AceMc03

Can't seem to trace the root of my problem. Maybe somebody can point me in the right direction? First I'll detail the specs of what's running in my car, and then I'll give an overview of my wiring to hopefully rule that out as a source of the problem.

So if you want to skip to the meat of this thread and find my problem - scroll down some



Setup Specs:

Orion 4004
---- 50x4 @ 4 Ohm Stereo
---- 100x4 @ 2 Ohm Stereo

Orion 3002
---- 75x2 @ 4 Ohm Stereo
---- 150x2 @ 2 Ohm Stereo

2 x Eclipse SE8363 6.5's [Front]
---- 40W RMS / 70W Max

2 x Eclipse SE8493 6x9's [Rear]
---- 75W RMS / 150W Max

Kenwood Excelon KDC-X589
---- 3x4v Preamp Outputs

(Subs coming soon...)



My Wiring:
I'm running a Directed Audio 2-amp wiring kit, 4 Gauge power wire off battery to a fuse block 1 ft away, then run all along the length of the car to another fused distribution block in the back. From that distribution block it goes to an 8 gauge power wire to the amp. 4 Gauge ground wire from the [-] terminal on the battery to a part of the chassis 1ft away, secured firmly with a bolt. Ground wire from amp is 8 Gauge, 1.5ft cable, also firmly secured with a bolt into the chassis. Filed away paint on the chassis and got to bare metal on both grounds. My RCA cables from the head unit are run on the opposite side of the car than where I ran the power wire. Ummm... speakers are now running on either 14 or 16 Gauge wire, not sure which it is - but its not the flimsy cheap stock crap that comes in the car.




The Problem:
Just bout two new amps, an Orion 4004 and Orion 3002. I had the 4 Channel one hooked up to my speakers, and if I ran it for more than 40 mins it would simply stop giving me any output on my speakers, and after about 3 mins it would come back on. Then after playing for another 10 mins, it'd cut off again. Repeat process of cooling for 3 mins... play another 10. Etc, Etc, Etc. The amp is mounted in the trunk of my car, nothing is sitting on top of it or piled around it that would be causing it to heat up and get so hot. And when I say hot, I mean if I touch it for more than a second it would burn me. I'm guessing that temperature would be about 190 degrees F... considering the "Troubleshooting Tips" in the install book for the amp says thermal protection engages when amp heatsink temp exceeds 190. And their solution to this problem is make sure the amp has plenty of room to breathe... which if you ask me, it does.

I just bought these recently, so I went back to the place I bought them and asked why it was doing that - they didn't seem to give too much help. They put a multimeter up to the connections to make sure I didn't have a short on any of my speaker wiring or anything like that, and it all was ok. They recommended me shortening my ground wire from the amp (it was about 5ft). So, I shortened it to 1.5-2ft, and they said if that didn't fix it, then we'd send it off to Orion. Shortened the ground wire, still got the same problem. So we boxed it back up and sent it to Orion two days ago.

Because this left me audio-less in my car for the time being, I decided that I could just throw my 2 Channel 300W amp in there, and use it to just power my rear speakers so I'd at least have some music. So, I took it out of the box, put 'er in the trunk, hooked up the cables, and yay I got me music again. So today I was like well... it feels kind of hot after running for about 20 mins - I wonder if it'll do the same thing the other amp was doing. Sure enough, after about an hour it cut out and was burning hot.

Now, I've searched a few different forums and noticed that most similar problems are related to crappy amps which run extremely hot and cut out, or trying to power a lower impedance than the amps are rated (usually those posts are more related to subs, and people not having problems with their amps just powering their front/rear speakers...) But - I dont think either of these problems are what I am running into. So - if anybody has any ideas, please, throw them at me.

b00gers

It doesnt look like an impedance problem, since you arent bridging the amp and the speakers are 4 OHM each. Do you have the gains set very high on the amp? Maybe you are working it harder than it really need to? What about the location of the amp, are you putting the heatsink to work? Is there air flow around the amp? Most importantly, is the sun hitting the amp? One last question, when you are playing music for that hour...how loud are you playing it?

Other than location, I am kinda lost about this also :thinking:

AceMc03

Amp is located in the trunk of my car so sun surely isn't hitting the amp. It's sitting flat (not upside down causing the heatsinks to not properly function). Nothing around it/on top of it/etc that would cause problems either. As far as air flow, I dont have any AC vents in my trunk so there really isn't much air circulating around in there.

When playing music... I'm listening to it at a fairly loud volume level usually. I define fairly loud as if the windows are down then you can hear it within 10 ft or so of the car at a soft level (not too soft / you can still distinguish what music is playing).

Gain settings... maybe that is the main source of my problem? Not sure. The head unit puts out 4v preouts... The amp gain controls adjust from 200mv to 5v. Ive got it turned up approximately 2/3 the way (and when I say turned up, I mean if I were to have it at 3/4 the way or fully turned up, the music would play louder)

b00gers

Just as a test...try putting down your backseat to get some air in the trunk. Hows the weather where you are located?

AceMc03

Car is white if that's of any worth too Weather is 85-90 bout this time of the year.


Gain setting seem like its in approximately the right position?

b00gers

Maybe those Orion amps are really sensative to hot weather h: Does this happen at night also?

AceMc03

yep, also happens at night...

b00gers

I am out of ideas.

Same thing happen if you use that amp to power the front speakers? Try that, but keep the gains very low? :dunno:

AceMc03

i turned the gains down a bit more... i'm making a 2.5 hour drive tonight, it sure would be lovely if i had music that didnt cut off about 1/2 way there and then cycles off every 10 minutes after that - so I may turn the gains down a little bit more than I did last night.

I'll also fold down the seats to get some air flowing back in there too & see if that helps.

03cbr600f4iguy

i have a rockford fosgate amp, sometimes have the same problem. only during the day. but its over 100 degrees here most of the time now. when i put the rear seats down, no problems at all. it only happens very rarely for me though. i have my amp mounted on the back of my sub box, with about 1/2 inch spacers between the box and the amp. my solution is to go to a computer place, get a couple little fans,(small ones that go on the processor for a computer) and hook them up in between the amp and box to help air flow. dont know if this will help you any, but maybe it will give you an idea.