acbent
Junior Member
Hi.
This is my first post. Hoping someone has experienced a similar problem and may be able to help me out a bit.
A little background:
I have two Kia vehicles (2012 Kia Rondo EX and 2011 Kia Sedona LX) and both vehicles have a Chinese 7" Android NAV DVD WIFI head unit. I have been using these head units for several years with no issues. Both cars have a Clarion 4-channel (XC1410) amp and each has a powered subwoofer (Sedona has an MTX 8" and Rondo a Rockville 10" - no doubt regarded as junk in most car audio spheres, but sounds quite good to my untrained ear). As much as I'd like to have JL Audio gear, it simply ain't in the budget. I am not a crank the stereo kind of guy - anymore //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif, plus I have a couple young kids traveling with me a lot.
Here is the problem with my Sedona's audio system: Everything works great for a while (can be up to a couple of hours), then the amp starts into protect mode. The amp is only slightly warm to the touch. It shuts on and off with the consistency of a metronome, 1 second on, one second off, one second on, one second off..... If I turn the volume way down, it will stop going into protect mode and play normally. The subwoofer never misses a beat - it continues playing at any level, has no issues. five minutes, or maybe 10 minutes later, everything returns to normal. Amp draw - windshield wipers, headlights, rear defrost seems to have no bearing on the issue.
The subwoofer and the Clarion amp share an 8 gauge power line (pigtail off to supply the amp) which I believe is adequate as the clarion has (1) 25 amp inline fuse and the MTX sub tube, a 15 amp fuse. My main power line (about 7' - 8' long) is fused within a foot of the battery with a cartridge style 60 amp fuse). It is safely wire tied away from heat, sharp edges etc. All connections and grounds seem good. I am going out to sand my Clarion ground point a bit more soon.
I have tested the battery and the power line just before the amp and seem to be getting 12.3 - 12.6 volts on ACC and the battery reads ~14.3 V with engine running. I have not been able to successfully test the voltage at the amp when the amp is actually going into protection mode.
About a month ago, I replaced my alternator and battery. The alternator basically fried. I was on a road trip and pulled over as soon as I started hearing alternator noise coming through my stereo. Yep, smoke coming off alternator. Since the replacement, there have been no issues. And, I was having the protect mode issue before the alternator bit the bullet.
So, I have read lots about the various test to do (disconnecting speaker wires one at a time, then RCA cables etc to try to isolate a shorted voice coil, shorted speaker wire or damaged interconnect cable). The problem is that my system works great for periods of time, then starts acting up. It doesn't seem to be heat related as the amp only ever gets a bit warm, not hot at all. Bumps or driving conditions seem to have no bearing on anything - nothing seems loose. I have not been able to identify a common set of circumstances that contribute to the intermittent problem. I thought about picking up another amp and trying that, but I'd rather attempt to isolate the problem before doing that.
I have the app Torque Pro and can monitor, among many other parameters from the ECU, control module voltage. Voltage from control module is always ~ 12.5 V whether the amp is working fine or cycling protect mode.
I'm baffled. Anyone think they might have a inkling about what's going on with my system?
Thanks VM in advance.
Adam
Signature will hopefully show up soon. Created it after this post...
EDIT 2: After reading CollinHawks post a few down, it reminded me that I too had used the balance and fader to all 4 corners and it continued cycling protection mode regardless.
This is my first post. Hoping someone has experienced a similar problem and may be able to help me out a bit.
A little background:
I have two Kia vehicles (2012 Kia Rondo EX and 2011 Kia Sedona LX) and both vehicles have a Chinese 7" Android NAV DVD WIFI head unit. I have been using these head units for several years with no issues. Both cars have a Clarion 4-channel (XC1410) amp and each has a powered subwoofer (Sedona has an MTX 8" and Rondo a Rockville 10" - no doubt regarded as junk in most car audio spheres, but sounds quite good to my untrained ear). As much as I'd like to have JL Audio gear, it simply ain't in the budget. I am not a crank the stereo kind of guy - anymore //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif, plus I have a couple young kids traveling with me a lot.
Here is the problem with my Sedona's audio system: Everything works great for a while (can be up to a couple of hours), then the amp starts into protect mode. The amp is only slightly warm to the touch. It shuts on and off with the consistency of a metronome, 1 second on, one second off, one second on, one second off..... If I turn the volume way down, it will stop going into protect mode and play normally. The subwoofer never misses a beat - it continues playing at any level, has no issues. five minutes, or maybe 10 minutes later, everything returns to normal. Amp draw - windshield wipers, headlights, rear defrost seems to have no bearing on the issue.
The subwoofer and the Clarion amp share an 8 gauge power line (pigtail off to supply the amp) which I believe is adequate as the clarion has (1) 25 amp inline fuse and the MTX sub tube, a 15 amp fuse. My main power line (about 7' - 8' long) is fused within a foot of the battery with a cartridge style 60 amp fuse). It is safely wire tied away from heat, sharp edges etc. All connections and grounds seem good. I am going out to sand my Clarion ground point a bit more soon.
I have tested the battery and the power line just before the amp and seem to be getting 12.3 - 12.6 volts on ACC and the battery reads ~14.3 V with engine running. I have not been able to successfully test the voltage at the amp when the amp is actually going into protection mode.
About a month ago, I replaced my alternator and battery. The alternator basically fried. I was on a road trip and pulled over as soon as I started hearing alternator noise coming through my stereo. Yep, smoke coming off alternator. Since the replacement, there have been no issues. And, I was having the protect mode issue before the alternator bit the bullet.
So, I have read lots about the various test to do (disconnecting speaker wires one at a time, then RCA cables etc to try to isolate a shorted voice coil, shorted speaker wire or damaged interconnect cable). The problem is that my system works great for periods of time, then starts acting up. It doesn't seem to be heat related as the amp only ever gets a bit warm, not hot at all. Bumps or driving conditions seem to have no bearing on anything - nothing seems loose. I have not been able to identify a common set of circumstances that contribute to the intermittent problem. I thought about picking up another amp and trying that, but I'd rather attempt to isolate the problem before doing that.
I have the app Torque Pro and can monitor, among many other parameters from the ECU, control module voltage. Voltage from control module is always ~ 12.5 V whether the amp is working fine or cycling protect mode.
I'm baffled. Anyone think they might have a inkling about what's going on with my system?
Thanks VM in advance.
Adam
Signature will hopefully show up soon. Created it after this post...
EDIT 2: After reading CollinHawks post a few down, it reminded me that I too had used the balance and fader to all 4 corners and it continued cycling protection mode regardless.
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