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Ok, so my subs have been working fine for about 7 or 8 months. Not any problems at all. I have a 600w RF amp, 2 10" G&S Designs subs, and a RF cap. Can a grounding problem be caused by an amp and a cap being grounded. Or does it have to be like 2+ amps?

What happens is when I turn my stereo up to about 21 (where its always at when bumping) it will cut out after about 5 or 10 minutes. It will come in and cut out, come in and cut out. If I turn the volume down about 3 or 4, it will stop happening and just play fine. There is no audible noise from the grounds AT ALL, very very clear. I had the amp and cap grounded within about 3 inches of each other, and never a problem. Now this starts happening. So first things first, check my grounds. They are fine. I decided to use different grounding points for one the amp, still the same problem. I decided to use the same grounding point, still happens. Does anybody know what this might be? The ohms should be correct, although this prob sounds like they might not be? Any help at all would be great, thanks a lot!!

I need this figured out before I hook up my other amp. All connections are fine, BTW. It started happening after I put my rear tie bar in. These have nothing at all to do with each other, but I am curious as to if it could change the ground current, causing my prob. Im just tryin everything I can, let me know.

If you give me the correct answer, thats a 1,000 points your way. Please Help!

 
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Bumpety Bump, Somebody help me please, points are up to 1500 to whoever gives me the answer I need. And if you are the person who answers correct, I may even give you more

 
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Are your amps overheating that they go into protection mode

 
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Is it just the subs that turn off and your mids and highs keep playing

 
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It is not overheating, the mids and highs are fine, never cut out. Just the subs turn off at loud volumes, sometimes after a minute of playing, but if I turn it down, it is fine.

 
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how old is the amp, do you have a different amp that can push the subs for now to see if it is the amp and not your wiring?

 
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It's awfully hard to diagnose a problem given just a written description.

Why do you think it's a ground loop?

When the subs stop, is there a light on the Amp that goes out or turns red?

How do you have them wired, I suppose it could still be an overheating/impedence issue. Is the amp hot at all?


What HU are you running, how do you have your wiring setup, what gauge power wire are you running?

how are you powering yoru front speakers?

 
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Check your subs. Make sure they are in good shape, no tinsle lead tears or surround tears. You live in AZ, I know you got a fan somewhere. Setup an extension chord and put a fan in your trunk with the trunk lid open to circulate some air. Run the amp, turn up the volume. Check to see if it cuts out any later than normal or maybe not at all. It's probably a heat issue. If you have to, you could even try putting a bag of ice ontop of the amp for a couple minutes to cool it. Just make sure it's not leaking. As amps get older, they tend to dissapate heat less and less efficiently. Most of the time when amp cuts, its heat. Other times, it's either a weak car battery or impedence dropping below amps ability. The latter is why I wan't you to check your subs very well. Lets say one sub isn't connected or something else is wrong with it that eliminates it from the equation. That could drop you impedence too far below what your amp could handle. Make sure both subs are connected and both are firing. Also, recheck your wiring and make sure that the stuff is still wired properly. Maybe the mechanic that did the work on the car had to disconnect the stuff and F'd up when he rewired it. <~~ that happened to a kid I know. He had work done on his car. the shop disconnected his box and when the reconnected it, they bridged the woofers to the amp - he had em each running off one channel for impedence reasons

 
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I hooked it all up myself. They have been fine for about 7 months.

I am running a Pioneer HU that is about 6 or 7 years old. Its working fine from what I see. I am also using the HU to power my 6.5s. I have no 6x9s hooked up. I am running 4g wire to my cap, cap is grounded, and my power wire than also comes off the cap (you know how they work). Everything has connectors on them, all my wire is 4 g. grounds, power. I also have the remote wire which came with a kit, and my rca's are monster cable I think its called. most my wiring is all pretty new from the last 4 or so months. The amp is not turning off when this happens, it is still running fine from how it looks (no protect lights or anything on).

Is it possible to hook up subs at a lower ohm than the amp can handle, but the amp still work fine, than eventually the amp start cutting out at high volumes? I figured the amp wouldnt work at all if the ohms are too low.

I do know that too low of ohms, can cause a stereo to not work at loud volumes.

I am not sure why I thought it could be a ground loop. That was just my guess, that the grounds could cause that. Thats why Im trying to find out what it could possibly be.

 
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Right now it is in the 60s for our highs. It shouldnt be heating up that fast, and it isnt that hot anyways when it cuts out. It can happen within a minute of the radio going on, and this be in the morning.

I will try to hook up the subs to seperate channels in a few minutes (if the boss leaves work, hehe). If nt, later tonight Ill check that out. I think that may work. The amp has been running completely fine at the ohms its at now. if thats it, Ill send ya the points. Any other ideas people?

