Amp goes into protect mode with heavy bass at medium to high volume

[zavvier]

I recently bought a sub and amp. The sub is a 4 ohm kicker 10c, but a multimeter reads it at around 2 ohms. When bass plays, the volume of the speakers drops significantly and the amp goes into protect mode.

I have searched the web extensively in an attempt to fix it, but I haven't figured anything out. Any help is much appreciated.

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[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

1) Make sure your wired to a proper ohm load the amp can handle....something less some amps can't handle it and go straight into protect mode

2) Check ground wire. Should be bare metal to bare metal

3) Insufficient power/ground wire. In other words, too small.

4) Lose connection somewhere.

5) Gain on amp set too high. Set accordingly with DMM and RCA input voltage on HU.

 

[zavvier]

Thank you for your quick response. The ground wire is under a seat belt bolt, and I angle grinded the paint off to make it bare metal to bare metal. The power and ground wires are 4 gauge, which was recommended for the amp by Pioneer. The connections are tight and strong. I have been playing with gain and volume to try to fix it but to no avail. The amp handles a 2 ohm to 4 ohm load for bridged terminals, but the sub is reading a lower resistance than it should. Could this be the problem, and if it is, how could I fix it?

 

[staan]

2 ohms bridged is highly unusual. whats the model of your amp

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Is your sub:

DVC (Dual Voice Coil) or

SVC (Single Voice Coil) ?

 

[zavvier]

The amp is a Pioneer GM-D8604 and the sub is svc.

 

[shredder2]

4 ohm Kicker 10" svc reading 2 ohms?.. I'd try another driver personally, that sub should read around 3.8 ohm at rest in my experience.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

What kind of car (size of alternator)? What is the voltage at the input terminals of the amp?

 

[bigblank69 10+ year member]

The 8604 is 2 ohm stable bridged...... I'm wondering if the sub has a problem if its reading lower than it should...

 

[zavvier]

The input terminal voltage is 14.7 volts and I believe the alternator puts out 12 volts and has a current of 60-80 amps. It's a 97 Civic.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Hook the amp up to another speaker

 

[zavvier]

So I should connect the amp to another sub? What would cause the sub to have a lower resistance than it should?

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

So I should connect the amp to another sub? What would cause the sub to have a lower resistance than it should?

its not uncomon for the DCR of a 4ohm sub to be between 2.4 to 3ohm

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

The input terminal voltage is 14.7 volts and I believe the alternator puts out 12 volts and has a current of 60-80 amps. It's a 97 Civic.

I bet thats your problem right there. You don't have a good enough electrical system to supply the amp. Whats the voltage at the amp when it goes into protect? You only have 30-40a to supply the amp, if it needs more current your voltage will drop.

 

[zavvier]

The amp reads about 12.45 volts when music is playing normally, and when it goes into protect it barely drops to about 12.41.