Amp turning off due to voltage drop while driving

[nola111]

Take the title of this thread with a grain of salt, as that is only my best hypothesis as to what is happening. I'm new to DIY car audio but so far have had a relatively successful ride.

I have a 2013 Honda Pilot EX-L, stock Navigation system. I replaced the speakers, added an amp for the speakers, and added a sub and sub amp.

These are the amps I added:

AudioControl D-6.1200

D Series 6-channel car amplifier with digital signal processing — 125 watts RMS x 6

www.crutchfield.com

Kicker 47KEY500.1

Compact mono subwoofer amplifier with automatic tuning DSP — 500 watts RMS at 1 ohm

www.crutchfield.com

And a single 12" Kicker Sub.

For several months, everything worked without a hitch. Then the AudioControl amp started turning off mid-music. After it turned off, it would turn back on, play for a few more seconds, then cut off again.

So I assumed I was dealing with voltage drop, and I bought this cap: https://bossaudio.com/collections/car-audio-capacitors/products/791489108980

After installing this, the problem went away for a few more months. Starting yesterday, the amp started cutting out again, along with the cap beeping at me, but only while driving. If I'm sitting in my driveway in Park, I can play everything very loud, and there are no dropouts. The cap shows a steady 13.3 - 13.4 of voltage. Unfortunately I'm not able to see what the voltage reads when the amp cuts off, b/c I'm driving and the cap is in a closed compartment in the back.

Any thoughts on what I need to do now to remedy this?

Battery? (more powerful one, secondary one?)
Alternator?
Better Cap?

Any advice/insight would be greatly appreciated.

Click to read more...

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Voltage and current are different things so it might be current draw at some point. Seems unlikely though (unless you got a 12ft 4 gauge CCA feed). Even if you managed to pull max output from the two amps you'd only be talking roughly 1200 watts.

What is the wiring/electrical configuration?

 

[HardofWhoring]

Start by double checking all connections. Anything loose will cause that to happen, (and this sounds like my first guess based on the timeline and frequency). It would be incredibly dangerous because it would also be causing a lot more resistance.

 

[nola111]

Voltage and current are different things so it might be current draw at some point. Seems unlikely though (unless you got a 12ft 4 gauge CCA feed). Even if you managed to pull max output from the two amps you'd only be talking roughly 1200 watts.

What is the wiring/electrical configuration?

Hi, thanks for your response.

I'm running a 4 gauge wire from the battery into a fuse block, then all the way to the back into a distribution block. Out from there into the cap, out of the cap into the D6.1200 and the Sub amp. So yes, we are in fact looking at almost a 12ft fun of 4 gauge wire. But again, things were working fine for several months?

The D6.1200 goes to the 6 cab speakers via the speaker outs, and it has a dedicated Sub Line Out which goes to the Line In of the Key amp, then speaker outs from the Key to sub.

Let me know if I missed anything there, and thanks again!

 

[nola111]

Start by double checking all connections. Anything loose will cause that to happen, (and this sounds like my first guess based on the timeline and frequency). It would be incredibly dangerous because it would also be causing a lot more resistance.

This would certainly make sense since all was working fine for several months. I'll check the connections and report back.

 

[nola111]

Also just wondering, do these caps ever go bad? This one I bought has pretty high reviews overall but it was also less than a hundred bucks?

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Also just wondering, do these caps ever go bad? This one I bought has pretty high reviews overall but it was also less than a hundred bucks?

Caps are kind of fading out of favor as Li-on cells are becoming the go to electrical upgrade in many instances. Connections could be the culprit but generally they are inadvertent at any volume level or when you hit a bump or they are on or off, nothing inbetween. 4 gauge CCA might be an issue, but not OFC. If your running pure copper, should be fine with 4 gauge up to the 80-90 amps you could potentially draw. The fact that the issue was mitigated by a cap could also mean that you jiggled something and momentarily re-connected it until it vibrated loose again. If all else fails, you may have an issue with something that has become loose in the amp. I assume it's still in warranty? I could not see what you indicate you put inline, the link to Amazon stuff doesn't stay in place if you edit your response, it just defaults to the Amazon home page. Check all the fuses too, could have a faulty one.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

This would certainly make sense since all was working fine for several months. I'll check the connections and report back.

