How to test an amp?

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Hey,

Anyone know any ways of testing your amp without putting it in a system? Because none of my friends have systems I can put it into and I want to try it out away from all my stuff to eliminate causes of error.

Thanks

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[WrenchGuy 10+ year member]

Just hook a battery charger to your battery and test it under the hood.

 

[slam 5,000+ posts]

u need a power ground rcas from a source(ipod,walk-man,etc...) and a speaker

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Ok well I will hook up my ipod to it with this 3.5mm to RCA wire I have, but then what kind of speaker can I hook up to it? Does it need to be a sub or could I attach any old speaker?

I have an old 6x9 lying around could I just attach that to it? I would have to set the gain really low right?

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

You just want to make sure it turns on or test the output ?

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

I want to test the output, I already know that it turns on. Would what I said up there work?

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

How much power is the amp supposed to produce? It might blow the test speaker.

Also... you will need a DMM and an AC clamp meter (not as common as a DMM).

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Its a kicker zx750.1, so its supposed to put out like 750-800 watts, could't I just set the gain to like almost 0 and it would be putting out like 4-5V? Would that be too much?

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

Its a kicker zx750.1, so its supposed to put out like 750-800 watts, could't I just set the gain to like almost 0 and it would be putting out like 4-5V? Would that be too much?

So you just want to see that it has ANY output, not necessarily find the max output?

If so, then yes, you can do that.

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

OK well I ran the ipod through it and the amp was giving absolutely 0 output.

I checked the power terminals and it was getting 13.65V, the ipod was giving it 0.5v about and the output terminals were reading 0V all along. I think it's safe to say that the amp is dead.

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

Did you have the amp powered on with a 12v power source ?

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Of course I had it powered on lol, it was still in the car hooked up to the battery, it was getting 13.65V

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

Of course I had it powered on lol, it was still in the car hooked up to the battery, it was getting 13.65V

Just checking //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

IMO, I'd test it with a real source instead of an Ipod before declaring 100% that it is dead.

 

[Nevalite 10+ year member]

Well I mean I have tested it with my actual HU and it doesn't give any output either, the ipod was just a second option. With my HU it's only getting like 0.6-.7v because I'm using some ghetto RCAs but it should be giving me some output. I started a thread about what to do with my dead amp.

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

Well I mean I have tested it with my actual HU and it doesn't give any output either, the ipod was just a second option. With my HU it's only getting like 0.6-.7v because I'm using some ghetto RCAs but it should be giving me some output. I started a thread about what to do with my dead amp.

Okay, then it's probably safe to say it's dead.

Contact Chris @ db-r.com about it -- good guy to repair it for you.