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help: amp is hot

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Old 08-28-2002, 10:49 PM
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Post help: amp is hot

i just bought a crossfire 300x1 amp today and hooked it up myself to my stealthbox. anyways the wires were already there from a previous system so i just connected them to the amp. anyways the amp was all good so i thought, then i blew a fuse (30 amp) and i replaced it and it blew then i noticed the amp was really really hot. it actually burned my hand. anyways i put in a new fuse and the power indicator light was flickering so i guess it was basically running hot. i checked everything so far and its all good i suppose. i have a 40 amp inline fuse also. what is the problem i need help with this brand new amp bad.
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Old 08-29-2002, 12:50 AM
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Check to make sure your running some good power wire. I've seen some amps run real hot from wiring that was too small. Also make sure your not running dual voice coil 4 ohm into a 2 ohm load. Your amp probably wouldn't handle that ohm load. Crossfire amps do much better at a 4ohm load.
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Old 08-29-2002, 05:04 AM
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An amp will run hot if the load that it is driving is too low. You can't just connect subs to an amp without first knowing what the impedance is. If the impedance is too low for your amp it will run hot and possibly even go into thermal protection mode.

Under sized power wires DO NOT make an amp run hot. If the wires are too small the wires themsleves will get too hot. NOT the amp.
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Old 08-29-2002, 08:54 AM
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well im sure it shouldnt running that hot but for the meantime you could hook up an old comp fan to it
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Old 08-29-2002, 10:37 PM
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If its hot...the heatsinks are doing their job. You really only need worry when it starts cutting out.

Ive always understood smaller wire could hurt by making the amp work harder for power IE heat.
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Old 08-29-2002, 11:20 PM
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you prolly need a bigger fuse to.. atleast a 60 amp fuse for a jbl amp
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Old 08-30-2002, 12:28 AM
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by NineSevenWS6:
If its hot...the heatsinks are doing their job. You really only need worry when it starts cutting out.
</font>
No amp should get hot enough to burn your hand.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by NineSevenWS6:
Ive always understood smaller wire could hurt by making the amp work harder for power IE heat.</font>
Could be. If the amp has a regulated power supply, a small wire would cause the voltage at the amp to be lower forcing the amp to draw more current. I don't know if that would cause the amp the heat up though. It would only heat up if the amps power supply is less efficient at lower voltages. Even then it would be the power supply heating up, not the amplifier part (which is what most of the heat sinks are connected too).
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Old 08-30-2002, 05:53 AM
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SMALL WIRES DO NOT CAUSE THE AMP TO OVERHEAT!!!

Where the hell do you people get this crap?

The output devices (the transistors attached to the heat sinks) produce current that is sent thru the load (the speakers). The more current they have to produce, the hotter they will get. This has nothing to do with the power wires being too small.

Now if the power wires ARE too small for the amount of current that the amp is trying to draw from the battery or charging system, then those wires WILL get hot and possibly even melt the insulation around them. Just because they are too small does NOT mean that the amp will overheat.
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Old 08-30-2002, 11:55 AM
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a small wire can never make an AMP OVERHEAT NO MATTER WHAT U HEAR OR BELIVE the smaller the wire the hotter the wire gets the amp gets hot by to much of a load its impossible for it to try to get power and get hot it can not be making energy by trying to get energy it needs it to make it and bottem line the amp internallly has a short or to much of a load from a short in the speaker wire or to low of an impedence speaker
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Old 08-30-2002, 06:19 PM
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by camaros_4_lfe:
a small wire can never make an AMP OVERHEAT NO MATTER WHAT U HEAR OR BELIVE the smaller the wire the hotter the wire gets the amp gets hot by to much of a load its impossible for it to try to get power and get hot it can not be making energy by trying to get energy it needs it to make it and bottem line the amp internallly has a short or to much of a load from a short in the speaker wire or to low of an impedence speaker</font>
What did you say?

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Old 08-30-2002, 07:49 PM
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well, the problem was that the supposedly 500 max mtx 6000 was fried. it still moved but the voice coil was fried and when i took it out of the box a burnt smell overpoweringly came out. i only had 300 watts to it. i found out from people who actually have had these kind of subs that they cant even handle rms. anyways the buddy of mine that works at the stero shop gave me a crossfire sub to go with the crossfire amp i bought.
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