Rep Power: 291

hey guys
i recently installed a new and sub combo
now, its been randomly working and not working.
sometimes ill be driving and it wont work and then all of a sudden it works. all connections are fine and when it begins working, its never been after i hit a bump. Also, sometimes im driving and its working and it just shuts off but the amp is still on
could it be an amp problem? or might i need a cap and a stronger battery. my brother was saying a cap and battery may but wont surely solve the problem and it could just be the amp.
mind you, the amp aint brand new. its lighting up, fan is turning on and everything is good. its an 800 watt amp
plz help! i may give the amp back to the guy who linked me it and get a refund if it seems its the amp and that a battery/cap wont help
thanks for your help!

 
Rep Power: 0

Sounds like your amp has a bad internal capacitor or two.

 
Rep Power: 786

battery or cap won't help

not too sure what the problem is but the first thing to do would be to check all connections, and/or check inside your trunk when it SHOULD be working to see if the amp is in protection

 
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BTW:

1. A capacitor will not do anything for an amp that cuts out
2. Are you SURE that all your wiring is good? Do you have a good multimeter to check for voltage flow and resistance (or lack of resistance)?

 
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is your amp overheating? is it stored in a place with cargo space around it for air? (if your amp uses fan cooling).

my guess ur amp is going on (power mode) and off (protection mode) cause its overheating. do you bump ur system pretty hard for awhile then it just shuts down?

 
Rep Power: 291

BTW im also getting a wheezing sound, and when i rev, the weezing noise goes higher. the higher i rev, the higher the wheezing noise is. my brother said that will be helped by the cap, unless im confused about what he said. as i rev higher, it goes higher, theres a direct correlation between their noises!

my amp is stored in my trunk and i dont bump it all the time. it doesnt even have time to get hot before it shuts off most the time

Also, im sure my wiring is good, its better then it was with my old system and that had no problems.

i unlock and put my seats down sometimes and on occasion it'll work and the rest of the time it wont but it'll always turn on (amp).
ground, power, and remote are all fine, so thats not it. i wish it was cuz those are easily fixed.
you guys know anything about the wheezing noises? plz help
BTW thanks for your quick replies!

 
Rep Power: 0

No problem. I'm a bored, sick (ill, really) geek.

anyway, you are prolly hearing ground-loop noise. This is the result of the gounds on your amp using the same ground as the spark plugs. Inference can be picked up by:

1. Wiring your RCAs too close to a main power wire
2. Not properly grounding (no clean ground) your amp
3. Running off-spec (bad) spark plugs
4. Having a defective amp.

BTW: Since you mentioned it-you reminded me that I have an older amp that has a similar problem with cutting out and noise.

It sounds like:

1. Your amp has power problems (power lead or dirty ground)
2. Your amp is poop.

 
Rep Power: 291

See i think it may be a defective amp because all i changed was the ground when i got my new sub and amp.
(i used the bolt in the trunk on the passenger side of the car. ive heard of others using the same ground so i dont see that being the issue)
i was hoping it wasnt the amp because when it works, its a great amp. makes my sub POUND :'(
Any more suggestions/advice is welcome
BTW thanks again for your quick replies

 
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The weazing sound you're hearing is more commonly refered to as engine noise. You shouldn't be hearing it throught the sub(s) because it's a high frequency that your sub should not be producing.

What brand and model of amplifier and subwoofer are you using?????

 
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not neccessarily. i got two subs, each with it's own amp. i've had a problem where one of my grounds would come undone, and thus i would get engine noise through the subs. kinda sounded like i had an aftermarket exhaust but i had the engine noise when it wasn't grounded properly

 
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Maybe but I don't think so since you should be using a xover with the subs. If the xover setting is high then it would definately allow higher than normal frequencies to pass.

 
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im using an audiopipe sub which my brother was using prior to me. they're a sub-company of audiobahn so its not a no name brand that makes useless crap
and my amp is a kenwood

the wheezing noise doesnt sound like its coming from the sub though. im not sure, but i know its coming from somewhere in the back of the car when i accelerate/rev, it also "revs" up (the wheezing) i dunno where its coming from but you sound like you know more about this then me so maybe its coming from the amp!

should i find another ground and see what happens? or is this VERY LIKELY an amp issue?

 
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Without actually SEEing/replicating the issue, it sounds like an amp problem.

 
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The sub you're using, is it a single voice coil or a dual voice coil????? I'm assuming that it might be a dual 4 ohm voice coil and it's briged off the amp? That's my guess anyways.

 
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sometimes it's the main fuse replace it and see if that works

 
Rep Power: 291

im not bridged, and its a dual VC 4 ohms wired at 2 ohms.

update!
OK So today i left the amp off and with the deck on, it still made the wheezing noises
my boys dad who uis a car salesman said hes fixed this problem before (wheezing) and it was a shorted speaker wire so im gonna inspect that tomorrow, see if the speaker wire is being grounded out somewhere
hopefully thats the problem as far the wheezing goes
as for the amp, im gonna inspect things once more tomorrow (connections, fuses, etc), and if that dont solve it, im returning it wednesday

 
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It's a DVC and you have each terminal wired to each output on the amp???? How is that's it's wired at 2 ohms then??? If in fact it is that amp you have most likely does not handle this load and that is exactly why it's shutting down.
What's the amplifier model??? I'm pretty sure Kenwood doesn't make many that can handle a ohm load in a mono or bridged setup.

And the 'wheezing' noise with the amp off confirms that you are hearing from somewhere other than the subwoofer.

 
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The amp is wired as 2 ohm stereo
2 ohms per sub
the majority of amps on the market are 2ohm stereo and 4 ohm mono stable

and if you are still wondering how the subs are wired pm me

 
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also change all your ground wires on and around your engine to a thicker guage

 
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I thought he said only one sub and one amp. Changing ALL his ground wires won't do much, but ADDING an extra 8ga. or 4ga. at the battery should do something.