my rf seems to be overheating every 15-30 min in my trunk..any suggestions on how to keep it cool? btw, i have my gains and my boost set just right..
thanks in advance,
matt

 

Does it cut off? I only use RF amps and yes they do get pretty damn warm due to there heatsink on the outside. I have played my system hard for a hour straight with no problems. My friend also has a 550x and he is powering all 4 channels at 2 ohm and it never cuts off but damn you can fry bacon on his amp.

 

hmmm yeah its a mono 900watt amp, 301m or something like that, yeah im runnin 2 subs bridged off of it..it gets pretty damn hot and then it just shuts down till it cools off, im thinking of installing a couple of pc fans back there, ive been riding with my ski hole open and that seems to help a little..

 

If you're running your amp to the point that it goes into thermal shutdown... you will be asking for permanent failure one of these days. Amps are not meant to be driven to that point over and over. If it shuts down... take that as a warning, just like when your OVERTEMP light comes on with the radiator and engine. It's telling you that you are either driving too excessive of a load, or have insufficient cooling available. (i.e., lower the rpms or get a bigger radiator) At that intense heat, a lot of components will eventually drift and affect the bias and stability of the amp... eventually something will fry for good.

Are you running TWO 2 ohm subs or two 4 ohm subs for a total load impedance of 2 ohms? In any case, a 2 ohm load is a strain on any amp, and at 900watts and typically only 60% efficiency (unless it's a class D amp) will produce 400 watts in heat. Yes, that will fry bacon like a George Foreman Grill! If the heatsinks on the amp are so hot that they boil the spit off of your fingers when you momentarily touch it... (pssst, pssst) then you DEFINITELY need more cooling. Try mounting the amp to a THICK block of aluminum with silicone heatsink compound to transfer the heat. You can buy some clear silicone grease these days without the white stuff that gets real messy. The more heatsink fins and/or massive mounting block/plate aluminum (like 1 inch thick)available, the better... ALSO, as you have already suggested ADD SOME FANS!

If you can cut back to a 4 ohm load and still have enough bass, better yet... unless you have the spare cash for a new amp in the coin holder.

Good Luck!
Southbound

 

the subs are 4ohm and im runnin them like so
my two positive wires coming off the subs are going into the one positive terminal on the amp and likewise with the negative wires coming off the subs.
How should i wire them do decrease bass and lessen load?

 

humm if your model number is 301M then the specs are 300 x 1 @ 2 ohms.... if that is correct then this might be the reason your amp keeps over heating... not to mention that your total impedence is 2ohms which like southbound said will strain just about any amp.... my suggestion get a new amp... i dont know what kind of speakers you are running but i say you deffinately need more power..

 

they are jensen KS bottom of the line brand, the power situation is fine, the subs are doing fine its just the strain on the amp...what can i do? i dont think i can just go out and get a new amp, so i think im stuck with some fans? im upset..

 

301m is only 300watts RMS, like shaw said. THe max 900 watts will be all distorted and will blow any sub with all the clipping.
OK u got a awesome TL and not to said like a azz get those damn subs out of the trunk. IF u dont wanna get a new amp just get a new sub, I have the 500bd and I drive taht amp hard and never have had a problem.

Get a single JL w3 12" and u shall be a happy person. just wondering where is teh gain at and your bass boost.

 

the gain is set low as f*** and i currently have the boost set on zero.. well i bought the 4 year best buy plan on the subs so when i get my paycheck im goin out and gettin a JL 12, you dont sound like an ass at all, criticism is a good thing. thanks for the compliment on my tl.
So i could run a DVC sub off of that mono amp?

 

Mine's overheating, too. God, I hate it when it cuts off.

It's mounted on the back of the driver's side rear seat, facing the back of the car. I also drive with the pass-through gate down, but it doesn't help that much when I'm sitting in traffic in a 90-degree weather.

How would I go about installing a fan? Can it be powered by the existing wires (to the amp)?? And what kind of a fan would you guys recommend?? Thanks.

