Amp lights off no audio after battery died.

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

Hi. I'm new here. looking for some advice.

I have a 2004 Cavalier with a Pioneer DEH-6100BT and a JBL CS300.1 and two 12" or 10" Subwoofers. Everything else is factory.

I returned from a long trip and found my car battery was dead. It is fairly new so I charged it up with a AC charger until it started then let it run a while.

While it was running I noticed my head unit (Pioneer DEH-6100BT) had lost all its settings. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif Also my subwoofers were not working. My JBL CS300.1 has 3 LED lights on the top of it that usually light up blue. All three of these lights are out.

Is there a reset button or something i need to press on my amp? Maybe there is something i need to turn on in my head unit to get the amp to power on?

i checked the manual and see that there are some fuses in my amp which i will check after i get some sleep (it's 2:00 am). Also there is a big red wire that says rockford fosgate (or something) and has a big fuse in it near my battery. That fuse looks fine. There is some corrosion around my battery terminals but i've seen a lot worse.

In my amp's manual it says No audio (power leds are off) is likely cause by no voltage at BATT+ or REM terminals or bad or no ground connection and it's solution would be to check voltages at amplifier terminals with VOM.

Also, in browsing through the manual i noticed this in my amp's install guide:

"Power Connection: Connect a wire (see chart at right for appropriate gauge) directly to the vehicle’s positive battery terminal, and install an appropriate fuse holder within 18" of the battery terminal. Do not install the fuse at this time. Route the wire to the amplifier’s location, and connect it to the amplifier’s Positive (+12V) terminal. Be sure to use appropriate grommets whenever routing wires through the firewall or other sheet metal. Failure to adequately protect the positive wire from potential damage may result in a vehicle fire. When you are done routing and connecting this wire, you may install the fuse at the battery."
Should I have pulled this fuse when i was charging and boosting the battery to start my car maybe?

I'm new to car audio and this is my first system. The amp and woofers were a gift from my brother that came out of a truck he got when i was growing up that we had some good times with so i don't wan't to just get a new one. What should I check to get this thing going again? If it's not something i can fix can someone recommend a place to have it repaired so i can have my same amp back?

Any input would be appreciated.

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[akheathen Premium Member]

well, if it froze, i would watch out that the capacitors did not pop. if the fuses are blown, that could be suspect. replace with one small fuse first. a 100ohm resistor would help across the fuse by the battery would help to charge it up. do it with the deck off. if you do the resistor trick and then put the main fuse in and it doesn't pop, then power it on with the smaller single fuse installed. if it pops the fuse, then it's likely the caps are poped, which can short the amp out. if you have the tools best thing to do first, is visually look at the capacitors by removing the back plate. they look like little batteries on the board, and should say something like 16v (xxx)uf with a temp (celcius) rating. if they look swollen, then have them replaced.

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

If you had the amp or power wire fused, it shouldn't have been a problem. Hell, I had an issue with my amps turning on but not putting out any power and I fixed it by merely unhooking the power and ground wires from the amp for a few minutes. See if that helps.

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

I went to check the fuses in the amp and i can't seem to get them out by hand should they be this hard? is it safe to use pliers on em? there was a screw in the case between them should i remove that first?

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

get some needlenose pliers, those bastids are tough to get out since they are so close together.

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

I disconnected the wires as loudrc suggested. While i'm waitin a few minutes took some pics but when i try to link to them i get: Post denied. New posts are limited by number of URLs it may contain and checked if it doesn't contain forbidden words..

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

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[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

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[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

Pliers worked. one was really in there good.

they look fine. if they were blown the "U" shaped part would be disconnected right?

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[Spooney 10+ year member]

Do not remove the screw between the fuses. Grab some needle nose like was suggested and pull them out. Do you have a volt meter or test light of any kind? You could possibly use that to verify that the fuses in the amp are intact without pulling them from the amp if you seriously cannot get them out. I would first verify that you are actually getting power to the amp though. If you are getting 12 volts or more across the positive and negative power wires then you also need to verify that you have 12 volts plus coming down your remote turn on lead. I wouldn't be too concerned about the capacitors popping as was stated earlier. I live in Michigan and it gets plenty cold here. I've been into car audio for 15 years and have never seen caps pop because it is cold.

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

If you have a multimeter put it on continuity check and place a meter lead on each terminal of the fuse for the hell of it. The fuses look fine but every once in a while ya just get a ****** one.

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

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I have this thing that i got at when a local hardware store liquidated and had a crazy sale. I've never used it because I don't know how to use it though. What do i set the knob on this to and which wires do i touch the pointy things to? lol

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

this is interesting. I was just messing around with this thing ignorantly and if i touch it to the fuses the needle goes up and down. some parts are dull looking on the metal parts of the fuse and some are shiny i only get the needle on the meter thing to move if i touch to the shiny parts. maybe the fuses are corroded and i could sand them or replace them? or is this some kind of coating that i shouldn't sand off?

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

So i tried this...

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I don't know if i set the multimeter to the correct setting but the needle goes up and stuff when i stick the pointy things in there. after replacing the fuses with new (in a box i found in the garage) 20 and 25 (close enough to check i hope?) fuses.

 

[PeoplePhobic 10+ year member]

the fuse from the big red wire that says rockford fosgate on it seems ok

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