Amp HOT! Music not even on! WTF? need opinions/inputs

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

I drove 4 hours to see my girlfriend in Indiana..

On the way I would say at the first hour or so, I was not in mood to bump for some reason so I had the radio turned off. But then I had a whiff of some kind of glue (I could tell it is something like glue)

I immediately thought about my amp for some reason so I decided to reach to feel it behind me and sure enough, it was warm.. I was like WTF?

and then when I was driving in 2nd or 3rd hour, the amp became HOT.. I would be able to press my hand down on the amp for only few seconds before it hurts from being too hot..

I didnt even turn the radio on all the way since I was scared that it might **** things up..

It is so hot in the middle and on the side where the RCA inputs are at.. while the side where all of power wires and speaker wires are ran from was pretty cool..

As the time goes by, the amp pretty much got hotter and hotter, but I would say in the last hour on the road, it became stable at being pretty hot..

By the time I got to my girl's home, apparently all of the heat inside affected the power wire side so it was warm while other end was hot..

It did not smoke or anything at all.. Any ideas why?

Music plays just fine, sounded fine also..

WTF why is this happening to me? any ideas?

I dont like this at all ha and I would like this problem to be solved asap.

BTW, my amp is Kicker ZX2500.1

any input would be appreciated, thanks

P.S. I installed big 3 yesterday so not sure if that would make any difference?

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[ampjunkielikeme 10+ year member]

i have been told by a few people those amps will run a little hot without music being ran through them.....but run cooler if they pounded on them....????

 

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

lol, wtf?

i hope you are joking with me?

 

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

come on, i need serious inputs please

 

[ciaonzo 5,000+ posts]

I apologize, I don't know much about Kicker amplifiers but it's possible it runs with a high bias. What is the idle current draw as stated in the owner's manual?

 

[DEdwards 10+ year member]

are the heatsinks touching anything that could hamper airflow to cool the amp?

 

[ThatChevyGuy 5,000+ posts]

I heard the same what ampjunkie said, i experienced it first hand in a buddy's truck also!

 

[CJL 10+ year member]

come on, i need serious inputs please

serious dont happen too much anymore on this forum.

 

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

the heatsinks are free from anything.. actually my amp is sitting all alone on the rear seat folded down, like this pic down below

 

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

I apologize, I don't know much about Kicker amplifiers but it's possible it runs with a high bias. What is the idle current draw as stated in the owner's manual?

I dont have the manual, but I can check the downloadable manual on kicker.com

 

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

I heard the same what ampjunkie said, i experienced it first hand in a buddy's truck also!

really? thats very strange to me..

if so then I got nothing to be worried about eh?

serious dont happen too much anymore on this forum.

I know, just that it is gay to come in a thread and start something like that.. he or anyone could just say nothing..

it is like he s trying to be funny or get some attention.. i dont give shit about that ha

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

you aren't, by any chance, blocking any vents underneath the amp are you?

Also, is this the first time you've drove or had the amp on for that long?

 

[JarvisB 10+ year member]

underneath the amp? i dont think there are vents underneath the amp? if so then how the hell am i supposed to mount the amp if it got vents underneath ha? i could check tho

and yeah it was my first time driving for that long.. but my point is that music wasnt even on.. if it was on and i was bumping for long time during a long drive, thats understandable?

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

my audioque amps have vents underneath and i am not saying it's only AQ either.

It's always common practice for me to stand up a piece of equipment to make sure it has adequate "breathing room" underneath of it. A lot of household products are like that too, that's why their legs slightly elevate it.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

my IA amps did that. I drove to a show with the radio ON but either paused or muted...amp was HOT when I got there.