I had my old sub enclosure in the trunk for the last week while I designed and built my new one for this car. So yesterday I finally completed my new box and stared installing it in my trunk. All was going well, I tested it etc, and it worked well until I tried to push everything into place and screw it down. Unfortunately, just as I was getting exciting thinking I was done, the battery power cable came out of the clamp thingie. No biggie I though, I just pulled it out and put the wire back on. Now the bad part... When I was tightening the screw on the wire clamp I accidentally touched the screwdriver to a screw on the case making a "little" spark and scaring the crap out of me. ( I am fully in the depths of the trunk at the time )

Now, when I try to play music, there is NO sound from the sub. I have checked the 12 power to the amp and the remote line. I checked the only fuse I can find on the amp. I tried another speaker on the amp to rule out sub problems. I tried a cd player on the signal line from the HU and there was signal. The blue light on the amp comes on like normal.

It is M-200 Alpine V power amp.

All this tells me ( a complete noob ) that my amp is blown. Am I correct???

Thanks for your help!!!

 

Did you check the fuse where you connected the power wire to the battery?

 

Yup, I have 12v power to the amp. Both the battery line and the remote line. I even opened up the cover to see if there were any fuse inside the amp. Didn't see anything...

 

If you blew the amp, and you opened it up, you should be able to see some scorched stuff in there. Sorry for not being more precise, but I don't know what to look for if it's blown...

 

Yeah I looked for anything unusual... all looked good!

 

hmmm just for kicks and giggles if you have a multi meter see if there is any thing coming from the speaker terminals from the amp.

 

#1 Rule: ALWAYS DISCONNECT BATTERY WHEN DOING ANYTHING TO YOUR CAR!!!
I have heard of so many people blowing stereo stuff and in some cases the car's actual ECM.

What model amp do you have? I have opened up many, many amps and I don't think I have seen one yet that doesn't have an internal fuse. Actually had some guy give me a Punch amp back in the day that was "blown". I opened it up replaced the fuse and it worked like a champ.

Now assuming your amp doesn't have a fuse you most likely blew an inductor on the power input line. Some manufactures use an inductor as a filter on the input and it will blow if there is a spike in power. Anyone that is skilled in electronics could see this and probably replace it for you.

If this is a cheap amp and you have the cash I would replace it. If its a decent amp see if there is a stereo shop near you that does repairs.

 

It's an Alpine V Power M-200 amp. Man I'm sure I didn't see any fuses inside.....

 

Sundown SAZ-2000D doesn't have an internal fuse... That's the amp I'm looking to pick up when it comes out in late June.

 

mmmmmm saz-2000d yum hell id love to have the 1500d

 

There are many for sale on CACO and Ca.com... Take your pick...

 

yea but no monies

 

same thing happened to me if there are to fuse slots on the back of the amp could it still have an internal fuse i have a xplod 1000 watt amp no bass comes out my amp light won't even come on??

 

So I bought another amp ( Alpine MRV320 ) and it worked right away so obviously the old amp is fried.

However, now I'm having a different problem.

Sometimes it works great ( sounds great too ) but sometimes it will cut out when I turn the volume up. If I turn it down again the amp powers up again until I reach a fairly loud volume ( not crazy loud... just "driving by myself feeling happy" kinda loud ) Any ideas? Amp gain settings? I'm gonna search around a bit too...

 

Sounds like it's overheating...
Is it rated for the OHM load you are putting on it with your sub setup?

And about the old amp...YEAH you definitely blew it...can be repaired, but most electronics shops want 60 bucks just to open the cover to TELL you what's wrong. Then another 100 in labor etc....much cheaper to buy a new one. I was in this boat too..and i don't even know what I did wrong...came out my RSX and worked fine..went into my TL and would light up, but no tunes! WTF!
Ended up buying a newer model hifonics amp.

 

To be honest...... I don't know! Like most of the things I fool around with I only know enough to get me into trouble!

I'll tell you how I wired it and you guys can let me know where I screwed up....

Power, remote, and ground wired into amp as per usual.

Signal wires connected to one RCA line into L channel ( or R I forget )

Speaker output ( probably where I screwed up ) It is a 2 channel ( +-, +-), I connected the first (+) and the last (-) to bridge the amp.

The sub ( Alpine type R ) has two sets of wire "hook-ups". I ran the wire(s) from the amp to the first set and then used another wire to go from the first hookups to the other side.

Hope this make sense....

 

Hmmm...you would have to know if it's Dual Voice Coils (sounds like it..) and if it's a 4 ohm DVC...etc.

Sounds like it may be a 2 ohm DVC and the way you wired, you may be putting a 1 ohm load on your amp. Which is bad if the amp is not 1 ohm stable. Make sure you're working with a Class D amp (meant for a subwoofer and stays cooler, generally). I learned a lot from www.crutchfield.com ...there's a learning section that teaches you a lot!

Good luck! Check out wiring a DVC 2 or 4 ohm sub "in series" or "in parallel". This may allow you to safely increase the gain on the amp. If not, turn the gain down and see if it stops cutting out. If it does...this is probably your problem.

Also check for very good ground point...make sure ALL connections and wires are secure and NOT exposed (think of anywhere you had to splice w/butt connectors...etc).

Good LUck!

 

Thanks! After doing some research here....

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/wo...gurations.asp?

and

http://crutchfield.custhelp.com/cgi-...p?p_faqid=2259

....I'm pretty sure my sub wiring is messed up. It has DVC but I'm not 100% what ohm the sub is rated at yet.

 

Look for a sticker on it to figure out what model and then froogle it to find what kind it is! If you jumpered across from one terminal to the other...you're probably going to have to wire 2 sets of wires to each one to decrease the load on the amp. Then it should be smooth sailing!.

 

Sigh.. still confused. On the diagrams I am looking at there is no possible way to wire 1 4 ohm DVC sub to a bridged 2 channel amp stable at 4 ohms bridged....???? My choices are 2 or 8 ohms ( I think ), but I need 4 ohms. Do I need to just use one channel ( not bridged ) or do I not use any "jumpers" on the sub itself ( like a SVC )?

 

You could wire one channel to each coil, and run each channel at 4 ohms, but that wouldn't be the best choice. Your best option is going to be to buy a new amp that will make the correct power at 2 ohms for the sub.

 

Hmm never thought of that... why would that not be the best choice? Also, how do I know which two posts belong together on one coil? The top one on each side? Or does it matter?

Sorry, if the questions seem dumb, I'm learning as I go! You guys have been a great help so far!

 

There should be a + on one post and a - on the other. On my RD, the + and - are on opposite sides of each other. Picture:

+ -
- +

Like I said, this is the way it is on my sub, I dunno what's up with yours...

 

Ok thanks, I'll look for the "a" or something tonight.