Amp Blowing 50A Fuse Under Hood With Hookup

[Oz.Germolus]

Haven't been able to post on here much as I always seem to have so much trouble logging in.

Anyway, I've been searching all over these forums and google and youtube and I must can't seem to word what I'm trying to say correctly. I'm by no means hardware savvy when it comes to car audio. I don't have a single friend that even likes subs (which I find strange) so there's no one I can really confer with. Everything i know about my system and the way i hooked it up is from google/youtube/this site.

that being said, i've had these wires/ harness for a little over a year with no issues on 6 different amps I tried out (to find my personal preference)

I have 2 12" Kicker Comps in a sealed box hooked up to a 250W Kenwood KAC-529S at the moment. Everything works just fine on it, other than the lack of adjustments that can be made to the pitch (for that deeper quality).

About 6 months ago I bought a Kicker CX 300.1, hooked it up, loved it. now about 2 months ago i was moving my setup around a little so I had unhooked the cable from the battery to be safe. I moved things to where I wanted, hooked it back up, and the ends of the power and ground wires lit on fire for a second or two before the 50A fuse under the hood (on the power cord) blew. since then, every time I try and hook it up, the 50A fuse blows. There's no external fuse on the amp so I'm not exactly sure about how to repair it. The whole setup works just fine still with the Kenwood.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

***EDIT*** lol, just realized I couldn't log on because I kept trying to log in to caraudioforum,com instead of caraudio,com. wow.

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Odds are that amp is broken if you're opening 50 a fuse

 

[Oz.Germolus]

Right, but am I to believe there's no way to repair it? At all? It's basically just a paperweight now?

 

[Oz.Germolus]

It's funny because my Orange Crush 20L PIX amp for my guitars just blew on me yesterday, but I know those can be fixed (if only i knew anything about circutry) (Nothing's wrong with the speaker on it), so wouldn't it be similar?

Like an internal fuse issue? or a blown capacitator?

 

[CSCStang]

You said you moved things around. Follow the power wire all the way from the amp to the batt, prolly a short in the line.

 

[Oz.Germolus]

prolly a short in the line.

But the same line works perfect with the 250w Kenwood that's hooked up to it now, making me think it's an issue with the Kicker amp

 

[CSCStang]

But the same line works perfect with the 250w Kenwood that's hooked up to it now, making me think it's an issue with the Kicker amp

Got it.

 

[BoomTaco64]

amp is bad. call kicker for repair costs

 

[Oz.Germolus]

repair costs

Broke as all can be right now, that's why I've been using the old Kenwood instead of just buying a new Kicker CX 300.1 (I think it was right under $200)

Also why I was looking into repairing it myself. Is there no way to do this?

I've got all the time in the world right now to learn how to repair amplifiers, just no money to buy new ones.

 

[CSCStang]

Crack it open and start browsing for dark, burnt spots/smelly spots.

 

[Oz.Germolus]

Right, I've already done that. There's nothing cracked or burnt inside, the only thing that got burnt was the connections on the exterior of the amp for the power and the ground.

 

[Dub7sonoma Premium Member]

Right, I've already done that. There's nothing cracked or burnt inside, the only thing that got burnt was the connections on the exterior of the amp for the power and the ground.

Buy a used amp off here or craigslist if your not happy with the kenwood. I know you said earlier that you broke but you can get great deals on used gear. That's about the easiest way to go. I am by no means telling you not to try to repair the amp, but its A LOT more complicated than most people think.

I can personally sell you a couple different amps that would out perform the kicker or kenwood for less than $100 shipped

Powerbass asa400.2

DB drive 1050.1

Pheonix Gold XS2300

There might be a few more that I just cant recall at the moment

 

[Oz.Germolus]

I am by no means telling you not to try to repair the amp, but its A LOT more complicated than most people think.
I can personally sell you a couple different amps that would out perform the kicker or kenwood for less than $100 shipped

Powerbass asa400.2

DB drive 1050.1

Pheonix Gold XS2300

There might be a few more that I just cant recall at the moment

I really do appreciate that, that's **** decent of you and if I could scrape together a hundred dollars, I'd gladly take you up on that offer.

I realize it's quite a complicated process, but I'd really like to learn about repairing an amplifier. I don't want to just be another white boy rollin around with a self installed system that has no idea what he's talkin about. I want to be able to look at my equipment and know what every little piece is for so that I can get maximum quality in my system. I want to be able to hook equipment up the way the manufactuer envisioned it.

I would take the amp back to the Kicker dealer I bought it from (as the manual states to do) only, for one the place is no longer in business, and secondly, I bought it in Minnesota back in February, and I now live in Virginia.

I just want to know how to go about figuring out what's wrong with it, just like some Kicker tech would do. I figure if SOME people can do it, ANYONE can do it so long as the knowledge on how to do so (and the proper tools) is present.

 

[Oz.Germolus]

Maybe these will help. My specifications are the top one obviously. This is inside of it, nothing burnt or cracked. It doesn't smell overly electrical either.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

There are books about repairing audio amps. If you want to learn, start reading. It's way more involved than what we can tell you on a forum.

Need test equipment like meters and power supplies. Need understanding of solid state devices (transistors and diodes), and the other components in an amp. Ideally you'd also need a schematic diagram of the amp and know how to read it.

But...

From your description of the wires catching fire and the fact that the circuit board isn't burnt inside, I would suspect a dead short at the power terminals on the amp. Like metal touching metal, or the 12V terminal touching the amp chassis. Take a look for signs of sparks in the area of the terminals.