 
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Maybe it s the radio??

 
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Im probably gonna upgrade to a newer one soon, but it seems to work just perfect. All the settings work proper, it doesnt skip, it never has, it plays cds that other cd players wont. I think it is still in awesome shape, but for 5-600 bucks, it better last me.

 
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reground it and have a shop check your amp that is exactly what mine would do before it finally bit the dust. sounds like a bad amp not really a bad ground. only way the ground would be bad is if the amp was cutting out at all volumes unless it is loose

 
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yeah, thats the only reason I thought it couldnt be a ground. I was trying to wiggle the wires (they were tight) and nothing cut in or out. My amp is only about 6 months old. I hope it isnt busted. It is only at about 300 watts right now, give or take. I tried a few spots for grounding, and the same thing happened. I might get the amp checked out though if it keeps happening. Ill tell some shop to test my stuff for free, and whatevers bad, Ill buy a new one from them, maybe they'll do it. Its either a guaranteed sale, or Ill find another place.

 
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just check the amp. thats what it sounds like to me and i have done some show systems. i would almost guarentee that the amp is bad

 
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I want you to test the AC voltage coming out of the amp.. turn up your system to 21 or whatever it was when it cuts out. Test the voltage and see if anything's coming out. If all your connections are fine like you say they are.. that's it, that's not it. I think you might have a bad channel. Do you have a digital multimeter? Tell me yes because anyone with a system should own one.

 
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uhhhhh, yes, actually no. I can turn the setting to negative on my deck, and trn the amp up a little more, it isnt distorted, but it can handle it at volume 17. So I am thinking it is my deck, since the subs and amp and both working fine. I remember actually a couple weeks ago, I hit a couple hard bumps, my cd skipped, than the volume would turn down to 0 automatically. It did that a few times, than stopped. I hit another bump, and the radio did that for like a day and a half. Now its normal, other than the cutting out. So I guess it is the deck. Ima try hooking the subs up to seperate channels instead of bridging them.

 
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So far it looks like he is right, and he had the shortest post, lol. Hell get the points if it turns out to be it. I will try seperate channels tomorrow, and the first one that said something will get em if thats it. but the deck seems to be the source

edit-J187 may get the points if it stops happening with seperate channels. Ima try it soon, but is after midnight, so no bumping tonight

 
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this was happening to me it ended up being a loose connection with the fuse that runs to the battery,it may not be your problem but its worth a shot,i tightened the little black sleeve the fuse goes into with some needle nose and havent had a problem since.

 
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Yes, it is possible to hook them up at a lower ohm than the amp can handle.

Amps are designed to put out a certain amount of power. As you increase the volume the power output increases. However the power increases much faster when you connect subs at too low of an ohm load. So when you connect subs that are too low in ohms, it will work up to the point where the amp pulls too much current. After that the amp goes into protection and shuts off.

It is critical to have subs wired in a configuration that is equal to or greater than the rated ohm load of the amp. Now if the subs have been wired at too low of an ohms load all along, then the amp has been being pushed to its limits for a good 7 months. Gradually it gets weaker and weaker as it is being abused. Eventually it will just give up.

This sounds like its exactly what is happening.

Most typical 2-channel amps are 2 ohm stable. The catch is when bridged they are only 4 ohm stable. Most monoblock amps are 2 ohm stable. If the amp is a 2-channel amp, then the subs should be DVC 4 ohm wired in series/parallel .... if SVC, they had better be 2 ohm subs wired in series. If the amp is a monoblock, the subs should be DVC 2 ohm in series/parallel ..... or SVC 4 ohm wired in parallel.

What is the exact make and model numbers of the amp and subs that you have?

 
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If thats a 2-channel amp and the subs are SVC 4 ohm, you can't run the amp bridged. (Well, you can, but you have to wire them in series, but then the amp puts out only half the rated power it is supposed to.)

Two SVC 4 ohm subs in parallel is actually an overall 2 ohm load. That amp will be rated 600 watts @ 4 ohms when bridged ...... so at 2 ohms it will try to put out 1200 watts. This is why when you turn it up it keeps cutting out.

Definately wire it separately. I bet the problem goes away .....

 
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FYI, the only subs I can find of that brand are SVC 4 ohm or DVC 2 ohm. Neither are good matched w/ a 2-channel amp.

Wiring options:

SVC 4 ohm, wire one sub per channel.

If DVC 2 ohm, wire each speaker in series to make it act like a 4 ohm sub, then wire each to a channel.

Anything other than this will result in ohm loads that are too low, making the amp go into protection, or too high and the amp puts out less power than rated.

