Amp in protection mode

[bay_niner]

Hey guys new to the forums thanks for any help in advance. I've been having a problem with my system I've been tryin to hook up ok so it is real simple just one 12 kicker comp vr and a crunch amp rated at 1100 watts peak everything is new, so my problem is when I connect the RCA cables into the amp it goes into protection mode If I disconnect the remote to amp and reset it with RCA already connected it does not go into protection mode but my sub does not play at all, at first I had a used mrs amp and this was happening so purchased a New Amp I've checked all wiring numerous times even went and bought a new amp kit today to see if that was the problem but still no luck, also sometimes if I have the amp on and connect the RCA cables the fuse on amp blows out I've been stuck for almost a week now with no luck have yet to hear the sub hit, I have installed several systems in the past and have never had this problem any and all help would be greatly appreciated thanks

[Scanyland]

Check the HU, maybe something is wrong at that end, the HU could have bad preouts or it could be grounded inproperly.

[basicxj]

Originally Posted by bay_niner Hey guys new to the forums thanks for any help in advance. I've been having a problem with my system I've been tryin to hook up ok so it is real simple just one 12 kicker comp vr and a crunch amp rated at 1100 watts peak everything is new, so my problem is when I connect the RCA cables into the amp it goes into protection mode If I disconnect the remote to amp and reset it with RCA already connected it does not go into protection mode but my sub does not play at all, at first I had a used mrs amp and this was happening so purchased a New Amp I've checked all wiring numerous times even went and bought a new amp kit today to see if that was the problem but still no luck, also sometimes if I have the amp on and connect the RCA cables the fuse on amp blows out I've been stuck for almost a week now with no luck have yet to hear the sub hit, I have installed several systems in the past and have never had this problem any and all help would be greatly appreciated thanks

What exact model sub are we talking about? SVC? DVC? 4 ohm? (post link)

What exact amp are we talking about? mono amp? 2 channel? (post link)

How do you have the sub's voice coils wired?

Two different amps going into protect mode in the same install with the same sub? Time to break out the digital multimeter and start troubleshooting .

(if you don't have a DMM, a decent enough one can be had @ Sears for as little as $20)

You'll want to set your meter to resistance (Ω) and test between your chosen grounding point and chassis ground (you want as close to zero or the smallest fraction of an ohm possible), test across the speaker terminals at the enclosure from the voice coil(s) (you want to compare against the nominal impedance spec from the manufacturer- anything as low as a fraction of an ohm will be treated as a short).

[bay_niner]

Hey guys thanks for the help i thought it might be the head unit aswell but its new how would i go about testing it.

Here are some links to the equipment i am trying to set up its a kicker comp vr 400 watts rms 800 peak http://www.kicker.com/compvr_aluminized

Here a link to the amp it is a crunch p 1100.2 2 channel amp 1100 watts peak http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...h+P1100.2.html i know its a cheap amp but my mtx wasnt working and this was on sale at frys.

I have all this wired with 4 gauge wiring kit i do not have a voltage reader will try and get my hands on one, i would really like to get this sub up and running as i have not heard it once since it was purchased new, the thing i dont get is why is it that when the amp is on and i connect the rca it goes into protection mode but the light isnt real dark like normal its a little dim and also if i disconect the power to the amp and connect the rca cable and power up the amp it doesnt go into protect mode but i get no sound at all i have the sub wired in parallel.

[basicxj]

Originally Posted by bay_niner Hey guys thanks for the help i thought it might be the head unit aswell but its new how would i go about testing it. Here are some links to the equipment i am trying to set up its a kicker comp vr 400 watts rms 800 peak http://www.kicker.com/compvr_aluminized Here a link to the amp it is a crunch p 1100.2 2 channel amp 1100 watts peak http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...h+P1100.2.html i know its a cheap amp but my mtx wasnt working and this was on sale at frys. I have all this wired with 4 gauge wiring kit i do not have a voltage reader will try and get my hands on one, i would really like to get this sub up and running as i have not heard it once since it was purchased new, the thing i dont get is why is it that when the amp is on and i connect the rca it goes into protection mode but the light isnt real dark like normal its a little dim and also if i disconect the power to the amp and connect the rca cable and power up the amp it doesnt go into protect mode but i get no sound at all i have the sub wired in parallel.

Do you have the 2 channel Crunch amp bridged to mono?

The sub you have is DVC 4 ohm, correct? How do you have it wired to the amp?

Most 2 channel amps will only be stable with a load of 4 ohms or higher when bridged, and your Crunch is no exception. According to your link, it will put out 112.5 watts x 2 RMS in stereo @ 4 ohms, 275 watts x 2 @ 2 ohms, or 550 watts x 1 @ 4 ohms when bridged. The amp isn't optimum for a dvc 4 ohm sub, and if you have the sub's voice coils wired in parallel for a 2 ohm load to that amp bridged, it will see the lower load as a short and go into protect mode.

If you are going to make that amp work with that sub, use a "Y splitter" to sum the output of the subwoofer RCAs from your head unit and send a mono signal to the amplifier, then wire each voice coil to it's own amp channel with the amp running in stereo mode but sending an identical signal to each coil.

