JL HD900/5 overheating issues

[vb7200]

Hi all, new here.

I recently purchased and installed an HD900/5 in my Accord Coupe with JL C5's all the way around, with a 12W6. I've noticed almost every time I listen to the system, after about 20 minuets I'll get the red status light on the amp, meaning it's overheating. It doesn't cut out, but that light will pop on and the amp feels hot enough to fry an egg on. All the equipment is well within the amp's specs, I don't have any wiring issues, my ground is sold, and the amp is not mounted funny or is a confined space, it's has more than enough space to breath, but I am still getting this light. Recently, we have been having mostly 90 degree days, but I do park in a garage, and the inside of the car is not getting ridiculously hot from baking in the sun.

Any suggestions on what I can do? I've been folding the seats down and blasting A/C in hopes that gets better airflow back there, and it's helping a little, but hasn't solved it. I'm at a loss here.
Any help is appreciated.

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[blazian87 10+ year member]

Hey welcome to the forum! I'm kind of surprised since it's a class D but in the same time it doesn't surprise me because you have all your speakers running off of one amp. All the channels are sharing the same rail voltage and your sub channel is very demanding especially. That's why I'm not a fan of 5 channels. On top of that, JL uses R.I.P.S. technology which works extra hard to keep providing that same power over and over no matter how much the impedance fluctuates, which can be a good thing for music actually. It can create a lot of heat tho so the only thing I can say is probably just lower your gains all around man. I know it's not what you wanna hear but I wouldn't want to have my amp overheat either even if everything plays correctly. Too much heat can kill an amp.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

I did some reading and found out that once the red light turns on, it's reached its thermal limits and then it activates Advanced Rollback Protection...

This is what JL says:
"Should a JL Audio amplifier equipped with Advanced Rollback Protection reach an unsafe operating temperature, a special circuit rolls back peak power output, without changing gain, until the amplifier cools down to a safe operating temperature.
The red "Thermal" LED will light to indicate this condition has been reached. Once the amplifier cools down, the circuit restores full peak power output and the red "Thermal" indicator reverts to its normal state.
The operation of Advanced Rollback Protection is inaudible in most cases, but it ensures that your music keeps on playing, even under the most demanding conditions.
Featured in XDv2, HD & Slash v3"

So I guess it's automatic but still not a good thing to reach it so quickly all the time.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

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Add a fan and turn gains down a bit will help. Other than that.. You may look into a sub amp to help with the issue of the supply for the demand. Add 3-4 washers under that amp to get it off the surface and get some air to circulate under that amp also

 

[vb7200]

I did some reading and found out that once the red light turns on, it's reached its thermal limits and then it activates Advanced Rollback Protection...

This is what JL says:
"Should a JL Audio amplifier equipped with Advanced Rollback Protection reach an unsafe operating temperature, a special circuit rolls back peak power output, without changing gain, until the amplifier cools down to a safe operating temperature.
The red "Thermal" LED will light to indicate this condition has been reached. Once the amplifier cools down, the circuit restores full peak power output and the red "Thermal" indicator reverts to its normal state.
The operation of Advanced Rollback Protection is inaudible in most cases, but it ensures that your music keeps on playing, even under the most demanding conditions.
Featured in XDv2, HD & Slash v3"

So I guess it's automatic but still not a good thing to reach it so quickly all the time.

Yeah, it’s supposed to kick in to keep it from nuking itself. I’ve readjusted My gains down, so to give that a try.
An HD 750/1 and a 600/4 would probably be an ideal set up, but at their price point I couldn’t justify that. I actually sell JL stuff, and have put this identical system in a few other cars and have never had people come back with an issue like this. I’ve heard in the past HD’s tend to run a bit hotter, but I’ve never heard of it doing anything like mine. I used all OFC power lines and like I said, the ground is solid, I know resistance in those can cause some issues, but I can’t see how that’d apply in my situation. Hopefully there isn’t just something wrong with the amp, which I suppose could be a possibility. I’ll report back on how I made out. Hopefully

 

[NSTALN 10+ year member]

I run an HD900/5 as well...I'm using the front channels on a set of Audiofrog GB25's, GB10's and GB2510c passive x-overs, the rear channels are for dedicated Audifrog GS690's for midbass and the sub channel is pushing a pair of JL 13tw5-3's at 1.5ohm total load....the amp does get hot but I've never seen it trigger a red light/protection mode.Mine is also installed behind a rear truck seat and get pretty much no air flow across it.

Did you install yourself or did a shop do it? Was the amp new or purchased used? Is your power wiring and electrical strong enough (the amp is only rated to pull 60amps)?

 

[Johnnie]

Same hot issue here. It gets very hot, and I am actually worried about wires around the amp melting. I am thinking about selling the amp and get some Audison amps that run pretty cool.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Same hot issue here. It gets very hot, and I am actually worried about wires around the amp melting. I am thinking about selling the amp and get some Audison amps that run pretty cool.

I think in these cases it may just be a bad amp. I run an HD750/1 in south Texas where over 100 degree weather is quite common. I have never had the heat issue.

 

[technobass 10+ year member]

Same problem with my amp over 10+ years ago.
Sell the amp go for VX1000.5 much better amp.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Keeping an amplifier from heat will deff make it last longer and perform generally much better. Heat Kills Audio. I believe in Air circulation and not mounting an amplifier on a flat surface or in a sealed environment. Fans generally help as well.

 

[optimusX]

Same problem with my amp over 10+ years ago.
Sell the amp go for VX1000.5 much better amp.

The HD900 on my friend's Civic also overheats and he's looking for a good replacement. We'll start modding the interior and audio system after installing the new rotors and toyo tires this weekend. We'll check VX1000.5