 

Air flow....FAN(s)

Get a $5 relay that allows the HU remote lead to kick it on and then uses the 12VDC from your amps to actually power the fan(s). A sealed trunk allows for very little air flow. I live in NC and have to deal with the whole amp shutdown thing every summer. I've switched to a class D sub amp to avoid this.

I recently helped a friend install a system in a car he's giving his daughter for her high school graduation. His budget was less than shoestring. He told me he was getting intermittent "shutdowns" of the amp. Since it's typically 95F ambient here this time of year with humidity >80%, I'm guessing it's at least 120F+ in the trunk with minimal airflow to help dissipate heat from the amp.

He added a fan/relay apparatus as I described for ~ $15 which has helped the situation substantially. It still has a tendency to shut down when he pushes the system hard but nowhere near as much as it previously did. I had to remind him that a $140 amp doesn't exactly have the capablities of the higher dollar stuff.

Since his daughter lives in upstate NY, I told him I don't think he'll have to worry about thermal shutdown too much!

Fans are relatively inexpensive and easily installed. Move some air over the amp's heatsink and I think you'll be surprised at the difference.

Good luck.

 

jus some other advice... i got RF... RF is bunch of crap.. as soon as i get some money i am gonna try to get PHONIEX GOLD OR PPI ... and use my rf amp as a PAPERWEIGHT...

 

if you have a bad ground , your amp can overheat, trying making sure your ground connection is better than your power connection it makes the world of a difference

jon

 

I'll check on that, too, asiankidd. Thanks.

 

I had the same problem. CHECK THE GROUND.

Mine was installed to a not so good ground. It worked fine for a couple of weeks.

But then the problem came. I also kept blowing fuses.

Well i investigated and notice the ground terminal connected to the body was burnt and looked aged and it wasn't that old.

So I sanded away the paint and made a better gound. My problem was solved.

 

Those amps are drawing a LOT of current , so a good ground is essential. However, it won't directly affect how hot the actual amp runs. It would build up resistance at the poor ground connection and cause a voltage drop at that point, just like a bad battery connection. In that case, the wiring could get very hot and start a fire, etc. and the amp would only be getting partial power... just like how your starter doesn't get the full volts when you have a bad battery connection. The only reason the amp itself would get hotter with a poor ground would be because it has less power supply voltage to work with. In that case, you will be clipping your bass signals much sooner and clipped waveforms are a definite enemy to power amps. It's almost like DC being amplified. There is a continuous duty cycle, so the amp has no time to cool between cycles.


The true solution as others have suggested, is to get a bigger amp. But if you are on a strict budget... don't do anything drastic until you try wiring the subs in series. This is an audiophile no-no... but you are far from audiophile bass by the way you are running things right now.

If you wire the two subs in series instead of your current parallel configuration, the total impedance will be 8ohms instead of 2ohms. That will make a WORLD of difference to the amplifier. It should cruise under that load. The down side is that the damping factor is reduced and the bass might sound a bit sloppier (not as tight). The overall volume may be affected as well. However, it's simple enough to try before you scrap everything. Just take the positive speaker lead from the amp and connect it to the positive lead on one of the subs. Then take a piece of wire and connect the negative terminal of that speaker to the positive terminal of the OTHER speaker. Then connect the negative speaker lead from the amp to the negative terminal of the second speaker. Things will now be wired in series and you will be running cool.

You may find that it sounds just fine for your current budget and taste. IF NOT, then you have no choice but to either TURN IT DOWN, or add some fan(s), or buy a bigger amp or all of the above.

GOOD LUCK!!!
Southbound

 

You are talking about brigding the subs, correct? If so, I don't want to do that. The shop that put in my system that it's better not to bridge subs.

I really don't know much about systems. I mean, I know the basics, but once you get into computing ohms and stuff, I get lost. :p

Thanks for the advice, though. I think I'll try a fan first. Because this only happens on hot days.