Kicker 400.1W Amp Going Off and On Protection (Much More Details Inside)

[L3ftBra1n]

How's it going guys? First off I would like to say this is my first post and I look forward to staying around. Alright so heres whats up.

Current "System"

2 12" Kicker Comp (regular/low end) Subwoofers

zx400.1W Amp

2000 Jeep Cherokee

Kenwood Deck (not sure exact model but I can find it if needed)

Hooked it up a few weeks ago, working perfectly and hitting smoothly for about two weeks. Driving home the other night from work and all of a sudden my subs turn completely off for a few seconds and turns back on. Defiantly going into protection mode. So I try to tune it, messing with the gain, frequency, bass etc. Get it to work, hitting a lot softer of course and think that I might just have to take it easy on them lol. Get back in the car the next day and same exact problem. I need help finding the cause, and a solution. Please if you have any suggestions/ideas please please please throw them out there I will defiantly be watching this thread because i desperately need help.

The only things I can think of is, bad ground, remote control wire loose or a bad power wire. Please post any ideas thank you guys in advance!

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[NIHL8ION]

definitely check your ground, but what impedance (ohms) are you subs & how do you have them wired to your amp? (Series / parallel)

 

[L3ftBra1n]

Thanks for the reply I'm not positive on the ohms as I'm new to car audio but I have EACH sub in both + and - which I've heard I should probably wire one sub into + and the other into - but I thought it'd be kinda risky to try without real advice first lol.

 

[NIHL8ION]

Thanks for the reply I'm not positive on the ohms as I'm new to car audio but I have EACH sub in both + and - which I've heard I should probably wire one sub into + and the other into - but I thought it'd be kinda risky to try without real advice first lol.

This is pretty important... They made the comp 12" in a variety of voice coil configs from 2 ohm single, 4, 8, and 2 & 4 ohm dual voice coils... Do you have a meter? A simple digital volt meter for like $15-20 bucks from harbor freight will tell you exactly what you have... Take a meter and hook it up to the positive and negative speaker lead(s) you have going to your amp (if you don't care to remove the subs) and see what reading you get... What I'm trying to find out is what impedance load your amplifier is seeing because that amp will not go below 2 ohms without issues...

 

[™Caveman 10+ year member]

Hit it with a hammer!

 

[Josef344]

This is pretty important... They made the comp 12" in a variety of voice coil configs from 2 ohm single, 4, 8, and 2 & 4 ohm dual voice coils... Do you have a meter? A simple digital volt meter for like $15-20 bucks from harbor freight will tell you exactly what you have... Take a meter and hook it up to the positive and negative speaker lead(s) you have going to your amp (if you don't care to remove the subs) and see what reading you get... What I'm trying to find out is what impedance load your amplifier is seeing because that amp will not go below 2 ohms without issues...

Just as NIHL8ION said knowing the impedance is important.

Your subs could be wired lower than what the amp can take.

It could be the ground, and check your fuses.

I had the same problem when I started with car audio.

I checked my fuses and the fuse was almost blown. It could play, but when I turn the volume too much the amp goes into protect mode.

 

[L3ftBra1n]

Alright ill grab that meter next time im around a hardware store. But providing everything thats hooked up, the way its hooked up you couldn't have a good guess on how low the ohms are? Just a thought. And if I do look at my fuse, how do I tell if it's almost blown or not? I could see that as a viable solution considering it worked fine for about two weeks.