Amp is getting hot, cause?

[marquisbrah 10+ year member]

Hey guys i have a kicker kx 1200.1 old school amp. Today i was driving home and had my music pretty loud. When i gOt home about 15 minutes later, i opened my trunk and felt my amp was hot to the point where it actually burned to touch. I also felt the wiring and my 1/0 power and ground were pretty cool, but i have a distributor block that i was using to run 2 amps. It has a 1/0 input and two 4 gauge outputs. The 4 gauge leadIng to the amp was pretty hot. The other one is unused. Could this be because the 4 gauge is bad quality? Thanks

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[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

its because you need 1/0

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

what ohm load you running it at?

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

its because you need 1/0

4g is fine for 1200w, especially if it's coming from a distro

 

[Chriszle 10+ year member]

I once had an amplifier that was getting really hot, and it was because there was a bad mosfet. Not saying it's your problem, but it is a possibility.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

4g is fine for 1200w, especially if it's coming from a distro

do explain

the wire is hot because it's drawing too much current.

 

[schackel 10+ year member]

4g is fine for 1200w, especially if it's coming from a distro

it could be fine bu 1/0 would definitly help

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

do explain
the wire is hot because it's drawing too much current.

perhaps he means it's a 1/0 run distro to 4awg? Even then...I see your point

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

do explain
the wire is hot because it's drawing too much current.

you can push more current when running a 0g to a distro and down to 4g than if you did the whole run of 4g. im using 4g that's coming from a distro off 1500w and it's fine, doesn't get hot at all.

OP what kind of wire are you using? if it's like ****ty raptor wire that would be the reason why.

 

[BlactimusCrime 10+ year member]

you can run much more current thru a shorter piece of wire, since hes using a distro, that prolly means he doesnt have a run of 4ga the length of the car. We ran my aq2200 off of 4ga but the piece was less than 2ft long, it makes a big difference.

OP, id check to make sure all the connections are snug and also pull the cover off the amp and look for charred marks

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

you can push more current when running a 0g to a distro and down to 4g than if you did the whole run of 4g. im using 4g that's coming from a distro off 1500w and it's fine, doesn't get hot at all.
OP what kind of wire are you using? if it's like ****ty raptor wire that would be the reason why.

that wouldnt be 'esp from a distro' then. that'd be 'esp if its a short length'

seewutimsayin

at the end of the day, it's 4ga wire. the length is the factor, not the distro.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

it could be fine bu 1/0 would definitly help

But Kicker amps wont take 1/0 so there is no point... He is doing the right thing by running 1/0 to a distro then a short run of 4 gauge to the amp...

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

that wouldnt be 'esp from a distro' then. that'd be 'esp if its a short length'
seewutimsayin

i'm aware of that I was just said distro cause that's what the OP's case it

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

i have 4 gauge coming off my rear batts to my amp, and it doesn't get hardly warm after pushing it.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

it's been hot there lately?....It has been here and my amp gets super hot just from sitting there all day. Gets to the point where I don't even want to play it b/c I think it would just heat up even more

but if it's getting hot on a cold day than there's something else going on