bad ground causing voltage loss?

[PESteele 10+ year member]

I hooked up my amp in a friends car cause im letting him use it and when i got everything all hooked up i went to turn it on i got no blue light. So i pull out the dmm and it says hes only getting 8 volts w/ car off so i turn the car on and now hes getting 10. I tested the posative and grounded somewhere else and got 14.4. Right now its grounded under the paneling below the front passangers door. Could a low voltage make it not turn on.

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[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

that could cause it.

check the fuse and make sure it's not partially blown, too

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

could be a fuse as well.

Edit...got beat

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

yeah thats a possability. but it was good when i put it in there so i dont know why it would be messed up. Both the fuses on the amp are good

 

[sqhertz 5,000+ posts]

bad wire? shit in the amp terminals? paint?

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

i sanded nice and good and i get 14.4 if i scrach off some paint on the body(behind where door would usually sits so i dont think it has to do w/ the amp

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

could a bad ground be causing this?

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

try another amp see what happens.

 

[Worlddre 5,000+ posts]

you said that when you scratch off paint you get your desired voltage so it sounds to me like you solved your own problem

reground it

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

ill try that 2marrow and see if it works. Just wondering though does underpowering an amp make it so it might not turn on

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Most all amps need more than 10v to turn on. It is quite possible that the piece of metal you have it "grounded" to is not electrically well connected to the rest of the vehicle. Try somewhere like the floor pan.

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

ok got it all hooked up and regrounded and it sound great on rock and country but on rap it gets mad loud but starts to get a lil muddy. Im thinking its just the shitty box and high tuning. bit it might have just been cause it was the radio. I only got to listen for a minute or so. Also getting some port noise which is annoying but i think more sanding might help a little more.

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

GoOd JoB

gN

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

i was really impressed for an 8