amp heat

[insanepolack]

does anyone here run there rca cables under the amp for cosmetic reasons. I would like to but i am not sure if it will get to hot and melt or ruin the cables in some way

[insanepolack]

when the amp gets really hot does it cause distortion?

[insanepolack]

if not what causes speaker distortion from the amp? Is it just the amp?

[mmandley]

Distortion can come from a lot of things.

Amp over heating, bad connections, weak power to the amp, bad ground, cheap RCAs, low quality amp, gain turned to high, bad speakers.

No many things but as for running the RCAs under the amp, i wouldnt run them directly under the amp but along the side or the top and bottom edges so there just under the side.

I wouldn't risk pinching the RCAs.

I would check your ground, then double check all the speaker connections, does this distortion happen all the time? Just when at high volume? Or does it only happen after playing the stereo for longer periods of time?

Best thing to do is list amp type, speaker type, gain settings, bass and treble settings, Razz and or Newty or one of the other stereo gu roos can figure it out but they arnt online right now. They generally show up in a few more hours.

[Razzman]

I'm around! I'n sure Newty will be here soon as well. :p

Insane, what exactly is the issue your having? Let's start with a rundown of all the equipment make & model and how your setup. Distortion comes in many forms and can be cause by many things so try and explain the scenario best you can as i what circumstances does the problem occur in?

[alex56]

may i suggest if you want to run it under the amp. run the RCA through a tubing that is rated for high heat, just behind the amp. if your worried about distortion it should work considering the amp just supercharges the signal and gives off power and the RCA's just feed the signal from the deck. should work

[newty]

Thats one of the oldest tricks to keeping things clean. I would not hesitate to run them under them under the amp. If your amp gets hot enough to melt your rca's then you have bigger problems than rca's. Just be sure not to pinch them or make any really tight turns under the amp.

We really need to know what you set-up is. Deck amps speakers etc. to really know how to diagnose any problems. Most likely is you have the speakers really underpowered or you have way to much bass run to them.
The easiest thing to do is turn the bass down on the interiors and then see if the distortion decreases at all. I you have an amp run to the interiors most likely its not an underpowering issue.

Give us an idea what your running.

[insanepolack]

i got a pioneer deh-p4100 UB head unit. polk momo speakers. and clarion apx490M amp.

I know you guys don't like clarion amps so we will get that over with now ;)

it was happening after a couple minutes of playing time i guess pretty loud. the amp was really hot with the sun beating down on it aswell. anyways i already checked all the wiring and i do have good rca cables.

after i turned down the volume a little it would still distort.

but i may have fixed the problem i think i set the gains too high because when i reset the gains it stopped well distorting lol.

but i now have another problem. i took the boat out and am getting a ton of alternator noise and other feedback from the engine running. i moved the rca cables as far from the power cords as i could but it still made that whining sound. all the power cords are nice and tight with good connections. so now i am wondering if i need an inline noise filter or is there any other tricks out there.

[newty]

You need to be at least 6" away fro power but you can cross the two @ 90 degrees. Make sense. Check your ground for secure connections as well that will cause noise, and try switching rcs outouts on the deck. Hate to say it but as decks start to go bad engine nose will progress. You can try a ground loop isolator (noise filter) if those don't work.
good luck.

[insanepolack]

i am factoring out the deck since it is actually brand new. i figure it might the ground and the rca cables.

[Razzman]

I'm with Newty on this. Check & double check the grounds. How is your power & ground cables run? Dist block? Fuse? What brand of RCA's? I'm a firm believer in the best cables you can buy. Definately discount the Pioneer, i have the same HU and it's great without any issues at all.

[insanepolack]

the rca cables are stinger not the absolute best but they are decent with the twisted wires instead of straight wires. I went with stinger because at the time I was not willing to spend $80 for the best rca cables.e

Both positive and negative leads are run directly to the battery which is like a foot away from the amp. Maybe that is causing some issues?

For now I will stick to the ground and see if that is the problem.

[insanepolack]

if the ground is causing the noise where else can i ground the amp. ie. where is the ground block on an 04 outback.

[mmandley]

If you have the ground ran directly to the battery and its a solid connection, the other points to check are..

Check make sure Neg terminals are tight

Make sure where the ground hits the engine its tight

Make sure ground connections from the HU are good and tight.

If this all looks good then it can be internal to the Amp. It could have an internally bad ground or a lack of shielding.

[newty]

The best ground is the battery. I'm guessing bad amp. Clarions especially the older ones had what they call a "floating ground" not sure what that means but I do know they are more suseptible to engine noise. Do you have another amp you can hook up temporarily to rule ou the amp?

one other noise supression trick is to run an additional ground from the deck to the amp.

[Northofthe49th]

Hey guys thanks for the help the insane guy is my kid
We just finished checking all the grounds and moved some positive and negs around to
eliminate any chance of interferance so RCA's are nowhere near the the power cables
Since I can't run the boat in the driveway
We ran the blower and the bilge
We still got electrical interferance whine quite loud as well
I just sent him to circuit/source to pick up some isolator loops
Should these go to the amp side ???
Starting to get worried about a bad amp
we'll let you know in a bit what happens
crossing fingers
It sounds great when nothing is running
but as soon as you turn something on it whines

[Northofthe49th]

Are there any settings on the amp that could have an effect ????

[newty]

Oh one other thing that was brought up earlier that may be more likely is a battery issue. My MB made a terrible whine when the batteries started getting low on juice. That would explain why it started happening and got worse the more you played it. Give that battery a quick charge and see what happens. Some amps are designed to shut down at lower voltages 10-10.5v vs. others are designed to S/D at higher voltage to limit distortion and noise, around 11-11.5v. When you have really low voltage the signal being processed through the amp degrades and you will have all kinds of issues ie. whine/distortion.

Where do you have the amp turn-on lead wired from? Is the whine only when the blower is on or is it when the motor runs too?

[insanepolack]

Battery always had a full charge.

I think I GOT IT :) , a ground loop isolator did the trick. There is no whine when I turned the blower on. The true test will be in the water with the motor running.

Is there a way to fix this problem without a ground loop isolator?

[insanepolack]

Most of you guys run higher end kicker amps, have you ever had this problem?

If you haven't my guess is the higher end amps may have an internal ground loop isolator??

[newty]

Could be. Any time you have an amp with a floating ground they like to make nosie. I'm not sure how old you amp is or whether it has a floating ground.

Good deal either way, if it stopped the blower noise it prolly fixed the motor noise.

[Razzman]

I've never had this issue with any of my systems, but then i only run quality amps and components too for reliabilty and lack of issues. Imo the Kickers are the best bang for the buck!

[insanepolack]

Well i jumped the gun :( . It take away 95% of the noise but it completely destroyed sound quality. They are just cheap nexxtech crap. The isolators completely replace the rca cables which I did not want. I think I will look for some high quality ground loop isolators online if I can't fix the problem directly.

[insanepolack]

Okay I finally got on the right track that made a huge impact :). The HU's ground was to a wire which, I think led to the fuse box. Anyway I moved the HU'S ground straight to the battery I also checked the main grounds again and tightened everything up. Unfortunaetly I still got a hum/whine when I turned on the blower but I can easily drown that noise out.

I am praying when I take it out on the water that there will be no noise from the engine running.

Thanks for all your help :)