Can someone please explian Coil failure due to clipping?

[Cameron_B 10+ year member]

Why does

1000w-Sine Wave=Good Coil

1000w-Clipped wave=Burnt coil

I thought wire was wire? I though it could handle X amount of current.

Click to read more...

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

AC voltage and DC voltage

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Why does
1000w-Sine Wave=Burnt Coil

1000w-Clipped wave=Burnt coil

I thought wire was wire? I though it could handle X amount of current.

The signal that's clipped may have significantly more than 1000W of thermal energy...

 

[smgreen20 10+ year member]

Sine wave is at 0 dB, or full tilt for the amp.

Clipped signal is where the signals tops/bottoms are cut off or CLIPPED, and causes the subs VC to play out of the gap in excessive heat burning the coils.

I **** at getting as technical as I need to. Sorry.

 

[Cameron_B 10+ year member]

Sine wave is at 0 dB, or full tilt for the amp. Clipped signal is where the signals tops/bottoms are cut off or CLIPPED, and causes the subs VC to play out of the gap in excessive heat burning the coils.

I **** at getting as technical as I need to. Sorry.

Sorry to be a dick, but this makes no sense. How does playing out of the gap make any difference?

 

[Cameron_B 10+ year member]

AC voltage and DC voltage

But current=current

Im not talking voltage. Please school me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

The signal that's clipped may have significantly more than 1000W of thermal energy...

How so?

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

With alternating current (AC) the coil moves up and down and up and down very quickly. You can see the signal with an osciliscope. It looks like this.

With a clipped signal, its like the top and bottom of the signal are "clipped" off, leaving them flat. When its flat, the coil stays still for a split second. For a sub to cool, it needs to have the coil moving to generate airflow to cool the coil. When theres no movement in the coil, heat builds up quick.

Imagine trying to run a car on a dyno to test the HP. What do you need to do? Put a big fan in front of the car. When the car is just sitting still doing its thing, it needs the air to feed it, just like the coil needs air to cool it.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

No, current is not current. AC and DC are two completely different things. AC means the signal goes up and down. DC is direct current, where its a steady flow.

Wire up your speaker and touch the positive and negative to the terminals on a cordless drill battery for a second. The cone wont play, it will pop out in a single direction and stay pushed out. Thats direct current.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

What he said...

I was gunna say the same thing //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

heat

 

[Cameron_B 10+ year member]

With a clipped signal, its like the top and bottom of the signal are "clipped" off, leaving them flat. When its flat, the coil stays still for a split second. For a sub to cool, it needs to have the coil moving to generate airflow to cool the coil. When theres no movement in the coil, heat builds up quick.

Great thanks for all you guys opinions. This helps a lot though thanks.

I know what I clipped signal looks like, and I understand the difference between AC and DC, I just didn't know why the extra heat buildup was present. This explains it perfectly though thanks.

 

[newusername 10+ year member]

There's no DC in clipping, though.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

It really sucks when you're amps start DCing though.

Thats never a good time.