ok, i have an audiobahn 15" subwoofer (1200 watt peak)with an 800 watt amp. everything was hooked up and working fine. One of the screws on the terminal was missing, so the connection was weak and the sub would go in and out. I bought a new terminal and took care of all that. everything seemed to be working fine, then today im driving down the road and it just completely cuts out. before when it would cut out i would turn it down or off, and then a few minutes later it would be hitting again, but when this time it wouldnt. when i got home i checked all the connections, everything seems to be tight, and the amp powers on, what could be the problem?

(it was dark when i checked everything, but i tightened it all up and plan on rechecking everything tomorrow when its a little brighter out)

any suggestions are appreciated

 

you checked the connections inside your box?

 

all the connections are tight (yes i checked inside the box) and nothing is shorted out, but the protect light on the amp is on. Is there any way to fix this w/o getting a new amp?

 

A bad ground is the first thing you should check when a protection light comes on. Make sure your ground is of sufficient gauge wire and the terminal is securely touching bare metal.

 

i checked the ground and it seems to be good, i have a feeling its just a shitty amp (audioline 800 watts)

 

Hehe Im having nosie issues with my setup right now.

 

Are you sure the amp's designed to run at the impedence load that the sub's wired at?

 

i'd say something inside the amp is toast and that is why the protection light is on... yes make sure the amp isnt under duress because of the ohm load you are putting on it!

i'd say save up and get a decent amp.

 

One might ask, "what does the protect mode protect the amplifier from?"
There are usually 3 different things, maybe more, that the amp protects itself from by shutting down.
1. Excessive Heat
2. Excessive Voltage
3. Excessive Current

Being that you only have the one subwoofer hooked up, as far as I can tell, chances are that it is not because the amp cant handle the impedance, being that is either a 2,4,or 6ohm speaker.

Chances are that you do not have too much voltage goiing through the system, unless you connected a really long extension cord from your house to your car.

The weather is getting cooler now, at least by me. I doubt that the amp is overheated at start-up.

A couple things do come to mind though. A short circuit is likely, whether it is internal or in the wiring. The only way to find it is to check. Make sure that the 3 power wires are not touching at the terminals. You may have to go as far as to check the wiriing behind the head unit to make sure that none of them are touching either.

Oh yeah and hear is another quick test you can do. If you have a stereo system in your house, not a boombox or a shelf system, you can test to see if the problem is in the subwoofer. Most, if not all, home amplifiers have the same type of protection mode. Hook the subwoofer up, if it goes into protect mode, you found your problem. If you do try this method, make sure you have the volume low. This should really only be done if the speaker is 4+ohms, anything lower may make the indoor amplifier go into protect mode regardless. A Brute Force Method

If none of this does work than yes the one assumption was correct.... it is a shitty amp

 

i appreciate the advice, but i switched the sub out, and hooked up my friends subs to see if it was the amp or sub, and had no luck with the other subs either, and i checked behind the head unit as well, so yea, shitty amp

any recommendations on a decent, fairly low priced amp?