Crossovers giving off light at high volume? Why?

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

Do you disagree that this is a purpose of the lights, as a protection circuit/buffer to prevent damage to tweeters (mainly)?

Don't mean to speak on his behalf, but this is what I think he is saying to you.

He agrees that it is a protection circuit for the tweeter. He disagrees with your assertion that it protects the tweeter from DC current. That is false. It is trigged by voltage level, whether it be DC, AC or AC/DC's Back in Black, it cares not what type of current it sees, but what the Voltage of that current is. It prevents people from overdriving the tweeter. Period. Nothing more.

 

[calponte 10+ year member]

oh yeah? so that means the lights in my dash work on AC current too?

It's a DC distortion filter.

LOL... amps dont make DC voltage.

and yes..you should stop

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

My understanding of the lights has always been that they are a buffer for DC current coming out of the amp. And everytime i've tested a comp set that is lighting up, there has been DC coming from the amp, mainly because of low voltage to the amp, or poor ground.
Do you disagree that this is a purpose of the lights, as a protection circuit/buffer to prevent damage to tweeters (mainly)?

He stated that in his first post.

Light bulbs have been used as protection circuits for years, and not just in car audio. Their function is exactly what/how Helo stated. Crack open a Bose speaker of any era and you will see the same. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[calponte 10+ year member]

means you have DC current coming out of the amp. DC = distortion.

not

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I'm glad several someones read my first post...

 

[JRock10 10+ year member]

Don't mean to speak on his behalf, but this is what I think he is saying to you.
He agrees that it is a protection circuit for the tweeter. He disagrees with your assertion that it protects the tweeter from DC current. That is false. It is trigged by voltage level, whether it be DC, AC or AC/DC's Back in Black, it cares not what type of current it sees, but what the Voltage of that current is. It prevents people from overdriving the tweeter. Period. Nothing more.

ok. i actually went to the test bench to try this out. I got light from the xovers in several tests, so I must say that I stand corrected. I never really thought about the AC aspect of it, as my general understanding has been what I stated before. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[JRock10 10+ year member]

It doesn't mean that there's DC going to the comps. The lights in your house run on AC and so do the lights in the crossover. It only means that the voltage is high enough for you to see the light.

If you apply enough voltage, AC or DC, to a light bulb, it will light. I could run an unclipped pure sine wave to those speakers and get the lights to come on quite easily. A the same time I could apply low voltage DC to them and they wouldn't. You don't know what you're talking about so just stop. An yes, if the lights in your dash are incandescent, they WOULD light with AC doesn't mean that they ARE but they WOULD. LEDs are a different story, but they will light off AC as well but only one half of the cycle.

He stated that in his first post.
Light bulbs have been used as protection circuits for years, and not just in car audio. Their function is exactly what/how Helo stated. Crack open a Bose speaker of any era and you will see the same. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I'm glad several someones read my first post...

I re-read all of them, and still don't see where you stated this, but as I said, I understand your statement now.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

It's a tweeter protection circuit. As the light warms up, its resistance increases which cuts power to the tweeter and keeps it from 1) blowing and 2) getting shrill from getting a lot of power.

You didn't read all of them.

 

[UberAudio 10+ year member]

Well, I felt like turning up some rock last night, instead of just the bass, and when the volume was at about 40 of 50, I noticed a flashing light under my dash. "what could that be? Only thing down there is my crossovers?"
Pull over, and they're flashing. They are in a clear casing FYI. It looks like the light is coming out of a fuse/mini light bulb looking piece inside the casing. Is this normal, or is this like a clipping indicator or something like that? I'm guessing it's just from the power running through?

FWIW my front comps are a little mix of this and that. Focal 5.25 mids, cheap MTX tweets, and DB Link crossovers. My guess is they're seeing about 60 watts at this volume. Off a nice Sony amp, but it's still an Xplod, so it's not that nice. Built in EQ and **** though, does it's job well. The sound never sounds bad, still as clear as I'm going to be with my hodge-podge mix of components, which makes me believe nothings wrong

thanks for any input.

****ing newbs. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[JRock10 10+ year member]

You didn't read all of them.

****, i didn't see you posted before me in the thread. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/redface.gif.62fdbfe1a101588a808c4cff71bcb942.gif