In need of help BIG time!?!?

[Nova1723 10+ year member]

Ok this past sunday I was driving home and everything was fine when all of a sudden my subs completely cut out and my bass light to my bass adjustment inside the car went out. When I arrived home I went to my trunk to look at my system and could smell a mix of burnt plastic/electrical burn smell, I traced it to my ground... I noticed the ground connection to the metal frame of my car inside my trunk was burnt looking with black around it and the white rubberish protection housing around the end of the ground line turned purple indicating the line was seriously hot. So I first checked my amplifier which seems to be fine along w/all fuses, my farad cap goes up to 14.0 no problem, but I'm getting nothing through the subs. Every now and then the amp light will go on along w/the bass knob light inside the car and the subs w/budge a lil and hit real quick then stop. The last time this happened it was due to my farad cap biting the dust so I went and got a new one about 3 months ago... there is no way this one bit the dust too is there?!?! I mean the LED lights are on but could the cap still be done? What would cause the ground wire/connection to my car to heat up and fry like that? And what would my next move be to figuring out why my subs wont stay on??? ANY help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Click to read more...

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

ground wire could be too small, or bad now, or not making good connection. BTW, that 'farad cap' isnt helping much either

 

[ashtrey1212 10+ year member]

ground wire could be too small, or bad now, or not making good connection. BTW, that 'farad cap' isnt helping much either

Ya dude, that cap is useless. Even if it still works, ditch it and do the big 3. What kind of amp and what gauge of wire are you using?

 

[Nova1723 10+ year member]

ground wire could be too small, or bad now, or not making good connection. BTW, that 'farad cap' isnt helping much either

Its 4 guage, I cleaned up the connection site and re-connected it. Why is the farad cap not helping much... my lights still dim a bit but w/out it its MUCH worse... what other options do I have. And thanks for the help.

 

[Nova1723 10+ year member]

Ya dude, that cap is useless. Even if it still works, ditch it and do the big 3. What kind of amp and what gauge of wire are you using?

Amp: Profile AP2000

2000W 2 CH Amplifier (2 ohm Max Rating)

Features:

o Peak Output Power (4 Ohms) 640W x 2

o RMS Output Power (4 Ohms) 320W x 2

o Peak Output Power (2 Ohms) 1000W x 2

o RMS Output Power (2 Ohms) 480W x 2

o Bridged RMS Output Power (4 Ohms) 960W x 1

o MOSFET Power Supply Yes (Dual)

o Total Harmonic Distortion

o Signal / Noise Ratio 103 dB

o High/Low Level Converter (Male RCA) Yes

o Pre-Amp (RCA) Outputs Yes

o Variable Bass Boost at 45Hz 0-12 dB

o 12dB/Octave Crossover Full/LP

o Variable LP Crossover Frequency 50 - 250

o Variable HP Crossover Frequency No HP Crossover

o Bass Level Remote Control (16.4 ft) Yes

o Variable 12dB/Octave Subsonic Filter 20 - 50 Hz

o Fuse (s) 4 x 25A

o Dimensions

o (2" H x 10 1/4" D) 24 1/4" W

o Power/Speaker Terminal Size (Gauge) 4 / 6

And what is "the big 3"??

Thanks for the help!!

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Ya dude, that cap is useless. Even if it still works, ditch it and do the big 3. What kind of amp and what gauge of wire are you using?

He already bought the cap, so long as its not worn out has a volt meter on it etc, its probably not hurting anything. And it will definitely help smooth voltage ripple. The argument against caps are they wont likely make any audible difference, so why pay for one. But if you already have it... *shrug*
I just recommend mounting it where nobody can see it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Amp: Profile AP20002000W 2 CH Amplifier (2 ohm Max Rating)

Features:

o Peak Output Power (4 Ohms) 640W x 2

o RMS Output Power (4 Ohms) 320W x 2

o Peak Output Power (2 Ohms) 1000W x 2

o RMS Output Power (2 Ohms) 480W x 2

o Bridged RMS Output Power (4 Ohms) 960W x 1

o MOSFET Power Supply Yes (Dual)

o Total Harmonic Distortion

o Signal / Noise Ratio 103 dB

o High/Low Level Converter (Male RCA) Yes

o Pre-Amp (RCA) Outputs Yes

o Variable Bass Boost at 45Hz 0-12 dB

o 12dB/Octave Crossover Full/LP

o Variable LP Crossover Frequency 50 - 250

o Variable HP Crossover Frequency No HP Crossover

o Bass Level Remote Control (16.4 ft) Yes

o Variable 12dB/Octave Subsonic Filter 20 - 50 Hz

o Fuse (s) 4 x 25A

o Dimensions

o (2" H x 10 1/4" D) 24 1/4" W

o Power/Speaker Terminal Size (Gauge) 4 / 6

And what is "the big 3"??

