Is my amp blowing up subs or am i just unlucky?

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

I have blown 3 subs in the last 3hrs of running my amp!

Is there a way to test my amp and dee if there is a problem?

The amp is a Kicker kx-1200.1 wires with 1/0 awg elec system has big 3, factory alt and batt. no cap

1st sub i blew was a 12 yr old Orion HCCA 12D (figured it had lived a good life) wired to 1 ohm (sub caught on fire!)

2nd sub i blew was am Orion H2 wired to 1 ohm, this sub was bought at pawn shop so unknown history (sounded good for about an hours worth of play then gone (copper wire unravvfeled from voice coil)

3rd sub was a $30 walmart sub that i fullt expectec to blow and it did. SVC unknown ohm load

I am sure i am leaving out some important info but i dont want to blow another sub. nor do i want to sell an amp that is going to. I think the amp is fine i think i am just unlucky.

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[Chriszle 10+ year member]

You probably have the gain turned up too much and are sending fully clipped signal to the sub.

 

[Imtjnotu 5,000+ posts]

No respect for the gain knob or bass knob or bass boost.....

 

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

gain was up around 5% on the orions and 1% on cheapo

 

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

the first orion i have had 12 years, its been on 3-4 amps and in three cars. I dont abuse these subs that why I get the subs capable of more than in want.

 

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

On the H2 i shouldnt have been able to hurt it... Its rated 2500w rms and i was giving it 1200w clean power

 

[The_Grimy_One 10+ year member]

Well the amp has to be sending a bad signal no matter how you look at it... If it is not a gain, or bass boost issue, than its gotta be the amp. Or maybe your turning the deck too high, and thats whats causing the clipping...

 

[SPLaudio 5,000+ posts]

^ my thoughts exactly if you hardly have the gain on the amp on ur sending too much voltage thru the rca's to the amp and clipping.

turn deck vol down cause you could be clipping there too....

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

if my sub caught fire, i'd stop there. just sayin.....

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

gain was up around 5% on the orions and 1% on cheapo

maybe your looking at it from the wrong way like maybe you had the gain up to 95% on one and 99% on the other?

 

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

I checked the volts on the rca's and they were all the way up! I don't know how it happened. FML!

 

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

So if the gain was up all the way on my rca's going to the amp this would cause clipping? And clipping a 2500w rms sub with 1200w rms is enough to kill it? I will make sure to have the gain set properly before installing my next sub. I don't know how it got turned up in the first place, the first sub I blew had been untouched since installed abou 3 yrs ago.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

How are you confident you are adjusting gains within 1% increments?

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

so the gain was all the way up?

 

[corbetjackson50 10+ year member]

I have a factory deck... The gain on the high level to rca converter was all the way up both left and right. The gain on the amp was @ about 5%. So the gain was up on the rca's before it ever got to the amp.