Amp in protect mode

[Speed3_Aidan]

I just wanted to see if anyone could help me here, I’ve been looking for a direct answer to this, I Installed my Kenwood excelon amp, and my Rockford Fosgate Dual 10 inch P1 yesterday and ever since I got power running to the amp it has been in protect mode, ground is solid, I tried unplugging all RCA cables and audio out cables to the sub and it’s still in protect mode, I have a 4 gauge wire coming from the battery with an inline 60amp fuse, and 2 30 amp fuses in the amp itself, it will not turn on, just stays in protect mode from the instant it receives power. Wiring is all solid, and intact, no idea what’s going on.

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[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like fried amp.

 

[Deiimos]

Very likely a bad amp.

If able to, check voltage directly at amp terminals, obviously B+ wire and ground should be 12vDC, and the remote turn on terminal should be 12vDC when the head unit is on. Lastly pull the fuses in the amp and inspect / test them, I've had people assume the fuses were fine and once I checked I found they were blown, new fuses and it powered on again. Probably not the case here, but you have to pull them and check them to be 100%, if you did that already great.

If you are getting proper voltage, nothing else connected to the amp and it still won't power on, it's likely dead.

 

[Speed3_Aidan]

Very likely a bad amp.

If able to, check voltage directly at amp terminals, obviously B+ wire and ground should be 12vDC, and the remote turn on terminal should be 12vDC when the head unit is on. Lastly pull the fuses in the amp and inspect / test them, I've had people assume the fuses were fine and once I checked I found they were blown, new fuses and it powered on again. Probably not the case here, but you have to pull them and check them to be 100%, if you did that already great.

If you are getting proper voltage, nothing else connected to the amp and it still won't power on, it's likely dead.

I’ll check the leads, but I just purchased the amp brand new yesterday from an authorized dealer, I pulled the fuses and they looked just fine, no discoloration, and no broken metal connection

 

[Deiimos]

Sounding like you might need to get a replacement then. Other than testing the voltages to confirm it is 100% getting proper power, not much else to check.

 

[Speed3_Aidan]

Very likely a bad amp.

If able to, check voltage directly at amp terminals, obviously B+ wire and ground should be 12vDC, and the remote turn on terminal should be 12vDC when the head unit is on. Lastly pull the fuses in the amp and inspect / test them, I've had people assume the fuses were fine and once I checked I found they were blown, new fuses and it powered on again. Probably not the case here, but you have to pull them and check them to be 100%, if you did that already great.

If you are getting proper voltage, nothing else connected to the amp and it still won't power on, it's likely dead.

Sounding like you might need to get a replacement then. Other than testing the voltages to confirm it is 100% getting proper power, not much else to check.

Okay thank you, I was so frustrated trying to figure it out thinking I did something wrong wiring it

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

I just wanted to see if anyone could help me here, I’ve been looking for a direct answer to this, I Installed my Kenwood excelon amp, and my Rockford Fosgate Dual 10 inch P1 yesterday and ever since I got power running to the amp it has been in protect mode, ground is solid, I tried unplugging all RCA cables and audio out cables to the sub and it’s still in protect mode, I have a 4 gauge wire coming from the battery with an inline 60amp fuse, and 2 30 amp fuses in the amp itself, it will not turn on, just stays in protect mode from the instant it receives power. Wiring is all solid, and intact, no idea what’s going on.

What ohm is your sub wired to? If your wired to one ohm check and see if your amp is one ohm stable. Is your sub DVC4 or DVC2?

 

[Speed3_Aidan]

Very likely a bad amp.

If able to, check voltage directly at amp terminals, obviously B+ wire and ground should be 12vDC, and the remote turn on terminal should be 12vDC when the head unit is on. Lastly pull the fuses in the amp and inspect / test them, I've had people assume the fuses were fine and once I checked I found they were blown, new fuses and it powered on again. Probably not the case here, but you have to pull them and check them to be 100%, if you did that already great.

If you are getting proper voltage, nothing else connected to the amp and it still won't power on, it's likely dead.

So I tested the positive lead coming from the battery directly at the amp terminal and it’s reading 29 Volts, how do I fix that so it supplies the 12 to the amp it’s supposed to

 

[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

So I tested the positive lead coming from the battery directly at the amp terminal and it’s reading 29 Volts, how do I fix that so it supplies the 12 to the amp it’s supposed to

I highly doubt you're getting 29 volts. Are you sure it volts, not millivolts? Are you using the DC setting?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

So I tested the positive lead coming from the battery directly at the amp terminal and it’s reading 29 Volts

If your car was putting out 29 volts your battery would have exploded after frying your ECU and other accessories.

 

[Deiimos]

If we’re talking just a normal vehicle with a gas engine, then 29vDC just can’t be correct.

What kind of car is it, what kind of meter, and what settings.

I could see 29 millivolts as mentioned, but 29 volts and the car would have other issues, that’s enough to kill all the electronics, including light bulbs. I’m really thinking that’s not measured correct.

Did you buy the amp locally? If so, maybe take it to the authorized dealer and see if they can take a look at the install.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

The Punch P1 is either a 2ohm coil or 4ohm coil. I am betting the ones you have are 2ohm coils and you have them wired down to 1ohm at the amp. Wire them up to 4 ohms at the amp and you should be fine.

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

The Punch P1 is either a 2ohm coil or 4ohm coil. I am betting the ones you have are 2ohm coils and you have them wired down to 1ohm at the amp. Wire them up to 4 ohms at the amp and you should be fine.

Same thing I was thinking. Wired too low.

 

[Deiimos]

He said in the first post he tried it with the rca cables and speakers unplugged and it’s still in protect, so impedance shouldn’t make any difference here. It should power on fine with just ground, B+, and remote.

He also made it seem like it never produced audio after the install, so impedance should not make a difference here either. Did it ever produce sound / bass?

What model is the amp? Does it have special sensing to detect impedance to tell itself to not power on? Most amps don’t have this and will play bass to a certain point even below rated impedance.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Does it have special sensing to detect impedance to tell itself to not power on?

I don't think that is even a thing. All protect circuits and "smart" power supplies just sense current draw.
Something else is wrong here and almost always an amp that won't come out of protect mode is dead. It might be if this is indeed .28V or something it would trigger the power and protect lights but I'd think that none of that would even come on at all <10V