Down4Sound LTO 6.0's not turning on Amps

[shaunthedon]

I had a question. I took out my old reserve battery (Limitless 60ah) and installed 3 of the LTO 6.0's. Now my amps won't turn on. I checked with my multimeter, there's power coming from power wires to the amps (3 crescendo amps). My remote turn on wire has power when turning on the vehicle/radio. The only thing I can think of is grounds?
I didn't change any of my grounds from my last setup with the Limitless battery though.
I did add two more runs of power wire from front battery to back, for a total of 3 runs now. Is it because I need more grounds? And if so can I just add couple more grounds from the LTO's to the back of my car (chassis area)? I checked my grounds that I have connected now to the chassis with a multimeter, and they're good grounds.

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[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

checked my grounds that I have connected now to the chassis with a multimeter, and they're good grounds.

Did you try a jumper from the amp's positive lug to the amp's remote turn on screw? Disconnect the remote wire before this test.
A good low resistance reading does not necessarily mean a good ground. Let us say your ground is hanging on with a single strand of wire; that will read a good connection but not enough for the current the amp needs.

 

[shaunthedon]

Did you try a jumper from the amp's positive lug to the amp's remote turn on screw? Disconnect the remote wire before this test.
A good low resistance reading does not necessarily mean a good ground. Let us say your ground is hanging on with a single strand of wire; that will read a good connection but not enough for the current the amp needs.

I will try that tomorrow and let u know if it works.

 

[shaunthedon]

Did you try a jumper from the amp's positive lug to the amp's remote turn on screw? Disconnect the remote wire before this test.
A good low resistance reading does not necessarily mean a good ground. Let us say your ground is hanging on with a single strand of wire; that will read a good connection but not enough for the current the amp needs.

Before I test that, let's say it still doesn't turn the amp on.... what would be the culprit?

 

[Water Bear]

I had a question. I took out my old reserve battery (Limitless 60ah) and installed 3 of the LTO 6.0's. Now my amps won't turn on. I checked with my multimeter, there's power coming from power wires to the amps (3 crescendo amps). My remote turn on wire has power when turning on the vehicle/radio. The only thing I can think of is grounds?
I didn't change any of my grounds from my last setup with the Limitless battery though.
I did add two more runs of power wire from front battery to back, for a total of 3 runs now. Is it because I need more grounds? And if so can I just add couple more grounds from the LTO's to the back of my car (chassis area)? I checked my grounds that I have connected now to the chassis with a multimeter, and they're good grounds.

Just out of curiosity what is your front battery? Limitless batteries are often LiFePO4 which I think you can use with AGM or lead acid (with an isolator). LTO is not compatible with other chemistries.

That aside, exactly how did you do your grounds? If you have batteries at the amp, your amps should ground directly on the battery negative terminals. Those negatives each need a good ground to chassis. What is the resting voltage of your LTO 6.0s? Don't they ship uncharged and need to be trickle charged back to life?

 

[shaunthedon]

Just out of curiosity what is your front battery? Limitless batteries are often LiFePO4 which I think you can use with AGM or lead acid (with an isolator). LTO is not compatible with other chemistries.

That aside, exactly how did you do your grounds? If you have batteries at the amp, your amps should ground directly on the battery negative terminals. Those negatives each need a good ground to chassis. What is the resting voltage of your LTO 6.0s? Don't they ship uncharged and need to be trickle charged back to life?

I have a XS D3400 up front. I did charge the LTO's before installing. The LTO's say to charge to 13.6v for 100% SoC. I did that. Down4Sound also says you can run the LTO's with AGM no problem.
As far as amp grounds, I have all my grounds from my amps connected to my LTO's (5 total). Do I really need 5 grounds going from my LTO's to chassis? I currently only have 2 grounds going to chassis. I was running my LiFePO4 Limitless with these 2 grounds fine (not including the grounds up front).
Previously I only had 1 run of positive from front to back, but I know that wasn't enough. So I added 2 more runs (3 total). I figure I might need 3 grounds now from LTO's to chassis. But I disconnected one run, and started my engine with 2 runs of positive, with my 2 grounds in back, and still nothing. Not sure if that had anything to do with it.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Before I test that, let's say it still doesn't turn the amp on.... what would be the culprit?

It would mean the amp's positive and negative are not making a complete circuit. If you are using an isolator, it could be the issue.

 

[Water Bear]

I have a XS D3400 up front. I did charge the LTO's before installing. The LTO's say to charge to 13.6v for 100% SoC. I did that. Down4Sound also says you can run the LTO's with AGM no problem.
As far as amp grounds, I have all my grounds from my amps connected to my LTO's (5 total). Do I really need 5 grounds going from my LTO's to chassis? I currently only have 2 grounds going to chassis. I was running my LiFePO4 Limitless with these 2 grounds fine (not including the grounds up front).
Previously I only had 1 run of positive from front to back, but I know that wasn't enough. So I added 2 more runs (3 total). I figure I might need 3 grounds now from LTO's to chassis. But I disconnected one run, and started my engine with 2 runs of positive, with my 2 grounds in back, and still nothing. Not sure if that had anything to do with it.

You're right, D4S says you can run the LTO 6's with AGMs and charge at factory voltage (14.8). Current runs in a circuit, so you need as good a ground path as you do a positive path. I have more to say about that, but it can wait until we resolve the amp turn on issue.

