Is my amp dying?

[CalicoNC]

System:

2 Kicker L7's dual 4ohm voice coils wired in parallel to produce 1 ohm load

Hifonics 1605d running at 1ohm

Ok so I have an old Hifonics 1605d amp thats been giving me trouble. Okay here goes. Ill just list the problems so you can see them clearly:

Amp turns on fine, works fine until a moderate volume is reached. Then it turns off and goes into protect mode. It wont turn back on until i cut the radio back off and on again.

Things I've Tried

Moved the ground numerous times. Actually, I don't think its the ground because I have moved and sanded on most parts of the car and it does the same thing. But i wont rule it out.

For some reason I read somewhere (dont ask where) that if you unhook the RCA cables and play the system the amp would shut off or go into protect mode or something if somethings not right...idk but regardless i unhooked the rca's and turned the system up LOUD...and nothing happened with the amp. looked in the trunk and the amp is sitting fine. No protect light or no shut off.

Tried ruling out the rca cables by unhooking the ones to the amplifier, and plugging my mp3 player directly into the amp inputs via a 3.5mm to rca cable. Played fine (all bass bc of mono amp) until it reached the same moderate volume and went into protect mode.

So at this point I dont know what to try next. I read somewhere that the speaker's load could be going lower than the 1ohm that the amp is stable at. Im not sure on how to check this, but i have a DMM just not the right know-how on how to test it.

Any ideas on what to do now to figure out the problem? Do you think the amp is on its death bed? (I've had it since like 05-06 maybe) I Just need some more ways to test to see if its the amp, speakers, or just a voltage drop etc..

Click to read more...

 

[CalicoNC]

bump..any suggestions? Could someone just explain to me how to measure the ohm load the amp receives...or just anything. At least so i can test some things. Thanks in advance

 

[okiedokie 10+ year member]

Is that amp stable down to 1ohm?

Is your gains max out?= The amp could be clipping.

Are you using at least a 4gauge to the amp?

 

[Heeltoeclutch 10+ year member]

If it's fine til a certain volume voltage drop comes to mind - but you've been able to play louder in the past with no problems?

If you're just trying to measure ohms that the amp sees set the dmm to ohmmeter and measure with one lead on each speaker terminal on the amp - unless I misunderstood the question.

 

[okiedokie 10+ year member]

Help...What keeps happening? - DIYMA.com

 

[CalicoNC]

Is that amp stable down to 1ohm?Is your gains max out?= The amp could be clipping.

Are you using at least a 4gauge to the amp?

Yes it says in the specs that its stable at 1ohm

The gains are a lil less than 3/4ths even when i set the gains lower it still clips at higher volumes. It never did that before now. Im not sure of the gauge but i know its big. it may even be 2ga bc I have to strip the wire down some to fit into the power and ground holes on the amp.

 

[CalicoNC]

If it's fine til a certain volume voltage drop comes to mind - but you've been able to play louder in the past with no problems?
If you're just trying to measure ohms that the amp sees set the dmm to ohmmeter and measure with one lead on each speaker terminal on the amp - unless I misunderstood the question.

Thanks for the advice on how to measure the ohms the amp sees..yes U answered it correctly.

And yes it played fine before but now it cuts out at certain volumes. Actually this is how it happened. One day I was playing music LOUD. Speakers were blasting fine, no louder than how i usually blast it...the amp cut off and went into protect...i figured ehh must of been some speaker wire touching or something. looked around everything was fine...and now its been like that since over a year. lol every time i reach a semi loud volume it will cut out and go into protect. Im thinking maybe I pushed it too hard or something, but then at random times it will go back to working normally; able to play it loudly etc..and then one day it goes back into "crappy" mode and stays like that for months. IDK i need a new one but my funds aren't looking to great right now.

@okiedokie

Thanks reading it now.

 

[Heeltoeclutch 10+ year member]

Have you tried another amp? I'd test for battery voltage too when it's loud and cuts out. Though I am now doubting it's voltage drop if now it cuts out and it didn't before. Unless perhaps your battery or alt is dying... but I don't know too much about alts.

What voltage does your batt rest at, car not running? Welcome to the forum btw. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[morespl 10+ year member]

take it around the barn and shoot it lol

 

[CalicoNC]

Have you tried another amp? I'd test for battery voltage too when it's loud and cuts out. Though I am now doubting it's voltage drop if now it cuts out and it didn't before. Unless perhaps your battery or alt is dying... but I don't know too much about alts.
What voltage does your batt rest at, car not running? Welcome to the forum btw. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

No i havent tried another amp. I dont have access to one. I was trying to hook it up in my brothers car but he sold his system and i didnt want to do a clean install on somebodies else car to troubleshoot mine. I dont know anyone else with a system. But i have a "voltage measurer thing" on my OBC in my car. I havent checked it lately but when i did check it at rest, it seemed low (low 12 to sometimes like 11.70 volts) when at rest, but while driving or started it would be around 14 to a "high" 13volts and the speakers would still cut off. But like I said this has been happening for over a year now, on and off. I dont know if a dying battery can last that long. The alt is fine as far as i know. My lights dont dim or anything when it plays.

 

[CalicoNC]

@morespl lol i think i may have to. I bonded to it like a child and my kickers love that amp like a bastard son. IDK though. Does anyone think its fixable?? If so, is it worth it? I saw the thread here about the MIKE dude who supposedly fixes amps. I got extremely happy....and then I skipped to the last post and all that changed lol.

 

[Heeltoeclutch 10+ year member]

The batt does seem a little low. You are running a rated 1600W to the subs right? That's not exactly a small amount of power... but if your alt is fine you should be fine when the car is running. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif I'd test voltage at the amp when you're approaching bump/cut-out volume just to rule it out entirely.

 

[WhyUmad 10+ year member]

go buy a DMM (digital multi meter) even a cheap *** one from harbor freight or walmart will work. Test the voltage at the amp using the terminals for the power and ground wires where the wires go in the amp. Have someone turn it up while you watch the meter and if it drops under 11 volts its not the amp its the batt/alt. If the voltage stays above 12 volts its the amp. Could try to rewire the subs for 4 ohms and see if it still cuts off

and lol at pulling the rca cables and turning up the volume expecting the amp to do anything....

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

lol, yes, test voltage at the amp terminals. if you don't see significant drop, move on the to the speaker outputs.... what did the subs read? all the same, like 3.6-3.8ohm? if you see large voltage drop, like 10-11v, and your car is still up at 13, then you have a wiring issue. now, the speaker output. take your dmm and put it on the speaker outputs with the subs disconnected and the dmm set on ac. play a teat tone, like 50hz, and turn the volume up increasingly higher, and you should be getting over 40vac..... next, put a 4ohm load on it, allong with the meter and do the same thing. watch the "on" indicator as well for a lot of dimming. if you can't get anywhere near 40v, then you definately have something blown in the amp. one more thing to look at, is put the meter back on dc volts, and see if there is voltage at the outputs with it on, and the rcas/speakers disconnected.

 

[CalicoNC]

and lol at pulling the rca cables and turning up the volume expecting the amp to do anything....

lol i thought the same thing but i read somewhere on some forum that this dude was having the same problem as me..His theory was that the remote wire was dropping in voltage from the HU at louder volumes some how. he troubleshooted by unplugging the RCA's and seeing if the amp would go into protect mode without the subs playing;hence eliminating the sub, and it did. So i said wth i tried everything else. It didnt sound too logical but i tried it anyway.

@everyone else. thanks for the feedback, im on my way outside now to get some readings with the DMM