Hot metal around ground??

[ARKing005 10+ year member]

So I'm having an odd problem.. The area around where my ground is connected is getting burning hot! The wire is not hot, just all the metal around where the ground is connected to the body. I have solid connections, The paint is scraped off exposing the metal. Oh also my amp gets burning hot and goes into protect mode. Actually blew the 2 30amp fuses the other day...

I do remember when I bought my car there was ground strap just dangling from underneath in the center of the car. It wasnt connected to anything and I was annoyed of it hanging so I decided to rip it off......... I dont know if this would affect anyting.. it was like attached to my muffler or something. Maybe my cat. I will never know where the other end attached to.. I drive a 2002 maxima SE

oh another weird thingy is that I have 4GA power wire for about 15' then a connector cuts it down to 8GA wire.... it was a ghetto rig.. the 4GA power wire was too short so my friend did this rig to get it to work... So hence there is 8ga wire connecting directly to the amp..

I still dont understand why all of the metal around the ground gets burning hot.. I mean its almost my entire trunk heating up!

Id greatly appreciate anyones help with this matter. Thanks in advance!

12" Kicker VR

Sony XPLOD 1000w 2 channel bridged to 1

1' 0GA oxygen free ground

Click to read more...

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

where exactly is the ground attached to? sounds like whatever you have it connected to isn't a good solid piece of the car chassis. perhaps some metal surrounded by other non ferrous material.

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

so you ripped a stock ground off instead of fixing it???? go fix that ground before you do anything else.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

well, a hot spot is a poor connection, so there is your answer there. do you have it grounded to a small bracket, or somehting else that is not directly connected to the main body section, which would be like the floorpannel or maybe wheel-well? you should go find your main grounds. not sure about that one hanging down, but there should be one from the engine to the body somewhere, and a big ground cable from the engine to the battery. should also make sure the battery to the body is sufficient. pretty much, "the big3" on the ground side of things. that "ghetto-rig" should be fixed, or at least checked. 8awg could work if connected good for probably up to 4-600w max in a short run. i have had to splice 2 shorter peices together before, as well, and used a fuse holder to get it done, but have also seen just 2 peices taped together, which is a poor connection. just what size amp (rms) are you running? model number would help. and, what size is the ground? plan on doing some wiring.

 

[ARKing005 10+ year member]

well, a hot spot is a poor connection, so there is your answer there. do you have it grounded to a small bracket, or somehting else that is not directly connected to the main body section, which would be like the floorpannel or maybe wheel-well? you should go find your main grounds. not sure about that one hanging down, but there should be one from the engine to the body somewhere, and a big ground cable from the engine to the battery. should also make sure the battery to the body is sufficient. pretty much, "the big3" on the ground side of things. that "ghetto-rig" should be fixed, or at least checked. 8awg could work if connected good for probably up to 4-600w max in a short run. i have had to splice 2 shorter peices together before, as well, and used a fuse holder to get it done, but have also seen just 2 peices taped together, which is a poor connection. just what size amp (rms) are you running? model number would help. and, what size is the ground? plan on doing some wiring.

I have it grounded to just some metal in my trunk.. like under the carpet. Im starting to doubt its connected to the chassis well. My amp is 400w RMS 1000w peak Sony xplod. I have actually just installed a battery to body ground.. and this is what made my amp start overheating. My entire audio system sounds louder since the upgrade and im guessing its allowing more current to flow causing the overheating

btw my ground is 0GA 1 foot long. crimped ring terminals, solid connection

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

check the engine ground first, and see where that cat ground strap went. look to see where you have it grounded, and where it joins the other body pannels, if it's in the spare tire well, i would say that it is a good spot, however, the bucket may be glued in there? one thing to do is, while it is cold, have someone crank it to high volume while you feel around the bare metal to see where the heat starts, and keep a volt meter on the power and ground at the amp to make sure you do not drop the voltage too low for the amp, which could damage it. there is no reason that the trunk floor should not be getting good current, especially with a 400w sony. and, you are sure that it is the trunk metal that gets hot, not the connector? another thing- the cat may have a heater in it, but cannot remember, but it would make sense to need a ground strap. if the flex-joint does not pass current to the pipe, then it will seek ground in other places. it should be insulated by the exhaust hangars, but perhaps you have a metal hanger holding an aftermarket muffler? just shooting in the dark here. though, i would be measuring for voltage drops to make sure you have full battery voltage to the amp input terminals. first off, then on at idle, and while playing. if you do not, and are loosing voltage, try different ground points, starting with where you have it grounded(check cable, terminal, screw, and the bare metal) then another good ground point in the body. another good technique is to alternate the positive probe between the power cable and remote wire when it is on to figure if you are getting bad ground(both would read low) or poor positive power(one would read lower than the other)

