JL 1000.1 running hot, why?

[Joe5.0]

I have a 13W7 in the sealed box, with a Lightning 1 farad cap, and 1000.1 amp. The amp & sub were brand new about 4 months ago, and the cap is also very low mileage.

Ever since it warmed up here in michigan after about 1/2 hr of continous use my amp goes into 'thermal protect' mode. I can tell its running way hotter than it should be. I almost always have the bass from the HU turned all the way down, and my remote LFF all the way down. Even with it set at that it pounds pretty good, but recently has been getting too hot.

If this just means I have to turn the gain down (its set a little under 1/2) I'll do that, but i dont think i should have to.

My gauges and taillights still dim ALOT even on the highway even with the cap, could a low current situation cause this problem? I have considered getting a new battery since the cap didnt solve the dimming problem.

Any suggestions are appreciated. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[subsONdubz 10+ year member]

how thick is your wire and fuses

 

[SQChevy 10+ year member]

What ohm load do you have on the amp? These should be as close to 4 ohm as possible. Also where do you have the amp located and how much ventilation does it have? You may wan to consider a alternator upgrade and get ride of the cap. I have a 1900 W system with my battery and a HO alternator. It's a 200 amp and has been working great. The amp is made for that sub and should sit there and pound the hell out of it all day long.

 

[Joe5.0]

Amp is 100A.

Wires are all 4 gauge and Stinger brand.

I ASSUME its 3 ohm since thats what the W7 comes out of the box, and why they would wire it differently would amaze me. The shop that wired it up is very professional and thourough, so i doubt thats the problem. I'll throw the ohm meter on it anyways to check.

I questioned the ventilation also, but i keep my back seat pass-thru open all the time, and this is how its setup:

I'm gonna run to the shop that installed the stuff and see what they say. I am kinda bummed because I paid top dollar for the stuff to work 110% reliably, and it really cuts the bass down when it goes into thermal protect.

I emailed HOAlternators last night about the application for my car.

Would a Optima Yellow help at all? Or just go to a better alternator? I really dont want to do the alternator due to cost and possible other issues it could cause with my warranty.

 

[Joe5.0]

Also, sitting at idle pounding it as hard it as can my cap never drops below 12.0

Is that good or bad?

 

[Ali1 10+ year member]

Does your lights dim? I'm still waiting for the ohmload. Grab a DMM and tell us what it says at the amp. I don't think the position of the amp is the problem. I have my amp with no room watsoever. How are the gains set, and bass boost?

 

[jrouter76 10+ year member]

get ride of the cap and do the Big3,use 1/0 ga. wire to do this the big3 is this you run a wire from the + of the alt. to the + of the batt. then you run a wire from the - of the batt. to the motor block and last you run a wire from the - of the batt. to the chassis of the car this will give your system a big improvement electrically much better than the cap and it will give your amp a shot in the arm. then get a second battery if needed this should stop your lights from dimming.

 

[SUB_URBAN 10+ year member]

Low voltage + your trunk is probably really hot.

 

[Joe5.0]

Does your lights dim? I'm still waiting for the ohmload. Grab a DMM and tell us what it says at the amp. I don't think the position of the amp is the problem. I have my amp with no room watsoever. How are the gains set, and bass boost?

Yes, all the lights dim except for the headlights (cuz they are HID's). The sub is wired for a 3 ohm load, just as I thought.

The gain is just a hair under 1/2, and the bass boost is just a hair over half.

get ride of the cap and do the Big3,use 1/0 ga. wire to do this the big3 is this you run a wire from the + of the alt. to the + of the batt. then you run a wire from the - of the batt. to the motor block and last you run a wire from the - of the batt. to the chassis of the car this will give your system a big improvement electrically much better than the cap and it will give your amp a shot in the arm. then get a second battery if needed this should stop your lights from dimming.

I've heard of the 'big 3', and if it is DEFINITELY going to get rid of my problem I will do it. I dont want to just spend money at stabs in the dark though. Wont running a second battery be that much harder on the alternator?

Low voltage + your trunk is probably really hot.

If the voltage was low wouldnt the voltage display on the cap be bottoming out? Like i said it never drops below 12.0. And where the hell else could I put the amp where its better ventilated? It cant be better to run 6ft of wire to the amp in the passenger compartment???

 

[prochobo 10+ year member]

Turn the bass boost off and set your gains accordingly. Your voltage never dropping below 12 is good, mine drops to 10 at times. 4 gauge is enough to run that amount of current, but going 1/0 doesn't hurt.

Do the big 3, it'll help your voltage drops.

My guess is that the amp is going into protect because it's clipping and the clipping is coming from the bass boost. Bass boost = instaclip //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[munchies 10+ year member]

get rid of the cap. i had the same exact problem and when i got rid of the cap my amp stayed cooler for longer

 

[Joe5.0]

But its not going into protect from clipping, its because its getting too hot. Would clipping cause it to run hot? Like I said until the weather got warmer I didnt have the problem, and when i'm driving around on cool nights it doesnt happen.

I'll take the cap out and see if it helps.

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

yes clipping can cause heat issues.

 

[hzsogood 5,000+ posts]

I skimmed through the posts but the first thing i can tell you is loose the cap... Something about the jl amps and caps ..?? ive seen a few setups do the same .. loose the cap and it got better at the least ..second the 13w7 is either 1.5 or 3 ohms at the ampthat should be no problem... 3rd . i ran my 1000/1 hard daily to my12w7 and have NEVER had a problem off my stock electrical.. All i had was a new interstate batt..

yes clipping can cause heat issues

Even under heavy clipping ( i no its dumb to say) but still i never had a problem, and even at idle i was holding 11+ volts.. 12.5 (avg) at 2k rpm....

 

[hzsogood 5,000+ posts]

Turn the bass boost off and set your gains accordingly. Your voltage never dropping below 12 is good, mine drops to 10 at times. 4 gauge is enough to run that amount of current, but going 1/0 doesn't hurt. Do the big 3, it'll help your voltage drops.

My guess is that the amp is going into protect because it's clipping and the clipping is coming from the bass boost. Bass boost = instaclip //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

It sux jl made the pos and neg so close.... even after trimming strands they would still wiggle around and out due to the thick wrap //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif