Kicker 700.5 Going in to Protect Mode - No sound from cabin speakers

[Poison]

Gents, I need a little bit of help troubleshooting. First off, the tower speakers are working properly (Kicker HLCDs fed off a kicker 500.2). The cabin speakers (6 of the original Kenwoods that came from the factory) and sub (stock kenwood) are fed from a Kicker 700.5. The 2 bow speakers are each on a channel and 4 rear cabin speakers are wired in parallel on two channels with the sub on its own channel.

Yesterday, the cabin speakers did not work. I looked inside and saw the red light flashing on the 700.5. I had kids waiting to wakeboard so I turned off the stereo and waited on troubleshooting. Today, I went to check it out and had the same thing. The amp is intermittent at best. It worked for about 5 seconds when I turned it on and them the red light started flashing indicating protect mode. It will come on intermittently for about 1 second out of 10 then the lights start flashing again.

I assume one of the speakers is bad. This happened a few years ago with the tower speakers when I was running the stock setup of kenwood coaxials (same speakers in the tower that I still have in the cabin). I actually still have 3 replacements in the attic from when I swapped the tower out for the kickers. My question is, how do I test the speakers adequately? Can I just put the multimeter on and check for the proper resistance (ohms)?

I have made no other change to the system and the amp seems to be getting adequate power (will verify tomorrow). Is there anything else I should be checking? What is the proper procedure to determine if I have a bad speaker or a faulty amplifier? I'll start messing with it in the morning. I guess I can just start swapping speakers but there must be a better way to test them.

As always, thanks for the help. You guys rock.

[moombahighrider]

Gents, I need a little bit of help troubleshooting. First off, the tower speakers are working properly (Kicker HLCDs fed off a kicker 500.2). The cabin speakers (6 of the original Kenwoods that came from the factory) and sub (stock kenwood) are fed from a Kicker 700.5. The 2 bow speakers are each on a channel and 4 rear cabin speakers are wired in parallel on two channels with the sub on its own channel.

Yesterday, the cabin speakers did not work. I looked inside and saw the red light flashing on the 700.5. I had kids waiting to wakeboard so I turned off the stereo and waited on troubleshooting. Today, I went to check it out and had the same thing. The amp is intermittent at best. It worked for about 5 seconds when I turned it on and them the red light started flashing indicating protect mode. It will come on intermittently for about 1 second out of 10 then the lights start flashing again.

I assume one of the speakers is bad. This happened a few years ago with the tower speakers when I was running the stock setup of kenwood coaxials (same speakers in the tower that I still have in the cabin). I actually still have 3 replacements in the attic from when I swapped the tower out for the kickers. My question is, how do I test the speakers adequately? Can I just put the multimeter on and check for the proper resistance (ohms)?

I have made no other change to the system and the amp seems to be getting adequate power (will verify tomorrow). Is there anything else I should be checking? What is the proper procedure to determine if I have a bad speaker or a faulty amplifier? I'll start messing with it in the morning. I guess I can just start swapping speakers but there must be a better way to test them.

As always, thanks for the help. You guys rock.

First test is remove wires from amp to speaker and use a meter to test ohm load on each speaker.

[MLA]

You can also disconnect all the speaker wires and then RCA cables, one at a time and see if the amp returns to normal mode. Just be sure to power the system down and then back up when making the disconnects. if you have proper voltage at the main terminals and the amp stays in protect mode with nothing else connected, then the issue is internal of the amp.

[Poison]

It is the subwoofer. Disconnected the RCAs and the other cabin speakers worked fine.

If I dial down the gain on the sub the amp does not go into protect and it still functions. When I put it back to where it was it instantly goes into protect.

I am reading 12.8 volts at the amp power source.


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[Poison]

If I dial down the gain on the sub the amp does not go into protect and it still functions. When I put it back to where it was it instantly goes into protect.

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To clarify, this is after I plugged the subwoofer RCAs back in.


