POP goes the amp and lots of smoke! Low Voltage?

[Hosted]

Sitting here shaking my head knowing I messed up but want to confirm with you guys. Just put in a Lanzar Opti2000D amplifier that is rated at .5 ohm. I have dual 1 ohm subwoofer and when wired in parallel and showing .8 ohm on my Fluke DMM. Using 1/0 power and ground into amplifier and have triple checked all connections. Extra battery in trunk. Big 3 has been done with 4 gauge I already had while I wait for the rest of my 1/0 to come in. I have 130 amp alternator which is on the list to get replaced soon as I get the funds. Voltage gauge is wired up back at the amp so I could watch it because I knew the amp would draw to much power wired that low. My oscilliscope is going to be here tomorrow so I left bass oh HU set at 0 (ranges from -10 to 10) and never turned volume over 2/3. Amplifier gain is set at approximately 25% while waiting on oscilliscope.

This morning I was playing with some bass heavy songs I downloaded last night. I turned the HU to 2/3 volume to see how it sounded. Voltage started at 14 and was dancing around 13.5 but got to a part of the song where bass got very heavy for a while and it dropped fast and I saw it hit 12 so I turned the volume down to 0 extremely fast and a line went across my volt meter for a second followed by the pop and smoke show. All fuses are fine and it never went into protection mode. The power supply on amp still power up and runs fans but I'm guessing it's toast. I'm sure my voltage meter is not very fast so I'm guessing it got much lower before it showed the 12v. I've only had it in for a few days now and only saw it go down to 12.5v once before going back up. Do you think it was voltage or something else? Lanzar said I can replace or refund so I'm trying to decide whether to buy a better amp rated at 2 ohm or replace it and get my alternator asap. Any help other than telling me I'm an idiot which I'm already aware of is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

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[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

You tried to produce 2kw which at 14.4V is 138.8A at 100% efficiency. No amplifier is 100% efficient especially at low impedance levels so you can imagine it will try to draw much more than that. At the same time no alternator is 100% efficient so yours is probably not actually producing a full 130A. See the problem here? Your voltage dropped to 12V because your alternator couldn't keep up with the current draw and the system voltage dropped to the battery resting voltage. My guess is your combined batteries couldn't keep up either and your voltage dropped even farther, even if very briefly. So yes, I would say low voltage killed your amplifier.

Upgrade your alternator first and foremost, else don't try to run as much power. I would suggest staying around 1000w-1200w on stock alt that size.

 

[Hosted]

Thanks Bubba. I was thinking that having the gain set at 25% I'd be safe but I guess not. Was probably making more power than I figured. I was just suprised because I figured it would go into protection or blow a fuse before going poof. Hopefully with a new alternator the new one will be better.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

12v should not have killed the amp. If you really where at 75% volume and 1/4 gain you where not pushing that amp hard

It's a Lanzar, you get what you pay for.

 

[erod 10+ year member]

Thats ***** bro but i do see this too often wit them opti

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

might have been everything was okay except for your bass heavy songs, those songs might have had clipping on it.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

I really think the 4 gauge really hurt your voltage. I would probly been better had it been 1/0(less resistance). i also know the Opti's are sensitive to see voltage as well. They dont like 12v or below and are rally sensitive around there

 

---------- Post added at 05:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:27 PM ----------

 

might have been everything was okay except for your bass heavy songs, those songs might have had clipping on it.

^^^^this

and lanzar opti's are not bad amps

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

It's not a bad amp but it's ratec to run down to 9v but pops at 12v? Yep that's a great amp.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

It's not a bad amp but it's ratec to run down to 9v but pops at 12v? Yep that's a great amp.

does it really say they run to 9v? ive never seen the specs, just going by what people that run them are saying

 

[yogegoy]

It's a Lanzar, you get what you pay for.

OPTI's are hard to kill, you must be talking about the Vibes? You never mentioned where the smoke came from.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

OPTI's are hard to kill, you must be talking about the Vibes? You never mentioned where the smoke came from.

Hard to kill compared to what?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

no amps are hard to kill, every amp is EASY to kill lol!

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Has anyone ever really looked at the specs on these amps? The 3500 shows it gains 1000 watts going from 1 to .5 lol. And the 4ohm rating it's stupid high, MSRP is higher than sundown. Lol

So much lose

 

[Hosted]

I was definitely just over half volume and promise I had the gain set low. I ordered the oscilloscope and 1/0 for the big 3 because I wanted to make sure I do everything correct with this install and figured keeping everything set low would get me by. I was thinking the 4 gauge ground could have been a weak link but I honestly don't think it would have done this. It was mounted on the back of the box with 1" spacers so I could make sure it got plenty of airflow behind it. I may have gotten a bad copy but the song I was listening to at the time was just Late Night Tip by 3 6 Mafia. The smoke came out the vent right above the power wire. I thought about opening it up but wasn't sure if they had a way to make sure you didn't get in and void the warranty and at this point I just want it replaced. If there isn't any way to tell I can open it though. It has just made me frustrated all day so I've been avoiding it.

 

[yogegoy]

Hard to kill compared to what?

You knew it was a figure of speech, do you have any amp suggestions to compare with?