The simplest test you can possibly do is to connect one single LTO 6.0 to one single amp and see if it turns on. If you have LTO + to amp + and LTO - to amp -, then it will turn on and play sound if the battery works, period. You can connect the amp + to the remote turn on with a jumper wire and the amp will turn on. If it doesn't, check your fuses. Also I know you said you charged to 13.6V, but take your DMM and make 100% sure the battery is holding a charge when you hook it up. I'd even check the voltage across the amp + and - connections to make sure it's reading ~13.6V. Failing all else, hook up the under-hood battery + directly to amp + and take amp - to chassis ground, then jump from the amp + to the remote turn on. If you know your under-hood battery is good and the amp still doesn't turn on, then we have different problems.

Finally, I know the only thing you changed was battery wiring, but trace your remote turn on wire and make sure it didn't accidentally become unhooked, loose, or otherwise interrupted during the battery install. This could all be for nothing if it's just a disconnected remote wire.

 

[shaunthedon]

It would mean the amp's positive and negative are not making a complete circuit. If you are using an isolator, it could be the issue.

I will try that. But I am not running an isolator.

 

[shaunthedon]

You're right, D4S says you can run the LTO 6's with AGMs and charge at factory voltage (14.8). Current runs in a circuit, so you need as good a ground path as you do a positive path. I have more to say about that, but it can wait until we resolve the amp turn on issue.

The simplest test you can possibly do is to connect one single LTO 6.0 to one single amp and see if it turns on. If you have LTO + to amp + and LTO - to amp -, then it will turn on and play sound if the battery works, period. You can connect the amp + to the remote turn on with a jumper wire and the amp will turn on. If it doesn't, check your fuses. Also I know you said you charged to 13.6V, but take your DMM and make 100% sure the battery is holding a charge when you hook it up. I'd even check the voltage across the amp + and - connections to make sure it's reading ~13.6V. Failing all else, hook up the under-hood battery + directly to amp + and take amp - to chassis ground, then jump from the amp + to the remote turn on. If you know your under-hood battery is good and the amp still doesn't turn on, then we have different problems.

Finally, I know the only thing you changed was battery wiring, but trace your remote turn on wire and make sure it didn't accidentally become unhooked, loose, or otherwise interrupted during the battery install. This could all be for nothing if it's just a disconnected remote wire.

So I checked my remote wire and there is voltage coming out when I turn on my car. I will try and jump wire from + to remote with remote wire out, see if it comes on.
Also I wonder if this makes a difference, but I mightve charged my LTOs improperly. I took off the charger once I saw the battery reach around 14v, since 100% SoC is at 13.6v. Maybe I'm suppose to let the charger completely charge them until the charger indicates it's fully charged (D4S 15amp lithium charger). Because I did notice that when I installed my LTOs, the batteries were resting at 13.1ish. They should be resting closer to 13.6. Not sure if this will make a difference. When i turned my car on, I checked voltage at the power wires going into my amps, and it read 14.6v.

 

[Water Bear]

So I checked my remote wire and there is voltage coming out when I turn on my car. I will try and jump wire from + to remote with remote wire out, see if it comes on.
Also I wonder if this makes a difference, but I mightve charged my LTOs improperly. I took off the charger once I saw the battery reach around 14v, since 100% SoC is at 13.6v. Maybe I'm suppose to let the charger completely charge them until the charger indicates it's fully charged (D4S 15amp lithium charger). Because I did notice that when I installed my LTOs, the batteries were resting at 13.1ish. They should be resting closer to 13.6. Not sure if this will make a difference. When i turned my car on, I checked voltage at the power wires going into my amps, and it read 14.6v.

If the amps are seeing 14.6 then they likely have enough juice to turn on. How did you measure? Amp + to Amp ground?

You might double check to be sure you have the amp ground hooked to the LTO battery negative terminals, and that those negatives are well connected to ground. I know this is a dumb thing to double check but if the amps positive and ground terminals are at the same voltage (or can't flow current) then a remote turn on signal won't be enough to turn the amps on (obviously).

 

[shaunthedon]

If the amps are seeing 14.6 then they likely have enough juice to turn on. How did you measure? Amp + to Amp ground?

You might double check to be sure you have the amp ground hooked to the LTO battery negative terminals, and that those negatives are well connected to ground. I know this is a dumb thing to double check but if the amps positive and ground terminals are at the same voltage (or can't flow current) then a remote turn on signal won't be enough to turn the amps on (obviously).

Yes I checked them from amp + to amp grounds. All read 14.6v. I have 5 grounds coming from 3 amps hooked to my LTO's negative. I only have currently 2 grounds going from LTO's to chassis. Do I need to add more maybe? I have 5 power wires coming from amps to LTO's. And 3 runs of positive running from front AGM to LTO's.

 

[Water Bear]

Yes I checked them from amp + to amp grounds. All read 14.6v. I have 5 grounds coming from 3 amps hooked to my LTO's negative. I only have currently 2 grounds going from LTO's to chassis. Do I need to add more maybe? I have 5 power wires coming from amps to LTO's. And 3 runs of positive running from front AGM to LTO's.

Dumb question, but are all the negatives and positives in parallel on the batteries? I know these are all "duh" things, just trying to eliminate the obvious.

 

[shaunthedon]

Dumb question, but are all the negatives and positives in parallel on the batteries? I know these are all "duh" things, just trying to eliminate the obvious.

Yes they are all in parallel.

 

[Water Bear]

Yes they are all in parallel.

At this point, if hooking a live 12v line to the amp turn on while it's got good power and ground doesn't turn them on, it's looking like the amps have a problem.