Car Audio shop fried my amp?

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

The only person who can possibly say why that amp fried is a good repair person, and that's only possibly once they open it up and see what precisely happened.

By all accounts that 2500.1 is a solid amp and you don't hear many stories about them blowing up. They should be 2 ohm stable and should have some decent protection circuitry. Under fusing is a good move on the part of the installers, and IMO 250A fuse is probably too much still if you're only running 4 ohm.

I think your install sounds half-*** but that's not necessarily what caused your amp to fail. Who sold you the amp? How old was it? How much abuse did it have before you owned it? Where was it mounted (before you owned it and now)? Was it ever repaired? if so, then by whom?

This is why a lot of shops won't install anything they don't sell you. Not saying this is the case for you, but a potential scenario. Kid blows and amp and some friend who "repairs amps" just replaces all the burnt looking parts, flips it on eBay or Craigslist. Now you buy the amp, take it to a shop to install, then it blows up after playing a few songs. Who looks like the bad guy now?

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

This is why a lot of shops won't install anything they don't sell you. Not saying this is the case for you, but a potential scenario. Kid blows and amp and some friend who "repairs amps" just replaces all the burnt looking parts, flips it on eBay or Craigslist. Now you buy the amp, take it to a shop to install, then it blows up after playing a few songs. Who looks like the bad guy now?

EXACTLY!!!!!! Far too many unknown variables in this story to know what happened. Why did you except the vehicle with so many things NOT done the way you asked and paid for??? You said you bought one brand of battery and they put in another brand, one that was even smaller than what you had bought...that in itself would have given me pause....There is a lot not being said here....there is always two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

 

[fatboytyler]

Does anyone have any knowledge regarding the question as to what could have caused the amp to fry? Or just a bunch of useless I told you so's.....? I made a mistake. Wont happen again. Lesson learned, but any KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE?

2500W RMS on a stock Alternator is going to cause dangerous voltage drops, thus frying the amp. The ground and wiring did not help any either.

But yea, ultimately it is your fault. The best lessons are often the hardest ones (and most expensive!). But, like others have said, put it under your belt and learn from this.

 

[Dub7sonoma Premium Member]

How long are the 4 gauge wires from the battery to amp?

 

[SQUIRRELMASTER]

8 15s sealed on 2 soundstream 6500s @2 ohms

koo, my sub par Kickers pulled off a 153.3 in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but doesn't sound as loud in my bigger suv???

 

---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:34 PM ----------

 

How long are the 4 gauge wires from the battery to amp?

14-18 inches...

 

[SQUIRRELMASTER]

It's all good. Owner of shop was super nice and is going back over everything how I wanted it at no cost. Said he couldn't do much about the used amp, but said to come up and get any (2) sets of components I wanted, on top of the wiring upgrade. The amp had gone out before, but I had it fixed in Atlanta. To be honest, I hooked up a friend's Planet Audio BB4000.1 to the (8) kicker tens, wired how it is now, and honestly may sound a little louder to the naked ear over the KICKER ZX2500.1???

What Gives?

 

[SQUIRRELMASTER]

Oh, and they didn't wire it (big 3) because they had no knowledge of it... LOL. Think I'm going to grab my free door speakers (most expensive) get the 1/0 , and just do it myself. Appreciate some of the informative post...

 

[yogegoy]

Don't skip installing them fuses, it's better to blow a couple of fuses, figure why it does it rather than blowing your amp just one time.

 

[Bass4Days 10+ year member]

Hello. I took my car in to get wired at Roger's Stereo in Anderson,SC. I told them I needed to run 0 gauge / 1alt, all the way around, using the big 3 method. They said no problem. I'm running a ZX2500.1 pushing (8) Kicker CVRs 10 in (4 ohm).
First, they don't use the big 3 method. Amp calls for at least a 300A fuse, and they use a 250.

Third, I ordered a big Shuriken battery rated around 2400 watts, and they install a Kinetik 1400hc which is almost 1/2 a loss in power rating, and definitely not enough for a zx2500.1.

Last but not least, my power was ran to the Kinetik using 0 gauge. The ground was o gauge, but the ground spot was not very clean, and only exposed a little bit of shine to the metal point. However, from the battery to amp, they used FREAKING 4 GAUGE WIRES!!!!

My gains and frequency were all set as they originally were, and speakers played about the same loudness... for about 6 uses... then all of a sudden, speakers clip/fade out, and amp starts smoking.

Burnt smell still in car, amp power on fine (not in protect mode) but produces no sound or power to subs.

My question is, what should I tell them and can I blame them for a fried amp? Was it most likely a bad ground? Or the fact the dumb asses used 4 gauge from battery to amp?

ANY INPUT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Wow I feel bad for ya. If they didnt do the big 3 and you ordered a shuriken and you got a kinetik and used 4 gauge when any idiot would know a zx2500 needs 1/0. Do you have a receipt for the Shuriken? I would be pissed. I worked at a shop and quit. Always trying to scam people. Its nuts

 

[Dub7sonoma Premium Member]

Oh, and they didn't wire it (big 3) because they had no knowledge of it... LOL. Think I'm going to grab my free door speakers (most expensive) get the 1/0 , and just do it myself. Appreciate some of the informative post...

Yep id take the free stuff and run. I'm not too sure it was the 4 gauge wire like most are saying. True 4 gauge wire can carry a good amount of current being that short. Not saying they shouldn't have run 1/0 but I don't think that fried it. And still ***** you didn't get the battery you paid for.

 

[SQUIRRELMASTER]

Don't skip installing them fuses, it's better to blow a couple of fuses, figure why it does it rather than blowing your amp just one time.

I've never wired anything besides some tweeters ran off of door speakers, and wired an after market cd player and harness. I will gather as much information as I can before attempting to do it myself, but definitely want to do a selfie on this one!

 

[SQUIRRELMASTER]

Yep id take the free stuff and run. I'm not too sure it was the 4 gauge wire like most are saying. True 4 gauge wire can carry a good amount of current being that short. Not saying they shouldn't have run 1/0 but I don't think that fried it. And still ***** you didn't get the battery you paid for.

No I didn't but he was going to charge me $300 for the freakin Kinetik hc 1400. I said dude, I could have bought for $150... so he said, ok, well I can do $160 to help you out... SCAM ARTIST

 

[SQUIRRELMASTER]

2500W RMS on a stock Alternator is going to cause dangerous voltage drops, thus frying the amp. The ground and wiring did not help any either.
But yea, ultimately it is your fault. The best lessons are often the hardest ones (and most expensive!). But, like others have said, put it under your belt and learn from this.

Voltage never dropped below 14...

 

[Nutdawg651]

Voltage never dropped below 14...

So what exactly happened to your shuriken? Why didnt you get your batt back if thats what you brought in? And why did they switch them?

 

[Dub7sonoma Premium Member]

Well good luck with your future installs. I would definitely read as much as you can and learn to do it yourself. Its way more satisfying in the end.