Ok, I've used the search feature for the forum and didn't really find what I needed to know so maybe somebody can help me out here. Basically I have just done brand new installs for my HU, door speakers and rear deck. Also I added a crossover, amp and 12" JL audio to the trunk for some boom.

Brand new parts:
The HU is a Kenwood, the front door speakers are kenwood 5 1/4's and the rear decks are pioneer 6 1/2's.

Hand me downs:
JL 12"
mtx crossover
kenwood Kac-723 amp(200 watt bridged max I believe)

The hand me downs were all in working order. So on to the install. Because I didn't have the rear deck speakers from the get go I installed everything else but them. The HU, front door speakers, all the wiring for the amp(power, rca's, ground), the crossover and the sub box.

Everything worked great, I had great sound and some boom in the back. Since then I have added my rear deck speakers and everything worked great for about 10 minutes until BAM!! no more boom from the trunk.

I have checked all my wiring and everything is fine, ground, power no prob. My curiosity was peaked though when I noticed my amp had a red light that I never noticed before lit up. I know my amp is an older model so I got the manuel from Kenwood usa and checked and it says nothing about a red light if there is a problem. Actually this is all it said about the light at all

"When the protection function activates, the unit stops operating and the power indicator lights green to indicate that the protection function is activated"

Ok, so maybe I'm an idiot and never noticed that the light is always on and always red. Can someone clear that up for me?

My next question is how I hooked everything up, Am I allowed to use the speaker wire outputs from the head unit and the pre-amp outputs at the same time. Reason I ask is that is how I have it hooked up right now. I used the factory wires from the head unit plug and then ran RCA's off of the rear pre-amp output from the headunit to the crossover then to the amp. Is that ok to do(newb installer syndrome)?

My last question is if in fact my amp needs to be reset how do I do that? The manuel from Kenwood doesn't say anything about it.

Thanks in advance,

If I need to clarify anything let me know, I would really like to figure out why this is happening and I know its probably some small oversite that I'm missing.

 

you check your fuses? on amp and any inlines. my old amp the red light would come on when the fuse was blown.

 

make sure your sub wires didnt come undone inside the box?

 

I would think that a green light would mean the amp is ok and red would be protection. Not the other way around. Interesting. How many ohms is your sub and is it a dual voice coil? Post the specs to the amp if you can find them. The way you have it hooked up sounds ok to me.

 

Who would have guessed? Thanks strychnine! The positive wire inside my box had come loose.

As far as the light (red/green) issue, I would have thought it would be the opposite as well, but it's still lit up red and working fine.

Thanks everybody!

 

I've had it happen to me a couple times, glad it was that and not something more complicated.