First time I ever fried an amp

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=81297
Printed Date: May 08, 2024 at 8:59 AM

Topic: First time I ever fried an amp

Posted By: sprawl85
Subject: First time I ever fried an amp
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 12:21 AM

Ok so other than stupid mistakes like dripping water off my shoes onto an amp that should have been under the passenger seat, I fried my first amp yesterday. It was an mtx 2 channel. All my wiring was good. It was in a 2006 toyota matrix under the passenger seat. This was a 75x2 at 12 volts 4 ohms amp. Two 30 amp fuses in it. I ran 4 gauge power directly from the positive battery post to the amplifier. I ran a 6" piece of 4 guage wire from the seat bolt to the amplifier. 12v turnon from my panasonic headunit with 12ga (i think). I have no clue why this thing blew. I had it running 2 ohms per channel non bridged which i know is ok.

This is what happend though. I tested it a few times by turning the car to accessory mode. Sounded good, I thought the car shut the dome light off on me because the battery was getting low, so I started the car. When I started the car is when it fried. The head unit also flickered and shut off. It turns out the ground on the head unit wasn't a very good ground. So I regrounded that and it started working good again. But of course the amp never came back to life and stunk to all hell. Could the headunit not being grounded properly have made the amp fry????? That is the only thing I can think of at this point. Here is a picture of the insides of the amp so you can see what toasted, maybe some of you will know if it is the output stage of the amp or some other part and what may have caused it. I'm wized.

This amp was previously installed in an 03 cavalier, same location, under the passenger seat. I dunno what could have went wrong... please help!

And don't say anything like, "what were the gains set at". They were set the proper way to 75 watts rms a channel in the previous vehicle with the same headunit and haven't been touched since.

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Replies:

Posted By: austincustoms
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 1:39 AM

after you fried the amp, did you double check EVERYTHING before you pulled it out? The first amp I fried was a 5 channel PG amp. I was finishing up my install at 3am in a rush. Plugged the battery back in, and the amp started smoking. I unhooked the battery and took everthing out only to find I had somehow wired the output on the amp to the output on my headunit. That was a rather expensive mistake. Long story short, double check EVERYTHING before you plug it in.

Posted By: sprawl85
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 1:54 AM

Yeah I checked everything twice even though it was kinda dark. But like I said, I had it playing with the car in accessory mode and it didn't fry until I actually turned the car on.

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Posted By: luckydevil
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 2:35 AM

Any way the remote or postive could have touched the ground wire?

Posted By: sprawl85
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 9:36 AM

I really don't think so. Wouldn't it have sparked or something if that happened? Could the amp have just gone bad?? Toyota didn't ground the negative speaker terminals or anything crazy like that did they?

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Posted By: Flakman
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 11:03 AM

Just as a side note. Seat bolts are notorious for being bad grounds. Be sure to check ground wire to battery with a meter or relocate your ground.

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The Flakman
I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

Posted By: sprawl85
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 11:53 AM

I grinded the paint off of the area where the bolt secures my ring terminal down. Meters at the same as the wire meters from one end to the other. Hrmmm. Looks to me as though that is the output stage of the amp for the right channel, it looks like a mirror image of the bottom section of the amp and it is right next to the output wires. What wizes me off is the amp has fuses for a reason right??? Why couldn't the fuses have just blown.... posted_image

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Posted By: sprawl85
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 1:38 PM

well i guess i have done enough whining now... it is up on feebay, i hope i get a little cash out of it

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Posted By: dangerranger96
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 8:20 PM

what about a fuse between battery and amp... did you have one there?

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97 F150, Sony CDX-M630, Sony XM-2165GTX, JL Audio 12W3D2, Planet Audio VX-602, Memphis 15-MC5.7

Yeah it's a mutt, but mutts make the best dogs!

Posted By: saxdogg
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 10:02 PM

probably not helpful....but I've seen lots of electronics (i'm a computer repair tech) work for ages, get unplugged for a little while and get settled in somewhere new and then BOOM...blow out as soon as they're plugged in again....could be just a coincidence!!!

I once put a new power supply in a computer with a blown power supply. As soon as I plugged it in, it blew a flame out the back and everyone laughed at me like I was a DA!!!!! It turned out to be bad too!!!! Just luck of the draw, but I thought I did something wrong for like two hours as I rechecked my work....sometimes the unlikely is exactly it!!!

Phew,,,that was long....now back to CAR audio

Posted By: sprawl85
Date Posted: August 07, 2006 at 11:33 PM

Yeah I had a 60 amp on the 4 gauge ~ 6 inches away from battery. It's still in perfect condition as well.

LOL saxdogg, I guess that is probably what happened... crazy coincidence from the wizmeoff gods.

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Posted By: sprawl85
Date Posted: August 10, 2006 at 12:55 PM

can imbalanced impedance loads fry an amp??? I had 3 stock speakers and 1 mb quart installed in the car at the time. Yes it was because I am a tard and didn't think about the proper order to do things in. But could that do it, or are the channels completely independant?

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fiberglass reminds me of peanut brittle... but fiberglass tastes better!

Posted By: modena0
Date Posted: August 10, 2006 at 1:08 PM

on your deduction of which output stage fried, was it the same output that the mbquart was on?

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2000 Chevrolet S10
Premier DEH-P860MP
JL Audio XR650-CSi components
Boston 4x6 splits
JL Audio 10W3v2
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