Joe5.0

I have a 13W7 in the sealed box, with a Lightning 1 farad cap, and 1000.1 amp. The amp & sub were brand new about 4 months ago, and the cap is also very low mileage.

Ever since it warmed up here in michigan after about 1/2 hr of continous use my amp goes into 'thermal protect' mode. I can tell its running way hotter than it should be. I almost always have the bass from the HU turned all the way down, and my remote LFF all the way down. Even with it set at that it pounds pretty good, but recently has been getting too hot.

If this just means I have to turn the gain down (its set a little under 1/2) I'll do that, but i dont think i should have to.

My gauges and taillights still dim ALOT even on the highway even with the cap, could a low current situation cause this problem? I have considered getting a new battery since the cap didnt solve the dimming problem.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

flaw-ls

first off you should not use a cap on any slash series jl amps. you can ask the reps. themselves. a cap is just a bandaide anyway you should replace your alternator with a high amp alternator. it will give you more juice cause the factory one is just efficient enough to supply the electrical that comes factory w/ the vehicle. a high amp alternator is about 200-300 bucks but its a night and day difference. your lights won't dim, and your amps will work more efficient.

i would first try seeing what your sub's ohm load is at. if thats in between 2-4 ohm then you should be fine. then i would try disconnecting the cap and see if it continues to heat up. if all else fails call jl audio themselves and they usually give great advise.

flaw-ls

i would also probably upgrade your battery to a red or yellow top.

tl_badboy96

i upgraded my battery to a blue top and im using the factory alt, but i can get 1 to 2 cont. on my amp before thermal occurs. also, we is your installed at. i got mine insude the car on the back passenger floor, so i can get the cold air from the ac to blow directly onto the cooling vanes, you can try that. im pushing 2 orion hp 10's with my amp. knocks pretty dam hard too.

Joe5.0

I will take the cap off tommorow and see if that helps. A better alternator would be nice, but i'd rather not do that. I have a 100k warranty, so dont wanna mess with it too much.

If it doesnt work any better w/o the cap i'll get a yellow top. I thought having too long of a ground isnt good, so where do you ground it if you put it behind the seat?

Scott P

what gauge wire are you using? where is is grounded at? Mounted? this could be a problem as well. The altenator and or battery (and for that matter the wire size), i wouls be remiss to belive is kicking the amp into thermal protection. If they are a problem, and that's not to say they might not be; even if they are not the direct cause of this initial problem; they would be kicking it into currency protection, not thermal.

Joe5.0

Well I took the cap off, and other than it sounding a *tad* louder (maybe, maybe not, could be imagining things) it still gets too dang hot and goes into thermal mode.

I also unplugged and turned off the bass boost.

Any other ideas?


BTW the wires are all 4 gauge, ground is on the trunk floor (well cleaned and done properly). The battery is original, but i have never hadany charging problems at all with it, plus the volatge on the cap NEVER went below 12.0, so i dont think its a currency problem. The amp has a warning light for power, thermal, amperage, and impedance. Thermal is the only one that i have ever seen light up, so thats all i have to go off of.

Joe5.0

here's how its setup:

Joe5.0

A small update, I turned the gain down to like 30% and it runs quieter, but doesnt get hot. So i'm thinking about moving the amp to the back seat floor for better ventilation. Do i have to redo the ground so its closer to the amp?