Amplifier won't turn on when it's cold outside?

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

Hey guys, I recently developed an issue with my system. My highs amplifier (AP2004) won't turn on when its below about 65 degrees in my Jeep. Once the heater runs for a while, it will turn on. I can't find my owners manual right now, but when it's not functioning, the power light is constantly blinking. I assume this is the way that this amplifier signals it's protection mode. When it does turn on, it also no longer plays my right front speaker (haven't had time to check if that's the speaker or the amplifier output).

I haven't had a chance to play with it too much, but I did double check my connections at the amplifier and everything is still solid. All fuses are in tact (as well as main power fuse by battery).

Does anyone have any idea what could cause this?

P.S. My subwoofer amplifier still works just fine.

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[Side Show 10+ year member]

swap front left rca for the front right rca at the amp, and see if the problem changed sides. if it doesn't then its a fault todo with wiring after the amp to the speaker.

i'd say theres a short between the amp and the speaker (just guessing tho)

 

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

Thanks for the suggestion. I meant to get out there and check it today, but this big cold front is more than likely gonna keep me inside for the day. I'll report back when I'm able to check into it more.

 

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

Well I swapped my L/R RCA's and got no sound at all from either speaker after that. Now I'm even more confused. That seems to indicate an issue with the right speaker AND the right side signal somehow.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

negative.... sound like your amp has blown output or sumfin. so you swapped the left and right input on your amp and all output stopped both side?s

 

[So Low iT Hz]

Check your grounds. Battery and amplifier grounds. Then check RCA connections for conductivity. A DMM should help find the issue or at least narrow it down to equipment failure

 

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

negative.... sound like your amp has blown output or sumfin. so you swapped the left and right input on your amp and all output stopped both side?s

I only use two speakers currently (front left and front right). The front right doesn't play at all. Normally when the amp actually turns on, I get sound fine out of the left front speaker (none from front right). When I swap the RCA's, I get no sound at all.

Check your grounds. Battery and amplifier grounds. Then check RCA connections for conductivity. A DMM should help find the issue or at least narrow it down to equipment failure

I've checked my grounds several times. I don't own a DMM or I would have already been out there with it! I finish my last final for college tomorrow, then heading to my parents home for a little vacation. I know my dad has a DMM so I'll check it out there and see what I can find.

EDIT: Not sure why I didn't think to do this earlier, but I'm going to hook the two speakers up to my unused rear channel outputs and see what happens.

 

[So Low iT Hz]

If it were colder than you say, like 5 degrees F, I'd say your battery voltage was dropping so low on the turnover of your ignition that your amplifier wasn't seeing enough voltage and automatically goes into protect. But at above freezing temperatures that shouldn't happen. Either way I recommend you do what you can to remedy the issue before continuing to use the problem amplifier, and maybe even the sub amp, to prevent further damage. A bad connection or grounded RCA can ruin an amplifier fast

 

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

Well now I feel completely retarded. Pulled the speaker panel in my dash just to look at the one that wasn't playing... turns out someone had managed to kick the speaker cables loose and they weren't connected anymore. Plugged it back up and both speakers work fine now. The amplifier also turned on fine, so hopefully that was all it was. I am letting the vehicle cool back off to see if it still goes into protect or not when it is cold.

Can't believe I didn't check that first!

 

[So Low iT Hz]

Well now I feel completely retarded. Pulled the speaker panel in my dash just to look at the one that wasn't playing... turns out someone had managed to kick the speaker cables loose and they weren't connected anymore. Plugged it back up and both speakers work fine now. The amplifier also turned on fine, so hopefully that was all it was. I am letting the vehicle cool back off to see if it still goes into protect or not when it is cold.
Can't believe I didn't check that first!

Don't feel bad we have all done something similar. I once forgot to put the jumper lead in, in a series parallel sub wiring. Triple checked every possibility for flaws took about three hrs before I realized I'm just an r tard. Luckily the each coil was wired outside the box so I didn't have to pull out a 70 lb woofer to fix it. But man I needed a beer after sweating bullets for three hrs

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

YAY, thort so

 

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

Well as it turns out, that only solved my single speaker issue. Amplifier still doesn't turn on when it's cold. It was about 55 outside today and it took about 5 minutes of the vehicle running to turn on. I checked my ground, all connections at the amp, connections at the battery, all fuses, and uncovered all of my speaker wire to follow it to ensure there was nothing that could be shorting. Still won't turn on when it's cold.

I'm thinking it may be an issue with the amplifier internally.

 

[Disarmer 10+ year member]

I e-mailed Audiopipe, and they responded a couple of days later saying that they would look into it and get back to me shortly. That was over a week ago, and I'm really tired of not having music.

Does anyone have any other ideas what might could be causing this?