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I just finished installing my amp, took quite a while to do but I got it! woo woo! However when I turn on my head unit (and thus turning on the amp) the red led indicator (the bad one) comes on and turns the amp off. I haven't hooked up my subwoofers to the amp yet, could this cause the amp to turn off since it isn't connected to a load?

 
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By the way, it is grounded correctly to the little lip in between the trunk and back seat with a nut and bolt, sanded off paint on the lip before attaching it, connected correctly to power with fuse, blah blah, basic stuff is done right.

 
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Not having a load on it would not cause it to short circuit because i just did put my amp in yesterday and turned it on with no load and its perfectly fine.

 
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has anyone else using the grounding location I'm using had this problem?

 
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that is where my grounding spot is

 
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if you have access to a multimeter,
measure continutity from the power lead to a seperate ground, not the one your amp is connected to
measure voltage of power lead and remote turn on lead

 
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My amp does turn off when no load is attached, found that in very small print in the manual. - However now I have my two speakers attached in parallel, 4ohm each, for a 2 ohm load on the amp - since my amp say it is "2 ohm stable" I figured I'd go with parallel instead of series. However the amp still shuts off. Possibly a problem with the connection between my subs and the little speaker terminals on the back of the boxes, getting some better connectors and testing that theory in the morning. Then I'll see how that goes.

 
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Getting very tired and discouraged, tomorrow I will test the remote wire, I am 98% confident it isn't my ground, but I can't be sure without a voltmeter. Any suggestions - holla. The only other thing it could be would be the connections through my speaker terminals, but I'm pretty sure they're good too.

 
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if the amp turns on but goes red which is protect mode and then turns off it shouldent be a prob wit the remote wire its still active but the amp is turning it self off to protect the circuricty you should be able to get a green light without speakers hooked up try a different ground if your useing a cap check the connections the the cap as well as the amp and the battery a multimeter works great to find the problems if you got one

 
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alright thanks a lot, I think it must be a problem with the ground, I have it ground using a bolt on the little ledge that separates the trunk and the rear seats, has anyone else had problems with this location before? I've heard it was a good one, but I guess not. Also where should I touch the multimeter to when I test the ground?

 
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ideally the negative battery post.

 
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I changed my ground to the bolt that holds on the rear seats, checked the remote wire, checked the fuses and the fuse windows, triple checked my speaker connections, and the red light is still coming on. I'm very near giving up and selling two rockford fosgate p1 12"s and a 1200 watt power acoustik amp.

 
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sounds like the amp. If you have a best buy around you bring it in when the install bay is slow and throw them a couple bucks to bench test it for you. Or just hook it up directly to your car battery, if it doesnt work the amps shot.

 
Rep Power: 281

Stupid question, your amp is hooked up to your subs, but is it hooked up to your HU? I know on mine, if it has a power source but the signal from my HU isn't stable ie. the RCA cable unplugged along the way, it does the same thing yours is doing.

 
Rep Power: 323

protect mode would seem to indicate a grounding issue - I used a seat belt bolt underneath the rear seat for my ground.

 
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Nothing worked with that power acoustik amp - I took it to a proffessional installer and he confirmed my fears, the amp was just malfunctional. I'll be sending it back at a $40 loss because nugadgets.com doesn't refund shipping costs. I'm just getting my money back - because I purchased a 500 Watt (250W x 2) Memphis Car Audio amplifier (Memphis Sound). My gosh, it sounds wonderful - I don't think I'll ever go back to trying to buy an entry level amp again with the problems I had with my power acoustik. I paid $300 for the memphis car audio, a discount of around $80 because my father works at a dealership that does business with the place I bought it at, having an inside man is nice, but not as nice as a clean amp. :-) Thanks for all the help in diagnosing my problems guys, don't know how I ever would have been able to be sure it was the amp causing the problems without all your input.

Oh - monoblock amplifiers are a lot smaller, and it seems like the more expensive the amplifier, the smaller it gets. I didn't know this, so I figured someone else might not either.

-oh, and I changed my ground to underneath the rear seats where it bolts on too :-)

 
Rep Power: 323

get an alpine amp. you won't be disappointed

 
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Yea, those brand names might cost more but it is now my opinion that they're worth it. I like the memphis sound amp even more because I hail from a small Arkansas town about 10 minutes from Memphis, I can say that I bought my Memphis amp IN Memphis, and it kinda gives me a "rep yo hood" feel. You know, representing the mother land, where I hail from, all that jazz. I go to school 4 and a half hours in the other direction, so now when I'm there its just another piece of home I keep with me.

Also my last name starts with M, and the glowy blue M on the amp, well, ya know.

 
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when it comes to the need for good, clean power - quality is an issue and should not be skimped.

 
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Why give them some $ when the bench test is free???

 
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the bench test isnt free, most of the time we'll do it for you no charge if its not busy, but if the persons a jerk about it, you'll def. be charged for it