AMP AND SUB

[RYAN]

JUST ADDED A AMP AND 12INCH SUB TO MY BOAT AND THE AMP JUST SHUTS OFF AFTER I TURN UP THE VOLUME TO JUST ABOVE HALF. I CALLED A AUDIO SHOP AND THEY RECEMENDED TO GROUND THE AMP DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY WHICH I DID AND STILL, IT DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. ANY IDEAS?

[JesseC]

Are you having this problem while the boat is runnning or are you just testing in the garage?

[RYAN]

JUST TESTING IT IN THE GARAGE.

[JesseC]

Check the voltage on your battery. A lot of amps and radios will cut themselves off when the voltage on the battery drops below a certain point. Put a trickle charger on the battery for about 24 hours and test the amp again (Be sure to unhook all wires on the battery first!). Another possibility is that the gains are too high on the amp. Where are the gains set, how many subs are wired to it, what are the ohm loads on the sub(s), what gauge of wire did you use for the power and ground, how long is the ground wire? All of these may be contributing factors to the amp cutting off. When the amp does cut out, what do the status lights on the amp do, do they cut off, blink, etc....

Last question, do the speakers in the boat cut out as well or just the sub and are the speakers in the boat amped?

[RYAN]

I HAVE JUST ONE AMP WITH ONE SUB, WIRED AS A BRIDGE, ITS A 4 GAUGE WIRE THAT IS MAYBE 5 FEET LONG, THE OTHER SPEAKERS WORK JUST FINE WHEN IT SHUTS OFF, THE LIGHT ON THE AMP SHUT OFF TOTALLY, I DID BUY A NEW BATTERY AND IT STILL HAS THE PROBLEM, I ADJUSTED THE GAINS THE LOWEST LEVEL WITH OUT ANY CHANGE. IT IS A 4 OHM SUB.

[ian ashton]

Put the boat in water and turn the radio up with the engine running. As Jesse said it definately sounds like a low-voltage problem. Another way to test it would be to put your battery on a charger (like a 20amp charge) and turn it up.

Another issue could be that the amp is not rated to run bridged at 4 ohms (which seems unlikely.) What amp are you running, and to what sub?

[jdsharpe57]

Ryan,

my $.02 which may be worth just that. a few months ago we purchased a new Reciever for our surround sound in the house. I spent all day running wires, and hooking everything up only for me to turn on the reciever and watch it turn off at about half volume as well. Long story short and I know it sounds silly but check every wire and connection point to make sure that every wire is properly connected and in tact. I had my Front left speaker wire slightly exposed to a grounding point on the Floor speaker itself in the back. I properly hooked it up and never had the problem again! I know we're talking about amps and Subs and not Recievers and Surround sound systems but check it out. Hope it helps.

[RYAN]

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP, JUST GOT IT UP AND RUNNING WITH ALL THE INPUT. THANKS AGAIN RYAN......

[zabooda]

Ryan can you share how the problem was fixed?

[JoeTechie]

Ryan...

Just some help:






-Joe