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Amp is acting up AGAIN

T

teamSVTour

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
2,584
Location
Pittsburgh
Well I noticed my amp/system stopped working some months ago but it was too cold to look at it. Well today I did and I don't get whats happening.

I tested the power wire and ground wire when they are off the amp and it reads approx 12v. Now when I hook up the power wire and the ground wire up to the amp and take a reading off the terminals it reads like 6v :confused:.

Also my remote wire is never reading 12v like it should.

Any ideas? It looks to me like the amp isn't getting enough juice to turn the amp on but that doesn't make sense when the power and ground are reading 12v when they are off the amp.
 
What do the terminals read when you have the car running? Any pictures of the amp or your wiring? Pictures of your grounding and power hookups would be nice. Your deck should be outputing something close to 12v.....

Funny thing, I was doing an install last night, and accidentally hooked the battery and remote wires backwards.... which I eventually figured out, but I was listening to it... and I'm like damn... this doesn't sound right, and it would sounded like it was peaking out when it was playing, and I was like wtf.... eventually I went back and looked and realized Batt. and P. cont, were backwards... I hate those kenwood amps! Why can't they just say +12V, Ground, Remote..... anyways.... get back to me.....
 
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here are some pics. I forget what the terminals read exactly when the car was on and the ground and power where screwed into their respective power and ground terminals on the amp....somewhere around 6v or below IIRC.

But when I unhook the ground and power from the amp and read the voltage it is roughly 12v (where it should be). Very weird. It's like the when hooked up to the amp the amp lowers the voltage somehow coming from the power wire or something. I'm not an audio pro so I don't know lol.
 
Try hooking up another amp for that one and see what happens if it doesnt happen then we know its the amp..If it does then its gotta be somthing else but try that and see what happens
 
I have not done any audio work as far as the amp, sub, or HU is concerned. The system used to work then one day I noticed it stopped. And has not been working since. I do not have another workable amp to try at the moment :bah:
 
I'm guessing the amp crapped out... That thing is freaking huge by the way..!

This site rocks by the way... You may want to follow this link if you want to open it up and inspect it yourself... can use these pics to compare to yours to see if it looks different....

http://ampguts.realmofexcursion.com/Audio_Art_400.2XE/

Here are my questions for you.
  • Where at exactly are you taking your readings from?
    • The terminals where the power and ground are hooked up?
    • or
    • The terminals next to the power and ground
  • What happens if you hook your power up to both terminals and your ground up to both grounds... (just grab a piece of like 12 - 14 gauges wire and jumper the power and ground to the extra terminals.....)
  • Do you have the bridged input on or off... I would think it should be off
  • Is your frequency set to 55 or 100? (80 - 100 should be fine)
  • Possibly try switching to the other input and turning the bridged input on...? (Not sure exactly if that's how that works... Just guessing)
  • Do a resistance check on your ground with it disconnected from the amp. I think a good reading is something below .05 ohms when its set to 200, that's either the lowest or 2nd lowest setting, I can't remember for sure.
  • Is your ground to a bolt, or through the body of the car? (if it's on the body)
    • Check to make sure it's not rusted out
    • Was the paint scraped away before it was screwed down to provide better contact
    • May want to relocate if it's got a high resistance or looks rusty..

Lot's of stuff I know, just get back to me on the stuff that applies to you, don't have to respond to everything.... Hopefully something here helps you determine what's wrong for sure...

Hope this helps a bit....
 
I didn't get a chance to play w/ it this weekend. I'm going to try some of those things in the previous post tomorrow.

Its just weird that when i take the readings from the end of power and ground wire when they are not hooked up to the amp I get the 12v reading. Then as soon as I hook the power wire and ground to their respective terminals on the amp and take a reading from the + and - terminals it is like 6v. It's Weird how the amp lowers the Voltage :confused:

And how my remote wire never reads 12v:confused:
 
Best bet man just find a buddy with an AMP hook her up and see what happens..But that power problem sounds weird..That could be the sign of the amp taking a crap.
 
Voltage drop

Voltage drop

I am not 100% certian, but generally when you have a load placed between power and ground you will have a voltage drop after the load. If you have 12 volts getting to the +12 connections, INCLUDING THE BLUE remote switch, and the amp does not light up, it's shorting inside.

The remote must hit 12v for the internal switch to work.
 
NothernMystique said:
I am not 100% certian, but generally when you have a load placed between power and ground you will have a voltage drop after the load. If you have 12 volts getting to the +12 connections, INCLUDING THE BLUE remote switch, and the amp does not light up, it's shorting inside.

The remote must hit 12v for the internal switch to work.
Click to expand...

Actually the switched 12volts doesn't have to be 12 volts for it to work, I think usually like anything like 9 or 10 volts an up will turn it on.... can't remember... one of my buddies at work is a big sound guy, amps, speakers, voltages, drops, outputs, he always has his system kick'n... he told me once how much voltage it took an amp to turn on, but I don't remember. He used to rock out with 2 Type X Alpine 12's in his exploder, now he has a Triple X 12", that thing is massive!!! Can plug it right into the wall outlet and it will handle it!!!! Of course not forever... but way more than any other sub I've seen so far....

Like the last post... after you try some of the stuff I listed.... try another amp an see if you get the same drop....
 
I tired all kinds of things and nothing. I tried 3 amps total but all except one are junk really but I cant even get one of them to power up. Maybe they are fried too which wouldn't surprise me since there had to be a reason they were collecting dust in the garage. I'm about to just call it quits and take out the sub.

To answer these:

  • Where at exactly are you taking your readings from?
    • The terminals where the power and ground are hooked up?
    • or
    • The terminals next to the power and ground
    • taking reading from the power and ground wire off the amp it read approx 12v. When I hook them up to the amp and take a reading from the terminal they are wired to I get something much lower than 12 like around 6v.
  • What happens if you hook your power up to both terminals and your ground up to both grounds... (just grab a piece of like 12 - 14 gauges wire and jumper the power and ground to the extra terminals.....
Nothing happens...nothing good at least. The amp didn't power up
  • Do you have the bridged input on or off... I would think it should be off.
  • Ive tried both ways on and off

  • 0? (80 - 100 should be fine)
  • Yes it is around 100
  • Possibly try switching to the other input and turning the bridged input on...? (Not sure exactly if that's how that works... Just guessing)
  • Nothing
  • Do a resistance check on your ground with it disconnected from the amp. I think a good reading is something below .05 ohms when its set to 200, that's either the lowest or 2nd lowest setting, I can't remember for sure
    ​
  • Not sure what you mean here but the ground seems fine. I get a steady 12v when I test the power and ground off the amp.
  • Is your ground to a bolt, or through the body of the car? (if it's on the body)
    • I have it on one of the bolts for the taillights. Not the best spot but only I could find. It gets the needed 12v from there so no real reason to move it I wouldnt think

      ​
    • Check to make sure it's not rusted out
    • Not rusted out
    • Was the paint scraped away before it was screwed down to provide best contact
    • yes I had scrapped it away a long time ago
    • May want to relocate if it's got a high resistance or looks rusty..
 
Yeah... I'm at a loss for fix it ideas.... without being able to actually be there and play with it.... sorry man...
 
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