Ok guys please come thru for me this time? When I check the amps power in the back, they are only reading that around half a volt is reaching them? I ran a seperate power wire just to see if that was the problem but that wasnt it either. When I used one of the amps as a ground and checked to make sure the wire was hot back there it read around 13/14 so I assume the ground is good, but when I connect that same wire to the amp it goes back to the half a volt? If somehow I fried both amps at the same time would that cause them not to ground properly? Please any help would be great!

Thanks in advance,
Rich

 

I'm confused, need some more information about what you are talking about...

Stock units? aftermarket? did you run all the power wires from the battery? Remove turn on? ground to a scraped surface? etc...

 

Sorry about that, I kinda jumped in the middle there. I installed 2 bazooka EL 1500 amps ( each 385 RMS x 1 @ 4 OHMS or 500 RMS X 1 @ 2 OHMS 600 WATTS MAX ) and 2 DVC Kicker Comp VR's ( each 400 RMS and 800 MAX ). I used a 4 gauge hot wire back to a distribution block that split to two 8 gauge wires for the amps and grounded them to two different bolts back in the hatch well. All was working fine until I made the mistake of wiring them with both voice coils hots together and both negatives together, to go with a 2 OHM load ( got that info from a different website ). Maybe half way through the day they quit working? I only had them installed for two days.

I checked the hot and ground of the amps with a volt meter and they were only showing 1.9 volts? I then unhooked the hot wire from the amp but used the amps negative as the ground and I got between 13 and 14 volts. So I assume that the ground is not a problem. I even bypassed the distribution block to see if that was the problem?

I even tried unhooking everything except the hot and ground from the amp to make sure no other wire was making it ground out and it still only showed 1.9 or so volts??

I can only assume that something in the amp fried without blowing any fuses and its lost its solid ground throughout the amp?? The fuse near the battery, distribution block and all 4 on the amp are good!


Let me know what you think, right now Im wondering how much I will have to spend to run these subs without this happening again

I appreciate any help and comments!
Thanks,
Rich

 

Just for S&Gs I'd swap out the amp fuses, and see if that does anything, if not, I'd say you may have poped something in the powersupply part of the amplifier.

 

Alright, just wanted to give an update. I wanted to be sure it was the amp so I went out and hooked up an old jvc 50x50 amp that I had in the closet. My system with the aftermarket HU and bose setup actually sounded decent before but after the problems with my two amps, the setup was sounding pretty bad? Well I hooked the jvc up and I dont think its working either, but it sounds like the stereo is back to where it was before all of this.

Im wondering if the remote wire is somehow causing a problem in the system? Before I had stated that I tried the hot and ground with nothing else hooked up, but I ws mistaken, the remote was still connected. So is it possible that the remote wire was grounded somewhere and was causing a problem with the system?

2nd question is, if this little jvc 50x50 is working wouldnt I be able to really feel the subs working? All I can feel is a little vibration from them that I have felt the whole time coming from the bose subs enclosure touching the sub box? I had the same viibration when I unhooked the amps all together?

Thanks again,

Rich

 

That remote wire could defenetly be an issue.

And yes if that amp was working you should have seen some sort of movement.

You can try a jumper setup, Wire a switch up (safest way) with 2 leads, connect 1 to the + on the amp, the other to the remote terminal, and connect the ground, make sure the switch is off while you do this. Then once everything is turned on (stereo wise) the amp should be off, flip the switch and then you can rule in/out the remote wire.

 

This is a simple reply, but did you check the fuses on the amps? Maybe they got fried?

 

sounds like your ground came loose.....check the ground and see if it is still grounded....

 

Anyone know how many volts the remote wire should be sending back from the radio to the amp? Checking the voltage would be the easiest way for me to make sure its working right.


P.S. Im not in a hurry because this is the first day off that Im not going to mess with this thing!

Thanks,
rich

 

The voltage isn't going to read right if your ground is loose or not connected......Make sure you are getting a good solid ground and there is no paint on where you grounded it.....

 

If I touch only the direct hot wire from the battery and the ground from the amp, it reads 13 to 14 volts. So I am assuming that th ground iIm using is ok? Im using the the bolts down in the hatch well.

 

I have a new update on my amps! I hooked them to a friends car and they powered up fine, I also hooked up a amplified tube that wouldnt power up in mine and it worked fine in his car. I hooked them to my battery right under the hood and wala! They powered up with no problem.

So right now, Im guessing that somehow something is grounded out on my car and for some reason I cant use my chassis as a ground? Whats weird is that my head unit ( where ever it is grounded ) is working just fine????

Is there anyway to trace down where there could be a problem or how much do you think a stereo shop would charge to figure it out? I work a crazy schedule and really have no extra time, so I cant keep taking my one day off to try and trouble shoot it. Its been too many days now!

If its too expensive to have a shop do it , I guess I will be taking a loss and selling it all ?


Thanks again,
Rich

 

you can use the frame as a ground but you have to make sure that all of the paint is not interferring with the connection.....

 

After all this time I was giving it one more day and holy s***, its fixed!

Turns out that somehow the fuse near the battery was allowing around 13 volts to the rear of the car but when hooked to the amps, it wouldnt pass enough through? I hooked a whole new fuse and holder in its place and WALLAH! It sounds better than I imagined it would

Also wanted to say thanks to you guys that were trying to get me through this!!!!!

Rich