does MDF sawdust make a burning smell?

[infinity1412 10+ year member]

hey, i just built a sealed box for my 2 kicker comp VR 10s, i have 300 RMS going to each, and the bass boost on head unit is all the way down, and on the amp the level is half way, when i turn the volume halfway up i smell something burning, it dosent smell too much like a sub, but the subs are brand new, never been used, and i was wondering if MDF has a burning smell if theres sawdust in the box, thanks

mike

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[phoneman 10+ year member]

Probably just your sub getting broke in. You should alway vacume out all the saw dust inside box before using it so it wont get into you VC

 

[infinity1412 10+ year member]

ok, thanks for the reply

mike

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Make sure you have everything set properly. I agree it could be the glue burning off, but most people never notice this smell as its usually very slight. The smell does however become rather easy to detect if the sub is being run past its thermal limits. Running the amp into clipping could cause this. I only question this as you described your gains settings as 'half way'. Setting your gains to half may still be too high depending on your system components. if you are unsure, take it to a local shop to set the gains for you. If Ive misinterpreted your remark, my apologies.

And as someone else said, always always remove any and all sawdust from your box before mounting/running the subs. Sawdust particles will find their way into your voice coil assembly by way of the vent hole in the back of the driver, and chew it up like sandpaper.

 

[infinity1412 10+ year member]

everything seems fine, i have 300 RMS goign to each sub and tahts there rated power, do subs smell kinda burnt while there breaking in and then stop after a while? sorry for all the questions, i jsut hope i didnt waste my money on this setup

mike

 

[phoneman 10+ year member]

everything seems fine, i have 300 RMS goign to each sub and tahts there rated power, do subs smell kinda burnt while there breaking in and then stop after a while? sorry for all the questions, i jsut hope i didnt waste my money on this setup
mike

It will be easier for you to smell since you are in a truck and Subs tend to give off a weird oder for the first few weeks. Just make sure you have the gain on the amp set properly and dont over do it with Bass boost and EQ settings and keep the loudness setting off on the HU.

 

[infinity1412 10+ year member]

thanks for the replys, i found my problem, i had it wired in series wrong, i had the negative and positive on the same coil hooked up instead of the negative and positive on each coil hooked 2gether

mike

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

i had 2 kicker comp vr's and they had the same smell. i was running the mono channel of a xtant x603 which is 300x1 @ 2 ohms. i was running it at 1 ohm for a long time. amp was fine, but i swear that it smoked the sub coils. i took them back because they started to bottom out a lot.