Deff sounds like a loose connection somewhere. Possibly the grounding? Though any Power connection can be as well. Might even check the remote as well for a solid wire connection and not the sheathing. How old is your vehicle battery?

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Also just wondering, do these caps ever go bad? This one I bought has pretty high reviews overall but it was also less than a hundred bucks?

Any electrical component can go bad. Nothing last forever. It could last a year or 5 years? depends on the quality of the unit and how it is used over time as withy anything

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I did have an older Honda CRV that I had issues with maintaining voltage with an aftermarket amplifier installed. later to find out that the vehicle has an ELD which would kick in while driving lowering the voltage on the vehicle that helps save on fuel consumption. The easiest way I found around that was to add the largest AGM battery under the hood,and do the Big3, and add the largest AGM battery in the rear by the amplifiers,and worked quite well up to 2500 watts approx. went with more power and had issues again and ended up by-passing the ELD with @Keephopealive recommendation and thread on how to conduct the Bypass and never had an issue again. Those A.C. amps are really delicate when it comes to low voltage and shut down as they are designed to do to protect them from damage. It may be of best interest to look into an amplifier that ranges from 9v up to 15v even? Such as these?

Audio Apex CAB-M165 5 Channel Car Amplifier 1600 Watts RMS

Audio Apex CAB-M165 5 Channel Car Amplifier 1600 Watts RMS

caraudiobargain.com

 

[nola111]

Caps are kind of fading out of favor as Li-on cells are becoming the go to electrical upgrade in many instances. Connections could be the culprit but generally they are inadvertent at any volume level or when you hit a bump or they are on or off, nothing inbetween. 4 gauge CCA might be an issue, but not OFC. If your running pure copper, should be fine with 4 gauge up to the 80-90 amps you could potentially draw. The fact that the issue was mitigated by a cap could also mean that you jiggled something and momentarily re-connected it until it vibrated loose again. If all else fails, you may have an issue with something that has become loose in the amp. I assume it's still in warranty? I could not see what you indicate you put inline, the link to Amazon stuff doesn't stay in place if you edit your response, it just defaults to the Amazon home page. Check all the fuses too, could have a faulty one.

Thanks for the reply. I'm still looking into everything from all the great replies here.

Regarding Li-on cells - every Li-on battery I've looked at says "Not compatible with your 2013 Honda Pilot." Is this because the 2013 Pilot are not equipped with the proper components to charge and maintain an Li-on battery? Do I have any options in this case?

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Just to be sure, we are talking about adding a 2nd battery, not replacing the primary. Li-on do not fair well in extreme cold or heat as it would likely encounter in the engine compartment and should not be replacing the flooded (lead acid, non-agm) battery under the hood. An upgraded high capacity AGM under the hood may do the trick to, win/win if it is adequate.

That said, you have what's called am ELD or Electronic Load Detector, usually integrated with firebox according to Honda. The Electronic Load Detector (ELD) detects any electrical load on the engine from accessories like A/C controls, radiator fan, lights, heater motor, etc. The ECU uses the ELD's inputs to adjust alternator output and compensate for the additional electrical loads.

The reason for this is that the charging voltage is often higher on Li-on. That said, I've often seen information on using liFePO4 batteries as a rule. I'm not an expert on the subject but you may want to find out if you have and LELD and if so, pose the question to the forum, there some real experts on the subject that are routinely active here.

 

[dragon.breath 10+ year member]

Before I spent any money, I would get a volt meter to the terminals of the amplifier to where I could see it while you are driving. Either a DMM or a digital volt meter like people mount. It doesn’t have to be a permanent install. Just some wire thrown across the top of the seats and a meter in the passenger seat. See for sure that you even have a voltage problem.

 

[nola111]

Thank you all for all the replies, I intend to reply to each and every one individually as I test things out.

Here's the latest development that makes me think even more that this is a voltage issue - I disconnected power to the Sub amp, and after 3 days of driving, there is no cut-out of the main amp. Any thoughts on that other than my battery/alternator just simply can't provide enough power to power both amps?