Blown solo x; underpowered?

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

Gains were set properly.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

nearly every blown sub i've seen was caused by underpowering it (clipped to the max)

 

[justin smith 10+ year member]

when i first read the title, audioholic's sig came to mind.

me to and to see him pot in here makes me giggle......but really you were probally clipping it to death, how ong hace you had the x on the hk4000

 

[tc3k101 5,000+ posts]

Gains were set properly.

how do you know the amp wasn't sending a clipped signal?

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

Had the x on the hk for... Maybe 3 months? Give or take.

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

how do you know the amp wasn't sending a clipped signal?

How would I know when it is sending a clippe signal?

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

I could see a Solo X blowing off 3k after a couple minutes. They dont take massive power on music. Know LOTS of people who have blown them on that much power.

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

I could see a Solo X blowing off 3k after a couple minutes. They dont take massive power on music. Know LOTS of people who have blown them on that much power.

First reasonable answer so far, thanks. Any suggestions on how to prevent it, besides getting rid of the x or not playing music?

 

[justin smith 10+ year member]

did you keep a good eye on it for the 3 months?......every time i get a new setup when ever im out bumpin (going to work, driving home and after demos) ill pop my trunk feel the cone see if its hot smell in the port for burt coils push on the cone and listem for coil rub. it could have been having a hard life these past 3 months

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

did you keep a good eye on it for the 3 months?......every time i get a new setup when ever im out bumpin (going to work, driving home and after demos) ill pop my trunk feel the cone see if its hot smell in the port for burt coils push on the cone and listem for coil rub. it could have been having a hard life these past 3 months

Good question. It smelled once when I went up in bettery power, but that went away in time, like it had to get used to it or something. The only other time is when in blew obviously.

 

[99mitseclipse 10+ year member]

Cone never got hot and never had coil rub either.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Box is 8.5 cubes. I checked ohm load multiple times and with rise about 1.4. And to Audioholic, you asked the same question I'm asking you guys....

I thought my sarcasm would show up better, and in doing so, would enlighten you.

Good question. It smelled once when I went up in bettery power, but that went away in time, like it had to get used to it or something. The only other time is when in blew obviously.

So the reality is your charging system was not giving it the power you thought it was until you increased your battery capacity.
Underpowering was simply not the problem. It might have been stress over time, heat of the moment (no pun intended), it might have even been a midget in the trunk... but it was NOT too little power.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

nearly every blown sub i've seen was caused by underpowering it (clipped to the max)

No, no they weren't. Not a single one of them. Do you realize that a heavily clipped amplifier can output twice its rated power, or more?

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

There are a couple possibilities:

-Your gains werent set correctly and therefore clipped the signal and fried the sub.

-If your gains WERE set correctly, and you were beating on it for a while and your voltage started dropping very low, that will cause your amp to clip.

-The 3,xxxrms was just too much for the sub to handle for this amount of time, blowing the sub.

-The song you were playing had a note that was right at your box tuning. At your box tuning, the port becomes most efficient and the cone excursion drops severly. Because of this lack of excursion, the coil cannot disappate heat, and overheats, blowing the sub.

Im guessing it was little of EACH of the first 3. I would make sure your gains are set properly, make your your electrical system is on par, and then just go easy on the sub. 3,000+ true watts is a LOT for any speaker to take for more than a minute or so on any bass heavy music. A coil is a coil, and can only disappate so much heat before it fails.

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[alexregalgs 10+ year member]

^^^^^^best answer to your question