Enclosure Speaker Terminal is MELTING... Has happened twice

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

I am running and eD Nine.1 @ 1 ohm on two SSD 12's in ~4.5 cubes @ 34 hz in the trunk of an '06 Civic LX Coupe.

I am running 0/1 awg to the amp and ground. I am running 8 awg from the amp to the speaker terminal on the box. Inside the box, I am running 12 awg to the subs.

The plastic around the gold screwed down terminals is melting and it is closing the circuit for the wires to transfer electricity. This is the second time it has happened and I would prefer to not have to buy new terminals every month or so. I have no idea why this is happening? Everything is in mint condition and everything is done very neatly and professionally by me. The amp's gain is set below 1/4 because I'm not trying to have earth-shaking bass, just a nice bump in bass notes. The amp never gets hot and the voice coils are in perfect shape so I know there's no clipping. The amp never gets below 13 volts.

This has happened on two gold screw down terminal and one push button terminal. The plastic just melts right around the metal part. Can some direct me to nice terminals or tell me what the problem is? I would think 12 awg inside the box should be fine.

This is the terminal at Parts Express: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=260-309

http://www.partsexpress.com/images/260-309m.jpg

Thanks for the help!

Click to read more...

 

[maldecido33 10+ year member]

could it be happening sometime during the day if it gets really hot in your car? make sure nothing is grounded anywhere...

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

terminals ****, direct wire it all.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

Yeah, I'm in Texas so it gets really hot during the days for sure... I'm at work all day and my car is out in the sun.

Also, I would like to direct wire it all, could you give me some pointers on that? Basically I would just leave an empty terminal in the hole so the air is still in the box. Then I would drill two holes for bigass bolts and then just use a nut and washer on each side of the bolt to hold the wires in. What am I missing, and how will I get the wires to stay on the bolt?

Also, I'm 100% nothing is grounded anywhere, I use my DMM all the time to check for resistances and current and everything.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

either move to these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=260-314

or

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=091-1245

I just use BOLTS and NUTS with Washers and these:

 

[bk12321 10+ year member]

Yeah, I'm in Texas so it gets really hot during the days for sure... I'm at work all day and my car is out in the sun.
Also, I would like to direct wire it all, could you give me some pointers on that? Basically I would just leave an empty terminal in the hole so the air is still in the box. Then I would drill two holes for bigass bolts and then just use a nut and washer on each side of the bolt to hold the wires in. What am I missing, and how will I get the wires to stay on the bolt?

Also, I'm 100% nothing is grounded anywhere, I use my DMM all the time to check for resistances and current and everything.

you could just drill holes and seal it up with caulk or putty or somethin //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[hotshot27 10+ year member]

i hate to admit it, but i just drilled a .5'' hole and stuck my 4 strands of 10 ga through and then i sealed it up with caulk from the inside. then i added a layer of woodglue on the caulk for added support and then caulked it again. It has held up so far [knock on wood]

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

either move to these:http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=260-314

or

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=091-1245

I just use BOLTS and NUTS with Washers and these:

What are those L brackets called and where might I be able to find them on the net to order? I like that idea. How is the inside connected?

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

i hate to admit it, but i just drilled a .5'' hole and stuck my 4 strands of 10 ga through and then i sealed it up with caulk from the inside. then i added a layer of woodglue on the caulk for added support and then caulked it again. It has held up so far [knock on wood]

So how do you remove your box from the car?

I need to be able to take my box out in case of a flat because it takes up the entire trunk.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

What are those L brackets called and where might I be able to find them on the ent to order? I like that idea. How is the inside connected?

lowes or HD(I forget which) ELECTRICAL dept. they are for breaker box grounding strips. one on each side, bolt and nut, done... the piece fits snugly over the hole you drill for the bolt.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

lowes or HD(I forget which) ELECTRICAL dept. they are for breaker box grounding strips. one on each side, bolt and nut, done... the piece fits snugly over the hole you drill for the bolt.

Excellent. Thanks for the idea man!

Dallas represent. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[hotshot27 10+ year member]

So how do you remove your box from the car?
I need to be able to take my box out in case of a flat because it takes up the entire trunk.

i actually carry a phillips screwdriver in my car and if it needs to come out, i just unhook it from the amp. i have spade terminals going into my amp for the speaker wire, really easy to unhook, about 30 seconds give or take.

 

[lostdaytomorrow 10+ year member]

Oh, ok, I see. Good call there. So if you have more than one sub with a DVC sub how is the wiring done in order to get it down to two wires that go into the amp? Or do you just bridge the wires all the way back at the amp using the amp's internal bridging or something or what?

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

Oh, ok, I see. Good call there. So if you have more than one sub with a DVC sub how is the wiring done in order to get it down to two wires that go into the amp? Or do you just bridge the wires all the way back at the amp using the amp's internal bridging or something or what?

the other boxes I've done using that arrangement, I've used 4 blocks. That allows you to change the subs' wiring on the fly.

Sub 1 2

wire + +

wire - -

 

[Qbenjamin 10+ year member]

You have either some cheap terminals, or something is not wired right. I use terminals all the time in boxes, and I live here in Florida. My car sits out in the sun 50+ hours a week. I am not using 8awg though, as that might be your problem right there. Maybe too much current is flowing through, and that cheap plastic melts due to that.