amp turns off at high volume. i dont know how to fix this.

[ItalianBonez718]

Hello,

i have two power acoustic mofo 12's and a power acoustick bamf 5500 attached to a aftermarket headunit (i cannot remember what it is called but it is brand new). everything was professionally installed because honestly i dont know what im doing enough to risk blowing all of that equipment up. my problem is that when i turn up the music to half of what it can do (30 out of 50) the amp turns off for a few seconds, goes into protectoin mode and if i immediatly turn down the music or the amp it will turn right back on as if nothing happened. when i turn the gain down this helps but it still turns off only at a higher volume with a much lower bass response. also i noticed that when i turn the bass knob on the amp from half way to full there is very VERY little diffrence in the sound. could the problem be that the amp is too weak to power both those subs at the same time at high volume? do i need another sub?

they are in a ported inclosure and i have a mid 90's maxima if that matters. i just got a new battery and the alternator is the stock one as far as i know.

here are links to my actual equipment.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...MOFO-122X.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...MF55001-D.html

Thank guys

[Jimi77]

You can have up to five problems:

1) My guess is the gain is turned up too high and you're clipping the hell out of the amp so it shuts down. This is the most likely problem and you solve it by turning down the gain, the volume, the bass controls, bass boost, loudness, etc.

2) Asking your alternator to produce 3000 watts is unrealistic. Because the alternator cannot produce enough current for the amp, you get a voltage drop and the amps shuts off. You need to upgrade the big three and should probably consider a high output alternator, although many high output alternators actually put out fewer amps, so you won't be able to boom at idle/low RPMs (isn't that a shame ). Sometimes a smaller alt pulley can fix the problem. You may have to look into adding a battery or at least upgrading to a battery that can meet your high current demands.

3) If you have dual 2 ohms subs wired paralell/paralell, then you have a 1/2 load which is too low for that amp. Hopefully you have the subs wired series/paralell for a 2 ohm load, which would fine that amp and those subs. You need to check which version of the subs you have and how they are wired. JLAudio.com and 12volt.com have wiring tutorials that can help you.

4) Power Acoustics is crap, so the amp may not be "very" 1 ohm stable (that's assuming you have the dual 4 ohm version of that sub) so the amp shuts down when stressed. You may be better off running the amp at 2 ohms or you can just turn the gain down until the shut down problem goes away.

5) Lastly, those craptacular subs may present too low of a load even if wired properly and the proper (dual 4 ohm) version. This isn't incredibly uncommon and you just have to turn down the gain.



to the PA amp for protecting itself from a nuclear meltdown.

[jrouter76]

Originally Posted by Jimi77 You can have up to five problems: 1) My guess is the gain is turned up too high and you're clipping the hell out of the amp so it shuts down. This is the most likely problem and you solve it by turning down the gain, the volume, the bass controls, bass boost, loudness, etc. 2) Asking your alternator to produce 3000 watts is unrealistic. Because the alternator cannot produce enough current for the amp, you get a voltage drop and the amps shuts off. You need to upgrade the big three and should probably consider a high output alternator, although many high output alternators actually put out fewer amps, so you won't be able to boom at idle/low RPMs (isn't that a shame ). Sometimes a smaller alt pulley can fix the problem. You may have to look into adding a battery or at least upgrading to a battery that can meet your high current demands. 3) If you have dual 2 ohms subs wired paralell/paralell, then you have a 1/2 load which is too low for that amp. Hopefully you have the subs wired series/paralell for a 2 ohm load, which would fine that amp and those subs. You need to check which version of the subs you have and how they are wired. JLAudio.com and 12volt.com have wiring tutorials that can help you. 4) Power Acoustics is crap, so the amp may not be "very" 1 ohm stable (that's assuming you have the dual 4 ohm version of that sub) so the amp shuts down when stressed. You may be better off running the amp at 2 ohms or you can just turn the gain down until the shut down problem goes away. 5) Lastly, those craptacular subs may present too low of a load even if wired properly and the proper (dual 4 ohm) version. This isn't incredibly uncommon and you just have to turn down the gain. to the PA amp for protecting itself from a nuclear meltdown.

Or it could be a Grounding problem,I had that same problem but it was`nt with that equipment he is running,mine was SI subs Kicker amps Alpine HU and Stinget wiring I double checked my connections and found out that it was loose at the amp, tighten it up and no more problem...that would be how I would start to troubleshoot first before checking the other things you suggested which could be the problem.

[only126db]

Since you had it installed take it back and ask them whats wrong.

It could be 100 different things.

[ItalianBonez718]

i will check the grounds tommorow. as far as bringing it back to him i was waiting until i had money to get my radio fixed (the antenna is busted i think) and i was going to have him check it out then, just so i dont have to make extra trips. just a random shot in the dark though, do you think that it would help if i buy another amp? im thinking maybe the subs are drawing too much power and since the amp cant supply it safely it just shuts itself down. i had him check the alternator voltage one time while it turned off and he said it was good and that it didnt drop nearly enough for it to affect the amp.

[basicxj]

Originally Posted by ItalianBonez718 i will check the grounds tommorow.

Sounds like a plan.

Originally Posted by ItalianBonez718 as far as bringing it back to him i was waiting until i had money to get my radio fixed (the antenna is busted i think) and i was going to have him check it out then, just so i dont have to make extra trips.

If your skill level in diagnosing and troubleshooting the problem isn't up to the level it needs to be, its probably a good idea to give the vendor/installer a chance to fix what is wrong and correct the problem before you spend more of your money blindly.

Originally Posted by ItalianBonez718 just a random shot in the dark though, do you think that it would help if i buy another amp? im thinking maybe the subs are drawing too much power and since the amp cant supply it safely it just shuts itself down. i had him check the alternator voltage one time while it turned off and he said it was good and that it didnt drop nearly enough for it to affect the amp.

Subwoofers will not draw power- they will simply react to the power being provided based on the load they present due to how their coils are wired up...amplifiers draw power based on their design, the load they see and the voltage they are provided with.

Do you have an abundance of money to throw at the problem by switching amplifiers, even if the new amp might be affected by the same situation that is causing your current amp to be unreliable? I would have the original installer go over the system before spending another dime.

[Jimi77]

Why bother switching amps when turning down the gain will accomplish the same thing.

[Adcom]

Originally Posted by ItalianBonez718 im thinking maybe the subs are drawing too much power and since the amp cant supply it safely it just shuts itself down.

It's not the that amp can't supply the power, it's that your alternator can't supply the power. Unless you get a high output alt. you'll never be able to blast your system at full volume.