[bay_niner]

Hey Thanks for the help yes I do have the sub wired in parallel, if the sub is 4 ohms and the amp can be bridged at 4 ohms 550 watts x 1 shouldn't I be able to hook it up to the amp without any problems , what is the purpose of the y splitter also why can't I connect each one to it's own channel without the y splitter thanks

[basicxj]

Originally Posted by bay_niner Hey Thanks for the help yes I do have the sub wired in parallel, if the sub is 4 ohms and the amp can be bridged at 4 ohms 550 watts x 1 shouldn't I be able to hook it up to the amp without any problems , what is the purpose of the y splitter also why can't I connect each one to it's own channel without the y splitter thanks

Your dual 4 ohm voice coil sub can be wired in parallel for a 2 ohm load (too low a load for the amp to be stable with) or in series for an 8 ohm load (where your amp will give you about half the power you need). You can't wire that sub to present a 4 ohm load, and as you've witnessed first hand, the Crunch amp- heck, most 2 channel amps won't like a 2 ohm load when bridged .

The reason for the Y-splitter? You want both coils on a DVC sub to be playing the same signal. If you take a stereo signal from your head unit's RCA output and send it straight to the amp, then wire each coil to it's own stereo channel, there will be times where you are wasting power and the magnetic fields on each voice coil are cancelling out one another (which means more heat and less bass). You'll want each coil to see the same signal as the other for the best performance, and that means summing the signal you send to the amp in mono. You may be able to do that with certain head units, but if not then you'll want to use a Y-splitter.

http://www.adireaudio.com/Files/Dual...oilDrivers.pdf

^^ some reading for you.

You can do whatever you want- it's your gear, but you'll damage the amp with a 2 ohm load that's lower than it can safely handle, and have worse performance sending a stereo signal to two coils on the same sub than you would with a mono signal.

[bay_niner]

Thanks for the help I appreciate I will get a y splitter were would I connet that to the stereo sub outlet? Also how many watts would the sub be getting this way thanks

[basicxj]

Originally Posted by bay_niner Thanks for the help I appreciate I will get a y splitter were would I connet that to the stereo sub outlet? Also how many watts would the sub be getting this way thanks

What head unit do you have? Does it have a pair of dedicated sub pre-outs on the back?

The sub will be getting about 225 watts combined into both coils. Heck- if you wired the coils in series at 8 ohms and bridged the sub it would probably work out to about the same amount of power, but the amp would be able to handle the 8 ohm load bridged.

Crunch tends to overrate their amps (which is one reason why they get slagged on and aren't held in high regard), so you may see less than that in reality.

[reddude157]

when you run an amp in bridged mode only one rca input on the amp gets a signal and it's uselly the right side rca input and that's the only one you need to hook up if you want to do what basic is saying he's really giving you good info

[bay_niner]

I have pioneer head unit and yes it has one subwoofer outlet left and right .so if I wire the sub in series to get 8ohms would I still need the splitter how does the splitter work would I connect the single one to the head unit and then the rca to the double side and then normal to the amp sorry for the newbie questions I've installed a lot of systems in the past but have never encounterd this problem. Also I know crunch isn't great but it was cheap on sale I have an mtx just got it back today was getting checked because was going into protction mode but diff problem anyway they said the sub outlets were fried 150 bucks to repair it told them hell no, and again thanks for your help I appreciate it

[basicxj]

Originally Posted by bay_niner I have pioneer head unit and yes it has one subwoofer outlet left and right .so if I wire the sub in series to get 8ohms would I still need the splitter how does the splitter work would I connect the single one to the head unit and then the rca to the double side and then normal to the amp sorry for the newbie questions I've installed a lot of systems in the past but have never encounterd this problem. Also I know crunch isn't great but it was cheap on sale I have an mtx just got it back today was getting checked because was going into protction mode but diff problem anyway they said the sub outlets were fried 150 bucks to repair it told them hell no, and again thanks for your help I appreciate it

If you want to run the amp bridged with an 8 ohm load, use the one input (no Y-splitters) as spelled out by reddude in post #10.

[bay_niner]

Will it make a diff in sound quality or the amount of watts I will be getting if I do the 8ohms or use the y splitter I already purchased the y splitter but if it's not needed or won't make a difference I can return It. How would I go about connecting the y splitter is it the single end to stereo n the double to RCA n then to amp

[reddude157]

the y connector should have two female ends which your rca's from the hu go to and then the single male goes to the amp usally the right input on the amp your amp prob will run cooler with an 8 ohm load and not draw as much as many amps as say in a two ohm mode but that is not a bad thing it is a good thing both channels are what 110 rms into 4ohms so bridge they might be 550 into 4ohms so 8 ohms bridged you will see about 250 there won't be that much dif it might sound better with the 8 ohm load remember that sub will never make that amp do it full rated power because you can't wire it sub to amp so that amp will see a 4 ohm load bridged and don't just wire up only one vc unless you want to see the magic smoke from your sub

[bay_niner]

Ok again thanks for all the help I will try this set up tomorrow, what type of subs would be good with this amp does it need to be 2 ohms to get full power from amp