 

[ARKing005 10+ year member]

Thanks for the reply and help.. Im starting to think that having a 4GA converted to 8GA is the problem. The amp got hot today and the metal around the ground was only warm, not burning hot. Then again I didnt have it that loud..

And I know exactly where the heat is starting. It is starting where the ground is bolted to the chassis.

Could this be cause by an insufficient power cable size? I only have a 12" but it hits retardedly hard and must draw some serious power.

where is the engine ground on my car.. im puzzled..

I read that the cat ground strap did something to tone down corrosion and to stop the drone of the exhause by having a harmonic wave on the wire.. or something like that. Idk for sure I cant really see where it was connected.

And its deff the trunk metal getting hot.. lol it get hot 2'+ away from my ground...

I have no multimeter and no aftermarket muffler btw

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

your ground wire and power wire needs to be the same size.

and if your amp is over heating, what impedence are you running your subwoofer at?

if that amp is 4 ohm stable and your bridging it at 2 ohm, well theres your problem as well.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

8awg is fine for that amp. I think its just your car getting hot

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

For the love of god, please disconnect your amplifier before you burn your car to the ground. Why on earth do you think it's ok to keep running the system in this condition? It's pretty obvious something is wrong. *fucking facepalm*

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

your ground wire and power wire needs to be the same size. and if your amp is over heating, what impedence are you running your subwoofer at?

if that amp is 4 ohm stable and your bridging it at 2 ohm, well theres your problem as well.

Would only matter if it was smaller but its 0 gauge...

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

again, more than likely, your grounding point is your problem, and i'm not talking about under the hood. either you have insufficient contact at the ground point, or the surface itself is insufficiently attached to the car chassis. remove your ground at its current location, find another point that you know for sure is a solid piece of the chassis, and reground it there. if problem goes away, great. if not, then its time to look for other options.

 

[ARKing005 10+ year member]

your ground wire and power wire needs to be the same size. and if your amp is over heating, what impedence are you running your subwoofer at?

if that amp is 4 ohm stable and your bridging it at 2 ohm, well theres your problem as well.

I thought it was bridged at 4ohms..? Could I be wrong? I dont know the specifics of my amp. can someone find it online and see if it is indeed 4 ohms when bridged?

 

[ARKing005 10+ year member]

again, more than likely, your grounding point is your problem, and i'm not talking about under the hood. either you have insufficient contact at the ground point, or the surface itself is insufficiently attached to the car chassis. remove your ground at its current location, find another point that you know for sure is a solid piece of the chassis, and reground it there. if problem goes away, great. if not, then its time to look for other options.

I have tried 3 different grounding points in the trunk.. im running out of places to try, its connected to a bracket, but yet also touching raw shiny metal of the chassis.. ayy

heres the info

- 1000W max power

- 165W x 2, 20Hz - 20kHz, @ 0.04% THD + N, at 4 Ohms

- 200W x 2, 20 - 20kHz, @ 0.15% THD + N, at 2 Ohms

- 400W x 1, 20Hz - 20kHz, @ 0.1% THD + N, at 4 Ohms

- OTL (Output Transformerless) circuit

- Pulse power supply

- Line & High Level Inputs

- .3-6V Level Adjustment Control (RCA Pin Jacks) 1.2-12V (High Level Input)

- 80 Hz, -18dB/octave Low Pass Filter Switch

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

it requires more wire but I'd ground to the front battery... it's not really needed for that size amp though

I wouldn't run the 8gauge either, get a good piece of 4gauge all the way to the amp