to one speaker then the other....
If I'm reading that right and assuming you're using the left + and the right -, you're bridging it mono to a 2 ohm load. The GTX amps don't like 2 ohms mono, but don't mind it 2 ohms stereo. Just move the right - so both you're wires are on the left. Should cure that overheating problem. You could also just go your standard stereo configuration and if all else fails, look for a decent class D amp. They're designed for those loads and stay cool under the pressure of everyday to extreme uses.
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