Help with Overheating Amplifier

[KyleAF7]

My amplifier overheats when I have it bridged to my Rampage subs. The subs are 2 12" in a sealed box. The amplifier itself is a 4 channel and has two 25 amp fuses, so about 500 watt RMS right? I think the max on the amplifier is 1600 watts it said? The subs are 1200 max. When the subs are hooked up to two separate channels the amp is fine and stays cool, but when I bridge it, the amp excessively overheats to where it burns to touch. I took it to Autozone and an employee looked at it and said that my power wire was not a big enough gauge for my amp and that I should at least have 4 gauge. Right now I have 6 or 8 gauge. Wouldn't having too small of a guaged power wire result in just a poor performance from the amplifier or overheating in the wire and not the amplifier? The wire is not overheating, just the amplifier when it is bridged. While bridged, the quality from the Sub is great, but it just overheats and I'm not sure what the problem is.

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[zen9122 10+ year member]

what ohm load are you runing the subs at most amps cant take less than a 2 ohm load when bridged

 

[KyleAF7]

4 ohms

 

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

First off Autozone shouldn't even be considered as a place to go to for audio stuff. Second what ohms are your subs and are the single voice coil or dual voice coil, and what are the full specs of the amp?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

4 ohms

4 ohms each or combined?

 

[KyleAF7]

They're Renegade subs not rampage haha. I went to Autozone for a free alternator test and the guy told me he used to work on audio systems and asked about mine and that's how that was involved.

Bass Inferno BI 4400.4 4 Channel amplifier. 1600 Watt Max. Input Voltage: 11.2V - 14.4V

Max Power Handling:

4 x 250 watts @ 4 ohms stereo

2 x 500 watts @ 2 ohms stereo

2 x 800 watts @ 4 ohms bridged

Renegade GTR1202 Features:

12" Dual Loaded Bass Reflex Enclosure

Power Handling:

Peak: 1200 watts

RMS: 600 watts

Impedance: 4 ohms

Polypropylene silver woofer cone

Black composite foam woofer surround

Renegade logo dust cap

Vented basked cooling system

2" voice coil diameter

 

[Ahmed Johnson]

I couldn't get a single sub spec so going by the info here, 2 of these subs will equal a 2 ohm load. I think that's your problem.

They're Renegade subs not rampage haha. I went to Autozone for a free alternator test and the guy told me he used to work on audio systems and asked about mine and that's how that was involved. Bass Inferno BI 4400.4 4 Channel amplifier. 1600 Watt Max. Input Voltage: 11.2V - 14.4V

Max Power Handling:

4 x 250 watts @ 4 ohms stereo

2 x 500 watts @ 2 ohms stereo

2 x 800 watts @ 4 ohms bridged

Renegade GTR1202 Features:

12" Dual Loaded Bass Reflex Enclosure

Power Handling:

Peak: 1200 watts

RMS: 600 watts

Impedance: 4 ohms

Polypropylene silver woofer cone

Black composite foam woofer surround

Renegade logo dust cap

Vented basked cooling system

2" voice coil diameter

 

[KyleAF7]

Also, after turning the volume up higher on the headunit the amp goes into protect. It only does that when the car is started. If the car is simply on then it won't go into protect, but still gets hot.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Like already said the subs are prolly 4 ohms each. So connected together and then bridged you have a 2 ohm bridged load. Not good you may blow the amp. Yes the 4 gauge wire is needed but so is a proper ohm lad on the amp. Try this connect both subs to one channel of the amp. Not bridged and see if the amp gets hot. Be it won't So either new subs or amp is your option here and the wires