amp going into protect, head unit problem?

[maljr1980 10+ year member]

Ok a few weeks ago I had this problem where once I got to a certain volume one of my door speakers would drastically cut off in volume, it still played but very low, so I switched around speaker connections, RCA connections etc and could make it happen to various speakers so I concluded the amp was fine. Took it to a shop and they couldn't verify whether the cd player had a bad output but they said an RCA was bad at least, said the put a tone meter or something on it. So they ran a new RCA. Worked fine for like a month. Today my 4 channel started going into protect when I went past a certain volume, or certain volume/sub level setting. Basically if i turned sub level down i could turn volume up slightly more, then when i turned sub back up 4 channel would go into protect. I pulled the replacement rcas out and had no problem with the amp with the still intact rcas connected, switched them to the other channel, no problems. All connections solid, power cell showing good voltage, digital fuse under hood reading 14.6 off main battery. Plugged both rcas back in and no pro blend on drive home. Last year i had a plastic speaker terminal melt and catch my stuff on fire, subs and amps are new, batts, cd player, door speakers, and front to backs are old. Possible bad preout on deck related. Could a shorting out preout force my 4 channel into protect?

Click to read more...

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

speaker wire may be shorted

 

[maljr1980 10+ year member]

I've run monster XP home theater wire to all my door speakers, its got a really thick 2 layer coating on it, I haven't pulled carpet and trim to check for pinches, but after the initial problem I verified either a pinched/shorted RCA wire or preout on the deck was bad, now instead of a speaker cutting out in volume I have the amp going into protect at the same volume level as when a speaker cut out. I guess the new RCA could be pinched or somehow shorted out again. I'm thinking the deck may be the issue, but after disconnected/reconnecting the rcas it hasn't messed up, I'm thinking when I have time I need to pull everything and rewire all my front to backs and speaker wire leads. Switch out headunits(alpine cda-105 current), and if I have issues still send my amp to alpine for repair. I really only want to do one if I can isolate the problem. I never had a problem before the fire, and everything sat all winter without playing because I didn't have a 4 channel to even play the door speakers.

 

[maljr1980 10+ year member]

Ok took amp to shop and verified amp malfunction, sent to alpine for repair, was giving a Kenwood 4 channel for a loaner. No problems, Kenwood plays fine. I did pop a fuse under the hood, replaced it and now I have ground loop and engine whine, wtf, never had it in 2 + years till I replace a fuse. Reroute rca's, wrap wire around rcas on back of head unit, wrap wire around rcas on amp. Double check ground, nice and secure to chasis, sanded to bare metal. Wtf