Please Help!!!!

[ilovebumps210 10+ year member]

first of all i'm new to stereo equipment and barely know anything about it, and also new to the forum so hello! i have 2 10 inch planet audio subwoofers, ran by a 350 kenwood amp. I have everything hooked up and all that good stuff but something is obviously wrong. When i put my key in the ignition just to turn the car on the system hits and everything is fine, and then once i turn the volume up past 25 the system cuts out. Then here is the even more puzzling part that is getting me, when i start my car, the system does not work at all, nothing, not even a sound. I have no clue what it is and do not even know where to start. Could someone please give a possible explination. Thank you very much!!!

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[ilovebumps210 10+ year member]

i dont know if it has something to do with the setting knobs on the amp or what...could be anything:crap:

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

I'm not an installer by any stretch of the imagination and my favorite repair tool is a hammer. So with that in mind first thing I would check is any and all ground wires.

Also check the remote wire and see if it is hooked up right and getting good voltage..

 

[Cpyder 10+ year member]

First thing, check all grounds. Make sure your gains on the amp aren't all the way up. If you have a multimeter make sure your amp is receiving more than 14V with the car running. Also make sure your fuse by the battery is the correct size. Those are good first steps.

 

[billjones42 10+ year member]

sounds like the big 3 will more than likely help quite a bit. Then test voltage with a dmm as previously suggested.

 

[ilovebumps210 10+ year member]

sorry to sound dumb but, big 3??? im completely clueless when it comes to stereo equipment like i mentioned before, this is my first time even touching a stereo hookup in a car lol.

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

Big 3 is basically upgrading the elecrical wiring under the hood. usually 4 gauge and bigger wire. Add one from the alternator to the battery positive, Add one from the battery negative to the grounding spot on the block and then go from battery negative to the chassis or frame.

Put an inline fuse in between alternator and battery positive also to be safe. I'll find a good link in a sec that shows you how to do it.

Here's a good one. http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/index.php?showtopic=13280

You will see a dramatic improvement in electrical.

 

[Enellz 10+ year member]

My advice would be buy a dmm before u start to blindly fix things. I've done that and still have junk in my garage I really didn't need to solve the problem.

 

[ilovebumps210 10+ year member]

any idea on how much these wires cost and where to get them the cheapest?

 

[buildmeabox 10+ year member]

Will your system work, while the vehicle is on, if you don't turn the volume up to

25?

does the head unit stay on after the vehicle is on?

Is it an after market? If so did you use an install kit w/wiring?

What make of vehicle is it?

 

[Cpyder 10+ year member]

Yeah, I second the action of buying a DMM before you start. Saved me a lot of money that I would have wasted trouble shooting. My problem was that my 3 amps were pulling my batt below 12V or whatever threshold and then turning off. Solutions: Pull less amperes with your amplifiers, do big 3, upgrade to a better battery, run larger power wire, get the correct in line fuse, turn gains down, upgrade alternator, etc.

Anything else guys? (Or girls to be politically correct.)

But if you're only pulling 350W, forget about all those except the in line fuse, gains, and check grounds.

 

[ilovebumps210 10+ year member]

Will your system work, while the vehicle is on, if you don't turn the volume up to 25?

does the head unit stay on after the vehicle is on?

Is it an after market? If so did you use an install kit w/wiring?

What make of vehicle is it?

the system works when i just turn the key, not the car on and then starts cutting out after volume 25, the head unit still stays on after i start the car and my radio works just not the subs. its a 1997 ford escort with a jvc cd deck and planet audio front and back speakers with a 350 kenwood amp and 2 10 inch planet audio subs and a 4/0 power line..

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

any idea on how much these wires cost and where to get them the cheapest?

If you want to go cheap look into welding cable. It's not as pretty but it works.

I had basically the same problem once except for the ignition part. The amp would cut out as soon as it started hitting good.

I fixed it but not sure how I did it. I got mad and yanked every thing out of the car including head unit and reinstalled. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[ilovebumps210 10+ year member]

for some reason im thinking its the remote wire....but it doesnt make sense to me it would be that wire causing it not to work when i start my car??//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[southwest713 10+ year member]

when you start your car test the remote wire to make sure its getting power. then you'll know if thats the issue or not. and it sounds like the gain setting may be a bit too high. when you connected the ground did you sand off the area and make sure it was bare metal?