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[MLA]

So amp work fine with woofer disconnected. Reconnected, you can prevent protect mode by turning down the woofer gain? Where is it set at in terms of clock position or %? I would dig deeper into a possible woofer issue. Unless you are certain the gain has been turned up recently, prior to the issue?

[Poison]

So amp work fine with woofer disconnected. Reconnected, you can prevent protect mode by turning down the woofer gain? Where is it set at in terms of clock position or %? I would dig deeper into a possible woofer issue. Unless you are certain the gain has been turned up recently, prior to the issue?

Correct. I turned it up at the beginning of the season.

Here is where it is now. Before the issue it was 3 clicks to the right...halfway between the current tick mark and the next. I'll assume that is too high in your experience?

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[MLA]

Too high too low is relative. Some unknowns here so really cant say. However, I typically dont get concerned about gain levels until we get past 50%. The other tuning adjustments as well as the pre-amp level will play into the gain level, not to mention the speaker and how its loaded. Cross over looks a little low.

[Poison]

Understood. I get that most of this is relative...I've followed these forums long enough to know I don't know much.:cool:

The sub is the stock 10" Kenwood that came with the boat. Loaded directly into the kick panel and not properly enclosed. It is as old as the boat (10 years) and not a marine speaker so if it is going, I guess it has had a pretty good run.

25970
25971

Also, is there a rule of thumb for the LPF? About what would you expect to see?

[TrueKaotik]

80-100Hz depending on woofer.

[David Analog]

So you have a non-infinite baffle subwoofer being used in an IB application but without front to rear acoustic isolation. By now the woofer's spider is probably completely fatigued and shot. So the subwoofer is not getting any type of control damping, not acoustically, not mechanically, and only electrically from the amplifier, which isn't near enough. This would certainly invite failure.
Given these circumstances, the bass boost should be zero, the lowpass crossover point should be inordinately high (perhaps 120 Hz.), and the gain should be modest.
But it may be too late. Given that the amplifier is going into protection so soon and easily, you may be well beyond fixing it by simply changing the settings.
At this time you should fully inspect the subwoofer. Voice coil contact (rubbing, scrapping). The DCR, which should be about 80% of the rated impedance. And perhaps more conclusive would be to beg for or borrow a known and enclosed subwoofer to use as a temporary substitute.
Then, with a test sub, whether or not the amplifier continues to go into protection would be a strong indication as to where the true problem lies.

[Poison]

So you have a non-infinite baffle subwoofer being used in an IB application but without front to rear acoustic isolation. By now the woofer's spider is probably completely fatigued and shot. So the subwoofer is not getting any type of control damping, not acoustically, not mechanically, and only electrically from the amplifier, which isn't near enough. This would certainly invite failure.
Given these circumstances, the bass boost should be zero, the lowpass crossover point should be inordinately high (perhaps 120 Hz.), and the gain should be modest.
But it may be too late. Given that the amplifier is going into protection so soon and easily, you may be well beyond fixing it by simply changing the settings.
At this time you should fully inspect the subwoofer. Voice coil contact (rubbing, scrapping). The DCR, which should be about 80% of the rated impedance. And perhaps more conclusive would be to beg for or borrow a known and enclosed subwoofer to use as a temporary substitute.
Then, with a test sub, whether or not the amplifier continues to go into protection would be a strong indication as to where the true problem lies.

Now I'm infinitely baffled.

In all honesty I was planning to do a new sub anyway. That level of troubleshooting above visual inspection is going to be past the limit of what I can accomplish in any reasonable amount of time.

I contacted the local wetsounds dealer about a possible tower upgrade in the fall and I may just add that to the list. Stuff just gets pricey fast.... I just want to be able to hear the music at wakeboard range and in the boat. I fly a military aircraft with 8 engines for a living...my hearing is not that good.

Thanks for the help. I'll try to pull it and take a look.


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