4 channel overheating?

[0ff]

I have a 4 channel 360w that is pushing my 4 door speakers. I was just driving along and they all cut out but my bass was still thumping. So I checked my trunk to see if maybe I rattled the power wire loose and come to find out my amp is hot to the touch and the protect light is on. My fuses are good and there is space for ventilation. I have the amps mounted underneath my rear deck with about 1 inch clearance. All my wires are snug tight. I'm running 0 gauge to a fused distribution block that splits into two 8 gauge. My grounding for both amplifiers is also 8 gauge. Maybe it's because I'm in 85° weather in Texas?

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[0ff]

Bump

 

[tc300 10+ year member]

What's the brand of the amp??

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

How did you set gains?

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

amp mounted upside could be the issue, if that's how yours are mounted.

Put a fan on it...

 

[0ff]

Its a jl audio jx 360w 4 channel. It's running my she speakers. If having it mounted upside down why isn't my other amp (which is my sub amp) overheating as well? The settings are set to 150 hz on HP. The HP and LP setting was turned off so I JUST set that to HP, assuming that HP means high power

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

Its a jl audio jx 360w 4 channel. It's running my she speakers. If having it mounted upside down why isn't my other amp (which is my sub amp) overheating as well? The settings are set to 150 hz on HP. The HP and LP setting was turned off so I JUST set that to HP, assuming that HP means high power

no, it means High Pass or Low Pass. 150hz HP means the amp will reduce output gradually below 150hz.

 

[bbeljefe]

There is a variety of reasons why the subwoofer amp hasn't overheated yet and the key term is yet. First, you may not be driving the subwoofer amp as hard as the 4 channel, relative to it's capabilities. Second, it may have more efficient cooling. Third, the gain may be too high on the 4 channel. Fourth, it may be getting a bit better ventilation than the 4 channel, even though they may be side by side.

But regardless the reason, you should never run amps upside down without additional cooling. Car audio amps are pretty much all designed with the heat sink above the PCB and that's no accident. Heat rises and the heat sink's job is to catch and dissipate that heat. When you mount the amp with the heat sink below the PCB, all that heat builds up at the bottom of the amp where there is no sink to get rid of it and eventually, the amp will overheat and possibly, die.