how to break an amp...

[sylvr 10+ year member]

what im looking for here is more like a "what NOT to do" list. what are some things that would kill your amplifier? would messing with the settings kill an amp? lets say i set the lopass filter to the highest, the gains to the highest and the subsonic filter to the lowest; i know thats got to be bad for the sub/s but could/would it hurt the amp too? how about wiring? lets i remember reading somewhere that some guy killed his amp by crossing wires then later on i read people recommending to try switching the + and the - wires around (normally + to + and - to -, switched to + to - and - to +); could that be a bad or a good thing? what are specific things that could hurt the amp and what would hurt the sub or both?

thanks for any and all help!

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[djjdnap 10+ year member]

switching the + and - wont do anything except reverse the polarity of the sub it's hooked up to...

A way to break an amp would be throw it in the water, hit it wt a hammer a few times....

ok seriusly if the impedence is lower than the amp can handle you will over heat the amp, and well bye bye

hmm try hooking ur battery cable up to the ground and ground to the battery terminal, that should really get it fried....

 

[slipknot87420 10+ year member]

PLEASE dont switch the + and - power wires just making sure cause you wasnt too clear on that, you switch the sub wires

 

[djjdnap 10+ year member]

oooops my bad

 

[sylvr 10+ year member]

ok so far this is fairly useful...

OK:

-ok to switch the +/- wires to the sub

NOT OK:

-not ok to switch the +/- power wires

-not ok to throw in water then hit with hammer

so yeah; what about those gains? if i set the gains to the highest it makes the sub sound loud but im pretty shure its not good for it. i have a warrenty on my subs for 3 years, i got tricked by GG, so im not opposed to sending it in every now and then for a new one as long as all that is getting damaged is the sub and not the amp.

 

[djjdnap 10+ year member]

ok if youset ur gains to high you might get "clipping" which will damge ur sub, i had mine, about halfway up but proly coulda turned it up higher.

 

[Bavarian3 10+ year member]

dont hook up wires to the sub without unhooking ur negative terminal from ur battery. and make sure the car is off of course //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[djjdnap 10+ year member]

ah i never do that.... lol, I like turning the amp ut and the radio up then trying to hook up my subs so i can see that pretty blueish green spark...lol

 

[LoneRanger 10+ year member]

It's always helpful to run a fused distro block....that way when you're wiring shit in the trunk, you can just pull the fuse for the piece you're working on rather than disconnecting the power......the baby jesus cries every time somebody disconnects the ground and has to reset all their HU settings //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

It's a lot harder to kill an amp than it is to kill a sub. From my experience, you either have to be a total bonehead while you're wiring it up, or run it at a super-low impednece or something else that gets it really hot....even then most amps have internal fuses and overheat protection that will keep you from killing it. Any install should have as many fuses as possible, especially if you're a noob.

Try this:

1 fuse 6" from the battery in the main power cable. This fuse should be the sum of all accessories running off this line (ie if you have an amp wiht 2 40a internal fuses, a crossover with a 10a internal fuse and a line driver with a 10a internal all running off your main line, this fuse would be a 100a because 40+40+10+10=100)

1 fuse behind the head unit in the remote line. Most HU's don't put out more than a half amp for remote, so usually a .5a fuse will work. If not, you'll just blow the fuse and have to replace it with a larger one.

1 fused distribution block with all your accessories running off it. again, put fuses in this block equal to the internal fuses on the equipment it's supplying power to (so if it has 2 30a fuses, put a 60a in there)

If you follow my advice and use common sense, you'll never hurt any of your equipment no matter how hard you try //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Nesto 10+ year member]

is a inline fuse in the remote line necessary ?? and how would you wire it ? where do they sell small inline fuse holders like that ?? couldn't find any at Lowe's or Home Depot and frankly don't think I can trust the local audio shops as they didnt' even have a battery terminal that would accept 4 guage wire (yet they still 1000watt systems right)

 

[awalbert88 10+ year member]

For a really small fuse like that, I suspect Radio Shack sells some el cheapo inline fuse holders.

 

[LoneRanger 10+ year member]

is a inline fuse in the remote line necessary ??

As far as I'm concerned, yes. Not just necessary, but manditory. I don't take chances with my equipment

and how would you wire it ?

The same way you would a normal inline fuse.....just splice the line and stick it in there no more than 6" from the source.

where do they sell small inline fuse holders like that ?? couldn't find any at Lowe's or Home Depot and frankly don't think I can trust the local audio shops as they didnt' even have a battery terminal that would accept 4 guage wire (yet they still 1000watt systems right)

Get my fuse holders at radio shack....wayyyy cheaper.

 

[SPLThunder 10+ year member]

Dont put your amplifier in a small enclosure without proper ventilation

 

[somekook 10+ year member]

what the hell would you fuse the remote wire for?

 

[awalbert88 10+ year member]

Bring out yer dead!

I'm not dead yet!