amp going into protection... again

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

ok so yesterday afternoon i got my new 10" infinity perfect. so i throw it along with another 10.1 ip in the box i just made. wired the subs for a 2 ohm load. it sounded better than i could have hoped.

the amp is a viper 1200.1 btw

ok so this morning i go down to take pics and while i was down there i listened to a couple songs. everything was fine.

i go to work at 10 am and everything is fine.

i take my first break at 12 and once again its working perfectly.

then i go to lunch at 2pm and as soon as i turn the car on the amp goes into protection mode //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/mad.gif.c18f003ab0ef8a0d9c27ca78d77a6392.gif

after leaving my house to go back to work after lunch the amp starts working again //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

on my second break at 5:30 pm the amp goes straight into protection mode.

however when i leave at 6:30 to go home the amp is working again.

heres a pic of my trunk



now the amp is mounted on top of the box with security screws.

also the power and ground are both 4 ga.

is this a bad spot to mount the amp??

im gonna buy a couple of computer fans tomorrow and see if that will help.

the amp was a refurb off ebay. it has a 90 day warranty.

are vipers just sensitive to heat?? cause my mtx never once went into protection mode.

also the gains were set with a dmm to 700w rms at 2 ohm. 34.7 i believe it was.

sorry about the long post

any input would be great.

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[AVSTANG02]

Check your ground connections might have come loose.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

Amps cool themselves most efficiently when they are mounted vertically, if you try mounting the amp on the side of your box the amp will be able to get rid of more heat.

Another point- In the hot summer sun the temperatures reach insane levels in your trunk, heat rises so the hottest area will be at the top of the trunk, by looking at your photo I notice that your amp is mounted right in that area.

Try to mount the amp vertically on the back of the box, it will be able to cool itself properly there, if this does not work I would suspect that the amp may have a faulty component.

 

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

ok ill try that stones. so i should ideally mount it as low as possible on the back right??

if i get a couple of fans how hard is it to wire them?? what power wire would you suggest i tap into??

its weird cause i feel like if i lived up north i would not have any problems. i hope theres nothing wrong with the amp.

also someone else suggested mounting the amp on the back of my rear seat. btw when im driving i fold the seat down.

ill remount it tomorrow and see if it helps.

also when this happended my car was parked in a big parking lot with no shade. and when i went to break before i even turned the car on the amp was pretty warm to the touch.

is there anyway the amp could be tested somehow?? maybe at a shop

 

[stones 10+ year member]

if i get a couple of fans how hard is it to wire them?? what power wire would you suggest i tap into??

You need a relay so the fans turn off and on with the HU, I wire them into the distro block for power, you could just piggyback it onto the power input for the amp if you don't have a distro block (little ghetto).

its weird cause i feel like if i lived up north i would not have any problems. i hope theres nothing wrong with the amp.

Me too.

also someone else suggested mounting the amp on the back of my rear seat. btw when im driving i fold the seat down.

If everything is right you shouldn't need to fold down the seat for proper cooling, it will help though, and of course allow for more bass.

ill remount it tomorrow and see if it helps.

also when this happended my car was parked in a big parking lot with no shade. and when i went to break before i even turned the car on the amp was pretty warm to the touch.

Ya, its in a pretty hot area, the sheet metal of the trunk lid will get pretty hot from the sun and radiate heat inside the trunk especially to the closely mounted amp.

is there anyway the amp could be tested somehow?? maybe at a shop

Most shops will only check to see if it turns on, which it does so that complicates thing a little, you would need a proper power supply, a resistor, sine waves, and a thermometer to fully test to see if the amp is within spec. I have my fingers crossed for ya hoping its just the heat.

 

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

im almost positive its the heat but i guess ill find out tomorrow when i remount it.

stones do you think it matters if i mount it to the back of the box or would the seat be better.

if there is something wrong and the ebay seller doesent give me the 90 day warrenty how much you think it would cost to get the amp fixed?? a rough guestimate would be nice.

i mention the warranty cause i think they said i needed to have a shop wire the amp for the warranty. but seeing as how all the wire was already run there was no way i was gonna take it to the shop.

anyway thanks for the replies

oh and btw stones thanks for answering all my question its people like you that make this forum great. ive followed your replies in the past and it seems you know your stuff.

oh yea one more thing. this may sound dumb but here goes.

when i set my gains i unhooked the wires that go to the sub and hooked up just an old speaker wire i dont use anymore. is my amp seeing the right load when setting the gains this way?? im pretty sure its right but im kinda confused

 

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

ok i just got done remounting the amp. its now on the back of the box. ill let you know what happens tomorrow.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

im almost positive its the heat but i guess ill find out tomorrow when i remount it.

stones do you think it matters if i mount it to the back of the box or would the seat be better.

I think it would be about the same.

if there is something wrong and the ebay seller doesent give me the 90 day warrenty how much you think it would cost to get the amp fixed?? a rough guestimate would be nice.

Geeze its tough to say, theres a cost to diagnose, then for the part and then for the labour to install, I'd guess 200 bucks max, I could be way off though.

i mention the warranty cause i think they said i needed to have a shop wire the amp for the warranty. but seeing as how all the wire was already run there was no way i was gonna take it to the shop.

Install reciepts can be ...forged //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/sneaky.gif.7189749b3a3f769e8815b47e8ae87f88.gif , shhh

anyway thanks for the replies

oh and btw stones thanks for answering all my question its people like you that make this forum great. ive followed your replies in the past and it seems you know your stuff.

I just stayed in a holiday inn express is all. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

oh yea one more thing. this may sound dumb but here goes.

when i set my gains i unhooked the wires that go to the sub and hooked up just an old speaker wire i dont use anymore. is my amp seeing the right load when setting the gains this way?? im pretty sure its right but im kinda confused

Do you mean you just read the voltage off the output terminals without a speaker connected?, thats ok to do when setting for a desired voltage output. I set mine to the desired voltage then reconnected the subs and tweaked it alittle after to fine tune.

If you mean just the wire to the subs was different, it shouldn't change the impedance unless its extremely small wire like 20 gauge.

ok i just got done remounting the amp. its now on the back of the box. ill let you know what happens tomorrow

Cool, let us know how it turns out. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

ok i left my car parked in the street from 11:00 till 12:45. the windows were up and the car was hot (its like 100 degrees right now) and the amp worked. im gonna go down around 2:30 and make sure shes still ok.

the way the amp is mounted now when my seats down its getting more air to it. ill take some pics when i get some batteries

 

[Decipha 10+ year member]

rule #3> never mount an amp to a box

 

[Mackenzie 10+ year member]

I was gonna say mount it to the seat to let the air get to it, while the seats are down. YOu have a camry correct.

 

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

if i mount it to my seat ill have to relocate my ground. im gonna see if itll work like it is.

there isnt anything wrong with mounting an amp on a box is there??

 

[btmorris972 10+ year member]

well i just checked it again. and its working. its only 96 degrees outside right now though. might be a different story if it was 102

 

[stones 10+ year member]

rule #3> never mount an amp to a box

Rule #1> never listen to Decipha

 

[stones 10+ year member]

if i mount it to my seat ill have to relocate my ground. im gonna see if itll work like it is.
there isnt anything wrong with mounting an amp on a box is there??

Millions of car audio enthuiasts mount their amps to the sub box with no proplems, don't worry about it.