Thanks for the help!!

Fuse sizes and quantity on the amp?

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Bypass the cap if you can to eliminate it as a potential issue. Make sure your positive cable is also good and tight.

 

[ashtrey1212 10+ year member]

Amp: Profile AP20002000W 2 CH Amplifier (2 ohm Max Rating)

Features:

o Peak Output Power (4 Ohms) 640W x 2

o RMS Output Power (4 Ohms) 320W x 2

o Peak Output Power (2 Ohms) 1000W x 2

o RMS Output Power (2 Ohms) 480W x 2

o Bridged RMS Output Power (4 Ohms) 960W x 1

o MOSFET Power Supply Yes (Dual)

o Total Harmonic Distortion

o Signal / Noise Ratio 103 dB

o High/Low Level Converter (Male RCA) Yes

o Pre-Amp (RCA) Outputs Yes

o Variable Bass Boost at 45Hz 0-12 dB

o 12dB/Octave Crossover Full/LP

o Variable LP Crossover Frequency 50 - 250

o Variable HP Crossover Frequency No HP Crossover

o Bass Level Remote Control (16.4 ft) Yes

o Variable 12dB/Octave Subsonic Filter 20 - 50 Hz

o Fuse (s) 4 x 25A

o Dimensions

o (2" H x 10 1/4" D) 24 1/4" W

o Power/Speaker Terminal Size (Gauge) 4 / 6

And what is "the big 3"??

Thanks for the help!!

The Big 3 is when you replace 3 cables under your hood with a much larger gauge.

1. The cable from your alternator to your batter. 2. The ground from your engine to your battery. and 3. The ground from the frame to the battery. I did mine with zero gauge, but I've read on here that some people use 4 gauge and that still worked for them. I didn't notice a BIG difference until I ditched my cap and added a second battery in the trunk.

 

[terra 5,000+ posts]

Fuse sizes and quantity on the amp?

4x25a

 

[Sudden_Impulse 10+ year member]

The Big 3 is when you replace 3 cables under your hood with a much larger gauge.1. The cable from your alternator to your batter. 2. The ground from your engine to your battery. and 3. The ground from the frame to the battery. I did mine with zero gauge, but I've read on here that some people use 4 gauge and that still worked for them. I didn't notice a BIG difference until I ditched my cap and added a second battery in the trunk.

You want to use wire the same size as the largest wire in your system. If you have 4 gauge running to an amp, use 4 gauge. If you have 2/0, then you use 2/0 for the big 3. How To: http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp~TID~73496~PN~1

 

[Nova1723 10+ year member]

I know the main guy that works at the business that installed it back in NY, problem is I live in MO now so I can't just take my car over to him so I'm kinda stuck w/figuring it out... I emailed him and told him what was going on and he thinks the amp may be fried and said I need to get an ohm meter and check the ohms on the subs and make sure they're around 4ohms but I don't have an ohm meter nor do I have all the time in the world to mess w/this I am a teacher and a coach and a personal trainer so I get home at 10pm each night... so I'm trying to figure out the simplest ways first to check and see if there is an easy fix and work towards the more complex extensive; so any help on what to do to solve this problem would be greatly appreciated... i just want my bass back :`( lol

 

[Nova1723 10+ year member]

The Big 3 is when you replace 3 cables under your hood with a much larger gauge.1. The cable from your alternator to your batter. 2. The ground from your engine to your battery. and 3. The ground from the frame to the battery. I did mine with zero gauge, but I've read on here that some people use 4 gauge and that still worked for them. I didn't notice a BIG difference until I ditched my cap and added a second battery in the trunk.

All my wires are 4 guage- alt. to my bat., ground to engine and bat, and ground to from to bat.

 

[Nova1723 10+ year member]

Soooooo can anybody lead me in the right direction?!?!

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Why don't you drop it off at an audio shop so they can determine the problem for you? You will know within an hour.