MTX Amp Red Light

[spectremuffin]

hey all, I'm new here and I was hoping you guys could help me out. I recently hooked up a used 1200 watt mtx 2 channel amp and have been running into a couple problems. I have 2 kicker 10 in subs, an mtx 1200 watt amp, and a cap all in my 93 honda accord lx beater. it worked for a while just fine but then it started cutting out when the volume goes up, giving me a red light. it works again when i cycle the stereo power. it's now to the point of it cutting out as soon as the music starts. I just re-crimped and moved the ground lead to a pretty good spot. if anything that made it worse. it will run for a min or so on low after it sits for a while and in watching it the lights on the car and in the amp dim when they bump, but it's very quiet. the voltage meter on the cap i have wired parallel reads 12.0V when the car is off but dips to 11.6V with the subs running low vol. it will read 14.0V when the car is running. i'm really at a loss here. i have it mounted into the frame of the fold down seat and someond told me it has to be on a noncond surface. could that be the issue? thanks for the help in advance, i'll return the favor someday.

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[spectremuffin]

if it helps to know my battery is pretty old. I dont get why the amp lights still dim with the cap I installed.

 

[ThatChevyGuy 5,000+ posts]

caps dont do shit, you probably fried the amp.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

the cap should go. it's in the way. do the big 3 and find a good, solid grounding point. and make sure you sand the paint off the ground point. 12.0v with the car off, i'd get the battery tested, and might as well check the alt while you are there.

what amp, and what size wires are you running?

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

a cap doesn't have enough power to even help your car out. get a new battery and spare battery.

 

[spectremuffin]

So the cap is useless? Thing is I tested it back when the setup worked with and without the cap and without the cap the car had all kinds of electrical undervolts and was significantly quieter. Basically I should try a new battery then? I've already put in a new battery ground wire a couple months back and just redone the ground this weekend. The wires are thick as hell, no idea what gauge though, I'll have to check. They don't get hot or anything. Only thing is my ground wire is of a slightly smaller size then the + lead from the battery, could that really be the problem?

 

[spectremuffin]

I disconnected the cap and ran the lead directly from the battery to the amp and from the amp ground to the chassis. The battery lead has a 100A fuse on it, it was part of the kit the capacitor came with.The amp will turn on with the speakers still connected, but once the volume goes up enough to make an audible bump for a couple seconds the amp cuts out and goes into protection mode. One of my subs does rattle now but even if I disconnect that sub I still have the same problem, the cut out just occurs at a slightly higher volume. My battery was reading 12.7 after sitting for 2 hours so I'm still unsure if it's the battery or not. I've also messed around with the gain and whatnot but I can't even set it before it cuts out. I've never had this many problems with a system I installed before.

 

[I Like Waffle]

Both your subs are probably blown if it cuts out at a certain volume. Either that or low voltage, get a dmm and check the voltage with the amp on and playing. Hard to say what the problem is, but if it cuts out at a higher volume with only one sub hooked up im leaning towards voltage as the amps gonna be pulling less current with one sub in most situations, meaning you can turn it up more before it cuts out. However the sub rattling makes me think its blown, a messed up VC can make a "rattling" sound.

Also, i just noticed you said you had the amp grounded, this could possibly be contributing to your problem, some amps have plastic mounting feet allowing them to be mounted on a metal surface, if yours doesnt you need to move it. One of my favorite mounts in a honda is on the rear of the seat, unbutton and pull the carpet up, screw a piece of MDF or your choice of wood to the back of the seat, then fold the carpet back over it. Make sure the screws you use to secure the amp are short enough to not penetrate the sheet metal on the seat. This also gives you the oppurtunity to tuck the wires down alongside the board and look nice and clean if done right.

 

[spectremuffin]

Thanks a million Chronic. I'm leaning towards a combination of both subs being blown somehow and an old shitty battery. I hooked up a buddy's amp last night to test and see how it would work in my car and it ran the subs fine, they were very quiet compared to normal volume and I think the voice coil is what's making a rattling noise in one of them. I'm gonna hookup some new subs and try em with my amp, I'll let you all know. Thanks again for the help.