I've got problems!

[birsling 10+ year member]

Alright, here it is. My system is in (almost completely; setup is in my signature). It was working/sounding great until yesterday. I am driving with the volume up pretty loud, and my sub cuts out completely. Hasn't been on since. For wiring, coming off my Optima Yellow top, I have 4 ga. power with a 200amp digital fuse block at battery. It is split with a 3 way dist. block (DEI, not fused) under back seat. 1 4ga goes to my underseat 4ch. amp, and 1 goes to my Voodoo cap (with digital top) which was working fine. Now, my cap shows no voltage, meter isn't even lighting up. All wiring seems in tact. What is my problem, and how is it solved? The blue Hifonics logo lights up very dim, but the side power/protection lights are not lit. Fuse in amp is good. Can a cap go bad, absorb power, and not act as a pass through? Quick help is appreciated!

Click to read more...

 

[birsling 10+ year member]

ttt............................

 

[pavengmike6 10+ year member]

Check your voltage at each amp. You should be getting 12 with the car off and between 12 and 14.5 or so with the car running.

Is your mid and high amp hooked to the Cap too?

You may be getting a small voltage reading to your sub amp, just enough to turn the light on, but not enough to produce any power.

You could bypass your Cap and see if everything works. It almost sounds like your Cap lost its charge and is not recharging.

 

[birsling 10+ year member]

Alright, I will check that out. No, the mids/highs amp is not hooked up to the cap. Only the sub amp. Will the cap ever recharge, or is it bad if that is the case? Doesn't a cap work as a pass through? My terminals touch, shouldn't that power the amp, or does a bad cap screw that up?

 

[pavengmike6 10+ year member]

If your cap lost its charge you may have to recharge it. Different Caps have different charging methods, so you will have to check in the owners manual to get the proceedures to do that.

I am not saying this is the problem, but I have seen it where since the cap was discharged it was drawing from the battery just enough to not allow enough power to the amp. Once we recharged the cap everything worked fine. Another thing may be the cap is shorted on the inside, and it is drawing power away from the battery. But if that were the case I would think a fuse would blow in the system. If all fuses are good and you bypass the cap, and the amp still does not work, I would think the amp is bad. Also check the ground on the amp again. It may have come loose, or disconnected.

 

[birsling 10+ year member]

Alright, I will check all of that in the morning at home. I can't do much from work. If anybody else has any suggestions, let me know. Thanks!

 

[nosaj070 10+ year member]

You said you checked the fuse on the amp, did you check the inline fuse on the power line?

 

[birsling 10+ year member]

Yeah, checked it, and it's good. Has to be since my mids/highs amp is still running. I called Voodoo, and that's what they said also. Has to be something different. I am going to fix it no matter what tomorrow, but looking for all the help I can get.

 

[birsling 10+ year member]

***UPDATE, and I still need help!***

I checked voltages this morning, and it is the weirdest thing I have seen. Across the cap, the voltage is a measly 4.7 volts. It is the same if you cross the power/ground on the amp. If I go to the distribution block under the seat to test the power at the 4 ga wire going into the cap, it is reading 14.7volts with the car running. BTW, all of the above numbers are with the car running. The cap read 7.9volts with the car off. Anybody know anything? I spoke to Voodoo, and they claim 1 in 10,000 caps are bad, so they doubt the problem is the cap (of course). What else could it be? Hit me up if you know anything. Thanks!

 

[pavengmike6 10+ year member]

Well if I get what your saying is this. You are getting 14.7 volts prior to your cap and 4.7 volts after your cap. Well this would tell me the cap is either discharged, or bad. Did you try to bypass the cap all together????? (disconect it totally)

It will only take a second to do, and you will know for sure if it is the cap.

Did you check into recharging the CAP? If it is not charged if could very well cause a drain across the power wire. (did not say would, but COULD)

The 4.7 volts are why you are getting the light on the amp, but not enough to power it up all the way. If I read your post right you have a main power wire going to a distro block. From there is splits 1 wire goes to your Mid and High amp, and the other goes to the CAP, and then on the the Sub amp. Well the Mid and High amp is getting the required power, but the sub amp is not. You are getting 14.7 volts at the distro block, but 12 inches back at the cap the voltage drops off. The only thing that is different is the CAP. If you are not getting power to the amp terminals and the only thing in the way of the distro block and amp is the CAP. I say cap again.

 

[Slody4Futbol 10+ year member]

and check your grounds too... can't hurt... i saw a car yesterday where it read 12 volts with car off... and when the car was cranked it read 6... but yeah it sounds like ur cap... delete the cap see if that helps... then check ur ground

 

[Pete 10+ year member]

Are you sure you have the cap hooked up right? It should charge off of the power feed if the ground is good as well. Unless you accidentally reversed the + and - that is the only sure way I know how to ruin a cap.

The cap should be wired in parallel with the sub amp in your setup. The + terminal has power from the battery and the power wire to your amp hooked up. The - terminal has the ground from your amp and the ground for the whole system. Oh, and the terminals should NOT be touching eachother in any way, shorting out the cap is bad.

 

[monte_carlo97 10+ year member]

Yea i would say take the cap out of the system all together and see how it runs. It doesn't sound like that you have done that yet. Everyone also has the same thought so try it out. If that still doesn't work hook it back up and unhook something else such as the amp. Keep unhooking things until you find out what the problem is.

 

[birsling 10+ year member]

I am going to try that today. I called Voodoo again, and they said the digi top could have gone bad, and that sometimes causes a bad draw. I have never heard of that, has anyone else? BTW, yes, I know the cap is hooked up right because it ran perfect for over a week. Thanks for the continued help. I will post pics of the install later today also. Check my gallery, I will post when they are there.

 

[pavengmike6 10+ year member]

Yes I have heard of it, that is why I posted it. The cap can create a draw condition where it will deplete you electrical system if not corrected. I do not think the CAP is shorted to ground or you would know, (fire, totally shorted battery) are just a few things that could happen.