Heavy clipping catches woofers of fire lol PICS inside

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

IMO, a little customer education is part of a good installer's responsibilities. Im not saying the shop is at fault, but Id not let a customer pull out of the install bay without understanding that altering his gains/bass boost so much could cause a fatal system failure, including a fire.

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

of course those subs wernt clipping with the gains turned ALL the way up - and the bass boost turned ALL the way up.they were recieving perfect sine waves liek that

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my point is that clipping didn't kill the subs, over voltage and then the thermal limits were passed. The shitty clipped sine wave would make it sound like shit, and allow the amplifier to produce way more power than rms, and that extra power is what killed the sub.

I am just making a point that clipping is so commonly used as the reason for subwoofer failure, and the truth is that if the sub had more thermal headroom it would not fail.

 

[stangman67 10+ year member]

Clipping creates heat. Heat leads to failure

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

Clipping creates heat. Heat leads to failure

Correct, the same way that an unclipped signal that is way beyond the limits of the diver will kill the sub also.

I can take my UL12 feed it a clipped signal from a 300w amp all day long, and absolutely nothing will happen.

I could take my custom 10" and feed it the same clipped signal off a 1500w amp and run it all day.

It is the power released by the amplifier that creates a thermal overload, and the fact that he sub then hesitates oh so slightly at the top and bottom of each stroke, just adds the icing to the cake.

 

[Canaan 10+ year member]

Had a customer do something similar to a DD2515 once. I built the box and sold him the DD2515 an DDm80. He was supposed to come back the next day for the install...he never showed.

About a week later he pulls up *****ing and moaning about his sub not working. He had it installed at another local shop (i repair their crap installs all the time) and the ground wire was held down by 1 drywall screw w/ no weather coating cleaned away (old chevy trunk car). I go out to the car and the spider is on fire, and he is still trying to play it.

Gains, BBoost, LPF, and SSF were pegged...he was mad because I wouldn't just replace the sub for free. "Even though it was brand new and under warranty".

Sad thing is, the M80 came w/ the remote bass knob w/ the clip-light. And I explained the clip-light to him before he bought the amp, and yes it was installed...and pegged. So was the sub control on his Boss HU.

Turned out he loaned the car to a buddy and it came back like this. He had just got the car back about 30mins before he showed up at the shop. He buddy was there w/ him talking shit about how we were a crap shop. Saying we should warranty it and being loud.

I looked at the actual owner of car and said, "Just think about it, how many times have you loaned this guys something and it came back broken?" The owner stopped, thought about it (you could see the wheels starting to turn) then just shut up and was ready to pay for the recone.

 

[Vossy 10+ year member]

God people are stupid.

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

I remember back in highschool this kid used to clip his amp like crazy, he'll play Beastie Boys' Intergalactic and the main bassline is as loud as the fundamentals in the background.

 

[blakflash 10+ year member]

IMO, a little customer education is part of a good installer's responsibilities. Im not saying the shop is at fault, but Id not let a customer pull out of the install bay without understanding that altering his gains/bass boost so much could cause a fatal system failure, including a fire.

IMO with people like that. No amount of education will stop that from happening. After blowing up an amp on the first day he should've learned. And in a truck he should've smelled the voice coils long before they burst into flames and at the very least heard the distortion and turned it back down. Poor equipment though really needed a better owner.

 

[Stalin-ohaulic]

my point is that clipping didn't kill the subs, over voltage and then the thermal limits were passed. The shitty clipped sine wave would make it sound like shit, and allow the amplifier to produce way more power than rms, and that extra power is what killed the sub.
I am just making a point that clipping is so commonly used as the reason for subwoofer failure, and the truth is that if the sub had more thermal headroom it would not fail.

I understand what you're saying, unfortunately you're incorrect. Voltage never blew anything. Too much current passing through the voice coil for too long is what ended up heating the coil and blowing it. The reason clipping is blamed is because clipping is the amplifier putting out its maximum power for much longer than it should during the wave. Instead of the wave rising and falling smoothly, it holds high and holds low for MUCH longer. This means more current is passing through the coil for longer times with less time in between to cool. You would know this if you were a member of eCrack.net. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[blakflash 10+ year member]

this is like asking what came first the chicken or the egg. except I know the answer to this dilemma. know it's limits and don't do stupid sh*t with your stuff //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/slap.gif.87520e8ca8e90076ac30e777c0de5331.gif

 

[nateberrier 10+ year member]

I take a razor and mark where i set the gains and mark the bass boost at off. if anyone comes back to me and its not where I marked it they are SOL. Also it pains me to see those amps scraped up like that more than the subs blown. If that guy came back to me I would probably have to kick him in the face. If you didnt tell him not to dick with it and why first though then maybe not so much

 

[blakflash 10+ year member]

I wonder if there would be money to be had running a car audio insurance company lol. with strict guidelines of course.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I wonder if there would be money to be had running a car audio insurance company lol. with strict guidelines of course.

Doesn't this thread suggest the answer to that question would be a resounding no?

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

Tell the customer that he needs to start from 1st grade with Optimus Pro subs.

 

[blakflash 10+ year member]

with as many car accidents as there are somehow car insurance companies make money. so i somehow doubt it'd be a definiate no. Knowing the right people and having deals on the side would help out as well. Not to mention premiums and deductibles down payments etc. but like i said strict guidelines