Noob needs a lot of help

[noobbass 10+ year member]

I will try to keep this short but I have a few questions. I have had my 2 10w7s for maybe 6 yrs. Each was being run by a 500/1 amp. All installs were done by a shop. One amp hasn't worked for a while now. I was told that the inputs on it were broken. I don't know what that means. Is that fixable? Can someone with no experience do it? That is my first question.

Second. The way the subs sit in my hatch to get to the spare tire I need to roll them back. With my luck I got a flat last week. Moved subs to get to the spare and lucky me I broke some plugs on some of the wires. Now the amp that still works no longer has all of its wires. I was hoping to take the wires from the amp with broken inputs and run them back to the working amp. I don't know if this is possible and don't think it is.

So basically I don't have money to fix this stuff. I bought these in high school when life was good with no bills to pay. So how expensive or difficult to fix inputs on amp? Cheapest way to re wire working amp for now?

Amp on left has the broken inputs. Amp on right the red wires are the ones that broke.

Close up of broken stuff.

subs

Wow sorry this was so long but I am sure you can see I clearly no nothing about how to do this stuff.

Thanks for any help.

Click to read more...

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

Take the cover off of the amp with the broken RCA's. You may be able to push them out from the inside. I'm not saying you'll be able to push them out, but it's worth taking a look.

Have you considered selling one of those W7's? If you clean the enclosure up nicely, you'd get enough out of it to buy a new amplifier (assuming the sub is functional)...

 

[noobbass 10+ year member]

Is the RCA the red wires? I think I can pull the broken part out from the outside. Both subs work fine. The 1 amp works fine minus the messed up wires. The other amp has broken inputs? I don't really want to sell them if I don't have to. I don't think I would be able to do any type of enclosure work myself and don't really have money to get work done.

 

[noobbass 10+ year member]

I guess I should try to clear up my wall of text with the main questions I have.

1. Is it possible to fix broken inputs on my amp? How hard is it? Is that an expensive repair?

2. Can any of the wires replace the red broken ones without buying new ones? Possibly just unplug from the other amp and plug them into where the red ones broke? As you can tell I don't actually know what any of the wires do.

3. I have been told 1 sub powered sufficiently will sound better than 2 underpowered subs. Am I better of with the working 500/1 powering 1 or both of my subs?

Looking for cheapest fix to my problems. Only one sub has been working for about a year and a half. Both subs work fine just the one amp I was told has broken inputs.

Sorry for new wall of text.

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

Yup, those "red wires" are RCA's. If you can pull them out, do so. You can replace them for very little money.

I mentioned selling one of the subs because you said you had little money for car audio. If you aren't using the sub and can't afford to repair/replace the broken amplifier, they're both just wasting space in your car. If I were you, I'd remove the broken amp and the sub you aren't using. If you're that broke, selling that one sub would help you out quite a bit.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

if the input broke it would need re-soldering and possibly a whole new plug, not sure where to buy those some electronics store. would be an easy fix if you knew what as needed. you need to take the amp out and open it up, that should take about 6 screws.

The looks like a very very lazy install to me. the shop could have built a box for both subs and mounted the amps somewhere other than the sub eclosures. Also using 2 amps... one bigger amp would be less wiring and less space. if it lasted for 6 years then you must have really liked it, or just didnt really care to try and clean stuff up.

 

[noobbass 10+ year member]

So fixing the inputs on the amp is something that is hard to do? Would it need to be sent away to JLaudio? I would like to keep both subs and somehow get that amp to work again though. How much money are we looking at for repairs?

 

[noobbass 10+ year member]

if the input broke it would need re-soldering and possibly a whole new plug, not sure where to buy those some electronics store. would be an easy fix if you knew what as needed. you need to take the amp out and open it up, that should take about 6 screws. The looks like a very very lazy install to me. the shop could have built a box for both subs and mounted the amps somewhere other than the sub eclosures. Also using 2 amps... one bigger amp would be less wiring and less space. if it lasted for 6 years then you must have really liked it, or just didnt really care to try and clean stuff up.

The subs and amps were initially installed in a truck. Sold the truck and had them moved into the current car. I don't really have the knowledge or skills to clean the stuff up. I have never made a box and have no idea how to do the wiring of the stuff myself. I would love to learn because I am sure a lot of money could be saved.

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

There are amp repair guys here on the forum. Start a new thread in the amp section and give it a day or two. You'll get the info you need.

EDIT: You need to remove that broken amp and take some detailed pics. Be sure to disconnect your battery before messing around with any of the wiring.

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

The subs and amps were initially installed in a truck. Sold the truck and had them moved into the current car. I don't really have the knowledge or skills to clean the stuff up. I have never made a box and have no idea how to do the wiring of the stuff myself. I would love to learn because I am sure a lot of money could be saved.

The boxes you have are fine, but I'd definitely remove that piece of metal that's holding them together. To be honest, your equipment is expensive and it's a shame that it's installed so poorly...

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

if you really wanted to learn, that thing would be apart by now. I can't say how much it would cost, or how easy soldering would be. take it out, take it apart, and take clear "focused" pictures of the input. that is where the rca plugs in. i'm sure you can send it in to JL but it would cost quite a bit, maybe $50 or more. really cant say. You say you have no money so that's what makes it hard. shipping that anywhere would cost about $10, shipping back at least $10. that could buy you a soldering iron, solder and the plug you "might" need.

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

You have nice equipment. Kinda sad to see it not at its full potential. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Like said, The red plugs are RCA's. You can get a whole new set of them for ~15$ or so.

Or, you could take the plugs from the "non-functioning" amp and plug them into the "functioning" amp. The signal is coming from the same source. So shouldn't make a difference.

If you can find someone local to help fix the broken amp, and it really isn't major surgery, it could be around 20$. To ship it to JL, I'd estimate 30$ shipping round trip plus whatever they charge you.

Best of luck.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

i thought the amp input was broken, the actual rca is an easy fix. lol

 

[noobbass 10+ year member]

i thought the amp input was broken, the actual rca is an easy fix. lol

Amp on the left in the pictures has the broken inputs. The amp on the right has broken RCAs. I was hoping to just take the wires from the non working amp and plug them into the working amp but I see no RCAs on the none working amp?

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

The RCA's on the "non-working" amp are yellow //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

RCA's come in many different colors. But they all do the same thing. Put the Yellow wires into the spots that the red wires were in, and see if you get your "working amp" up and running again while you try to get the other repaired.