Hey guys,

Okay so a quick run down. I have a VY Commodore. I recently finished installing my stereo. I kept the stock Blaupunkt Headunit. I am running Hifonix splits in the front and alpine two ways in the rear doors.

Under the parcel tray in my boot i mounted a piece of timber to then mount my two amplifiers two. Both of my amplifiers are response jay car branded amps. One is a 4 x 100wrms for my speakers. The other is their digital monoblock which puts out 300wrms @ 4ohms. The monoblock is running a 15inch Cadence Sub in my boot.

Since i finished the installation I have been having a problem with my mono block amp cutting out and going into protection mode and i dont know why.

My first two thoughts were it to be either a power or heat problem. I recently tried to elimiate the option of power being a problem by installing a 1 farad capacitor in my system. I noticed a change in the sound quality with the better power supply. However, am still having the problem with my amp.

I am desperate for ideas guys so if you could throw yours my way i would really appreciate it.

In terms of cabling I used 4 gauge to my capacitor and then 8 gauge to my amps. Which i think is ample.

My next step was to mayb mount my mono block off the piece of timber using four feet to allow air flow under the amp and reduce the build up of heat. I even looked at the option of installing a fan to draw heat away from the amp. However, each time my amp has cut out i have often felt the casing of my amp and it has not felt hot in any way.

So thats the story guys.

I hope to hear from some of you soon.

Rowan

few things to check =

heat, earth, wiring (same size ground and power wires)
all connections on the amp

also have you got a standard battery or has it been upgraded?

This is not a ideal position for amps, from a long term use & overall reliability pov. This is the highest point of the boot and the amps would be getting hotter than need be here. I suggest you move them. Perhaps one on each side of the boot or against the back of the rear seats etc. having said that, the problem sounds like something else.



Which sub, just incase you have a dual coil model etc. The wiring of the coils might be too low of an impediance (ohm) load on the amp causing it to shut down.

A cap isn't going to fix this problem... as you found out the hard way, but don't dispair it can all be fixed.

hmm only just. I would upgrade to 4guage all round if possible, those monoblocks draw a fair bit.
Secondly re-check all the terminations, you would be suprised were you can find a loose wire (either on the speaker or the amp itself) causing you problems.


As whiteknight wrote, how is your charging system? What happens to the battery voltage when the bass thumps? Does it fall below 12volts? if so this might cause your amp to again go into shutdown.
Also check your gains, are they wound too far over, try lowring them to nothing, and slowly wind it up. You might be pushing the amp to hard, one amp and one sub can only get so loud, before it starts distorting, then shutting down.

yea moving the amps has already been suggested to me. I knew it wasnt the best place for them under the parcel tray but it is just such a convenient and space saving place.

i ran my ground cable all the way back to my battery to ensure a good ground.

In terms of wiring. Like i said i ran 4 gauge to my capacitor and then 8 gauge to my amps which is a VERY small run from my cap which is in my boot to the amps. However there is facilitation for 4 gauge. I will look into changing that.

Hmm good point about my battery. It is the standard one. Will definitely check that out.

Thanks for your time mate

No i dont have a dual coil sub. Its a single coil 4ohm rated sub. Takes about 600wrms. I dont think ill bother taking the cap back now.

I will definitely look at running 4 gauge all the way to my amps. And will check out my battery and what is happening there. Because it is the standard battery. Ill do that first. If this doesnt help i will look at moving my amps to the backs of my seats for heat reduction. Thanks heaps for your suggestions.

When does the mono cut out? At random times? At both low and high volumes? On soft bass beats and heavy bass beats? If it's the latter of the last 2 questions, I'd be thinking voltage drop. This could either be that the power supply is poor, or the grounding is poor. Where is your ground/earth wire going? Is the paint stripped from this point?

Also, how have you got the amps wired? I assume the stock headunit doesn't have RCA outputs? So you'd be using a LOC or speaker level inputs?

As for the cap, I'd remove it, likely it will be doing more harm then good on the system actually.

Lastly, I'd check the link in my sig titled "stopping headlight dimming" and run through some of that. Even if voltage drop isn't your problem here, following the tutorial will definately be a benefit.

Sorry i should have specified that. The mono only cuts out when i am pushing it to its limits. If i have my stereo at a reasonable volume it is fine. But when i want to start working it, It usually bails out on me on heavy bass songs. Hmm yea well i thought installing a capacitor would completely elimnate the possibility of voltage drop?

I have run my ground wire all the way back to my battery. Simply to ensure a good ground. I am considering replacing the battery. also at the moment i have only run 4 gauge up to my cap in my boot. Then 8 gauge from my cap to my amp. I am also probably going to change that to run 4 gauge all the way.

No the stock head unit doesnt have rca outputs so i have used splitters to then run rcas into my amps. Then there is an output rca signal on my amp that i have used to give to my mono block. Could that be an issue?

So you reckon take the cap out? Cause i have used that as my distribution point now if i take it out ill install distribution blocks again.

mmmmmm, id have at a guess that if your gains are right up on the amp, and your playing it full tilt your probably overheating it.

Id check to make sure the gains are set right.

The cap won't eliminate a power problem, at least not a small cap. 1F is pretty small, and doesn't hold much power at all, expends the power quickly, and has to draw more power to recharge it back up, which means less power going to your amp/s.

I'd probably get rid of the ground straight back to the battery, and ground the amps to the cars chassis.

Also, your RCA's, how is it all working? You mention RCA splitters, but you also say you have no RCA's coming from the headunit, so how have you got the signal going to the amps?