I have a 1000 watt 4 channel amp and a 200 watt powered sub. I wired it with 4 gauge wire. I've had a problem with the amp cutting out at times. Certain times when the AC kicks on, the amp/sound will cut out for a split second. Other times, with no obvious triggering event, the amp/sound will flutter, have low volume, kind of like a bad phone connection, for several seconds. I've added a 2 farad capacitor, but it hasn't help. I've checked the grounds and they all seem great. I have a 2000 TL. Has anyone experienced this problem?

 

What is turning on your amp? Is it a remote turn on lead or is it singal sensing or what?

So your amp is 20 x 4? And your powered sub is 200W? Is your battery original? How are your terminals? Are they clean or corroded? Ever have slow crank on cold mornings when starting?

You probably want a voltmeter to test this... have one?

 

It's 80RMS x 4. The sub is a powered tube. Both are turned on by the remote wire from the headunit. I tested the voltage there - it was coming in at 13.5. It is the original battery, but I haven't had slow starts. Terminals seem fine.

 

What's the headunit--is it the stock headunit? If it is, I might have an idea.

Can you reproduce the problem at will?

 

Your battery is 5 years old. You probably need a new one regardless.

 

I have a new Pioneer headunit. I can't reproduce it at will.

 

I purchased a new battery today....didn't help.

 

OK, here's my $0.02:

1) Remove one fuse temporarily and see if the other amp does it when the first amp is not even connected. Try both amps. See if it gets isolated to one.

2) See if you can get the same thing to happen with a Discman and a mini-to-RCA adapter to your amps. If not, your HU is possibly getting bad power.

3) I had PIO HUs years ago have trouble maintaining Remote Turn On voltage to two amps during peaks. To test this, bridge RTO to the 12V terminal with a short wire or a paper clip (be careful) and see if the problem still occurs, Remember to NOT leave the test lead or the battery will go dead.

 

Thanks for the tips. I gave them a try:

1. I tried the amps separately....I couldn't notice any cutout when just the sub was connected, but it was really hard to tell for sure.

2. I disconnected the HU and connected my iPod to the amp. Still had the cutouts.

3. I reconnected my remote wire to another Accessory power source...didn't make a difference. Also connected it directly to the capacitor....still no difference.

 

OK, now try disconnecting 1 speaker at a time from the 4-channel and see if there is a particular speaker that makes a diff?

Could be shorted speaker, xover, or speaker wire?

 

Thanks. Still had the cutouts with each speaker disconnected.

 

OK, good, we're eliminating a lot of things this way.

Anything happen to the amps LEDs during cutouts?

Can you tie in a + and - wire to the power wires of the amp and measure the voltage AS the cutouts occur? (get a long piece of speaker wire. Connect the pair at one end to the voltmeter. Connect the other pair to the + and - terminals at the amp. Set voltmeter on pass seat. Check voltage during cutout.)

 

OK, I hooked it to the power wires going into the amp. Generally the voltage was in the 14.2 - 14.3 range. The couple of times it cut out, the voltage dropped to the mid-13 range. Then I connected it to the remote wire just for fun. I found the same result.

I said earlier that I felt that my ground was good, but maybe not. I grounded it to the metal underneath the rear deck/window. I ground the paint off, but maybe it still isn't adaquate. Where is a good place to find a ground in the TL trunk?

 

Usually you can look for factory ground bolts which bolt to the frame... look under the R seat if there isn't one in the back sides behind the trunk liner.

The fact that the voltage only dropped to 13 means that either the test was bad or voltage isn't the problem. If your meter probes were across the amp terminals, you saw exactly the voltage the amp is seeing. I would not tell anyone they had to check their ground after a 13V test...

Turn on hi-beams, r defogger, seat heaters, and pop in your cig lighter. If the issue is more likely when all these are on, then you do have a voltage/ground problem.

 

It will cut out when the AC cuts on at times, but not consistently. It is fairly consistent that I will get a blip when I turn the headlights on. Other times I can't identify any triggering event.

If not voltage/ground, are we down to a problem with the amp?

 

Kinda leaning that way.

 

I have 1900 watts RMS in the CL. The sub amp has 0 gauge power and ground but the battery has a 4 gauge ground to the frame. Amp would cut off when playing loud, so I switched the factory battery ground to a 0 gauge also and no-mo problems since. hope this helps.
Don

 

I got a new amp under warranty, but the problem persists.

 

What kind of amp is it? Make/model?

 

Profile AP 1040

 

Scott P, Ron, what's your take on this one? I have mine, but I want to hear yours...

 

You're a Copy Kat...........

 

No, in his install the wire itself is not visible at the base of the battery terminal : )

 

make sure that the gauge of the ground wire is the same as the guage of the power wire and said earlier. this can make a big diff. just a more straightforward suggestion

 

I changed the battery ground (main) to a 0 gauge and the secondary to a 4 gauge....still didn't solve the problem.

 

OK, here's my take. I used to sell Profile amps. They ALL came back. I just wouldn't trust them to deliver this kind of power- and they don't. I suspect that if you took a different amp from a higher-level brand - Kicker, JL, etc, and connected it to the exact same wiring, that amp would run fine. That's my best guess right now - you are fighting with one foot in a bucket.

Have a firend with a good bass amp you can borrow for a bit?

 

You were correct...purchased a comparable Kicker amp...no problems. Thanks for everyone's help.