 
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I wired it seperately, and they dont work at all. This happened when I first hooked everything up as well. This was with a new amp and new subs. They are 4ohm SVC. The amp is 2ch 2ohm stable. I am aware that it is only 4 ohm stable when bridged (which is how their hooked up), but they have worked fine, and never cut out. I left the gain way down, since the subs are weaker than the amp anyways. The amp does not go into protection, so Im wondering if its the subs.

Last night I tried this. I left the subs bridged at 2 ohms, turned the gain up, and the setting on my HU to negative (they were flat before). The subs worked clear, and loud, even louder than before. I just can not have the deck turned up to past 17 or they will cut out. I am seriously thinking it may be the deck. It is time to get a new one anyways. I just hate driving bumping a song, and than it starts cutting in and out. Especially when somebody pulls up nest to me, turns their system up, and mine doesnt work. Right now it is pounding nice and clear, but the volume is lower. Im gonna turn the gain down slightly more just to be safe as well.

When wiring in series, that means to different channels, correct? I forget, sorry. Or is that, positive to negative on subs, and positive sub to positive on amp, and negative other sub to negative on amp.

I forget what series is, is somebody can re enlighten me. Thanks!

 
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I reread my post, and I see like 80 problems with my system lol . I think its time to upgrade to perfectly matched equipment, or a 8ohmSVC sub.

 
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Joe was referring to the voice coils when he said to wire in series. So that each 2ohm DVC would be 4ohm. But that's not your case, he didn't know at the time that you had SVC. Having 2 4ohm SVC means you either parellel the speakers or not. If you do, you got 2ohms if not, you use 2 channels one for each 4ohm. Two things I'll address:

1. Just because your amp use to be ok at 2ohms doesnt' mean it always will be. So, its quite possible that your amp is giving you a big FU when you tell it to do 2ohms. Basically, it's saying "look dude, I'm rated at 4 and you've been cramming me with 2. I've put up with this long, now I quit." Running an amp lower imp than it's rated wears it out much faster even if it "can be" stable at that imp.

2. If you seriesed the woofers to each channel and it didn't work, you did somehting wrong. If you sum the channels and get a strong signal, there has to be two working parts. You might have to swith the amp mode or some ****.

It could definitely be your HU too. If you wanna test the HU you can pretty easily. It's just the subs that cut out right? So if it is the HU, it has to be only the Sub preout. Switch the RCAs. Use the rear channel on the HU to run the 2 channel and subs. If it still cuts out, it aint your deck. If it doesn't cut out. The rear channel on the HU is up in heaven.

 
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I only have one preout for the RCAs, so I cant switch them to anywhere else. I cant control just the subs or components from my HU either, I have to adjust them both at the same time, like whatever setting I change will affect both.

#1 is what I was curious about. I figured it would strain pretty fast on the amp, so I only left it at about 300W.

My amp controls are High-Mid-Low and 3-6-12 Db gain or something, and gain. When wiring to seperate channels for 2 4ohm svc subs, what setting would you select.

Low, than test the 3-6-12 for clearness, than adjust the gain with HU at 0 for all settings. Start adjusting HU. That is the proper way, correct. Cuz it didnt work like that.

I dont really want mids and highs comingout of my subs, so it should be set to Low, correct

 
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Yeah, Low pass is right for sub amps. I didn't realize your HU had only 1 out. So you are running the fronts of the deck and using the out for the sub amp. I'm on the same page with you now.

Unplug the RCAs fromt the Amp and measure the output signal from the HU coming out of the preout at low volume with a meter. See if the signal cuts out completely as you crank the volume. If yes, your HU is cooked. If no, I'm thinking Amp. That's a definitive way to tell. If the voltage signal cuts completely out at a certain volume, the head unit is ****. If the signal doesn't cut out at the volume the bass use to, the HU is fine.

 
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How much is a meter? I dont have one, but apparently I should, and will need itfor the future. Iwish I wasnt broke. And how exactly would I use it. Thanks for all the info, youve been very helpful. I may go buy a meter today anyways.

This is what i need correct, what settings do I have to make sure it has, just voltage?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...870641732&rd=1

 
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Same thing happened with my old power wire that was like 5 years old. I shouldnt have been using it anyways, but rarely have time to fix it. It was all corroded, and kept getting worse. I did replace the wire about 6 or 7 months ago, and it works fine now, until this. I will check that out as well, since the same thing happened a while ago. Thanks a lot.

 
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That's what I was going to get at when I asked him if he had a DMM.. I guess great minds think alike haha
But anyways, You'll want a digital meter instead of an analog. They run anywhere from $50.. and I've seen them up in the $1000's.. but you can get by with a $100 one or so.. I recommend Fluke. Their meters are quality.. also backed up with a quality reputation. You'll want one that can measure AC/DCvoltage, resistance, and one that can test for continuity. The Fluke is cool because they make a lot of accessories for them.