Melting 8ga Power Wire

[DeboDaddy 10+ year member]

Ok, so I finally got my Kenwood 9103d amp in, and I got it all hooked up to my 2 PG RSD 12's. I'm running the Kenwood amp to the 2 subs, and a cheapy Pioneer 300w amp to my PG RSD components.

So... I'm tuning in my system, messing with the LPF and gains, and I get my gains to almost maxxed out, and everything shuts off. I figure I blew a fuse in the amp, or blew my 60amp AGU fuse under the hood. So I pull the 2 fuses out of the amp, and they are both fine. Pull the little 25w fuse out of the Pioneer amp, and its fine.

Pop the hood to check out my fuse block, and the 8ga wire I was running from the battery terminal to the fuse block has half of the insolation melted off it, and the fuse block itself is melted, and still smoldering. It also blew the 60amp glass fuse, and melted the solder inside the fuse causing both fuse endcaps to fall off. lol

I knew I would need to go to 4ga and a bigger fuse for the increased load of the 2 amps, but I didn't think it would go this fast. It only took like 3-5 minutes of not-that-heavy playing to cook the stuff.

My question is, does this sound like the amps just pulled too much current for the wire and fuse sizing, or does it sound like something may be messed up?

I already ordered 4ga wire, and an ANL style fuse block with a 120amp fuse FWIW...

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[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

You were running 1300w rms capable amps on 8 gauge wire? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[DeboDaddy 10+ year member]

You were running 1300w rms capable amps on 8 gauge wire? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

I guess this is too much for 8 gauge? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

8 is good for ~550w rms

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

i melted and bubbled my power wire AND my fuse holder under the hood when I had my MTX 2300x on 8g wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

aah the good old ignorant days //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[shortyg83 10+ year member]

Oh and do not push you gains to max, set them correctly.

 

[DeboDaddy 10+ year member]

When the gains are maxxed, doesn't this mean that the amp is capable of giving its full recommended output? I don't use any bass boost...

The amp is rated to put out 900w RMS, and thats how much I want. Should I not max the gain out for this?

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

When the gains are maxxed, doesn't this mean that the amp is capable of giving its full recommended output? I don't use any bass boost...
The amp is rated to put out 900w RMS, and thats how much I want. Should I not max the gain out for this?

hell no, you might reach full ouput from your amp with your gain turned up one third

use this... http://subwoofertools.com/forum/setgain.asp

0db tones here in the DL section http://www.realmofexcursion.com/

 

[DeboDaddy 10+ year member]

hell no, you might reach full ouput from your amp with your gain turned up one third
use this... http://subwoofertools.com/forum/setgain.asp

0db tones here in the DL section http://www.realmofexcursion.com/

Ok, I was just reading the gain setting tutorial... 42.7v is what i need. When I get my new 4ga and fuse holder I'll set it to that.

As for the test tones, I already have 0db tones from 15hz to 1khz. As a matter of fact, I melted all my shit on a 0db 35hz tone... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

use a 50hz tone for sub amp, 1khz for mids/highs amp

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Oh and do not push you gains to max, set them correctly.

Depending on the setup, one might need to max out the gain to get the rated power.

hell no, you might reach full ouput from your amp with your gain turned up one third

Highlighted the key word. It depends on his pre-out voltage and what the amp is truly capable of producing (wattage) as to where the gain knob will end up.

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

Double post.

 

[DeboDaddy 10+ year member]

Depending on the setup, one might need to max out the gain to get the rated power.
Highlighted the key word. It depends on his pre-out voltage and what the amp is truly capable of producing (wattage) as to where the gain knob will end up.

Well if its any consolation, I didn't hear any distortion or clipping before it shut off. The gains were about 3/4 of the way up, LPF at 70hz, and bass boost was at 0... But like I said, once I get my new wire and fuse block in, I'll properly test the voltage with a dmm.

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

just because you cant hear clipping doesnt mean its not happening

i have yet to set my amp with my oscope and hear clipping right when it happens

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

"Highlighted the key word. It depends on his pre-out voltage and what the amp is truly capable of producing (wattage) as to where the gain knob will end up."

agreed............