Shop screwed me and ruined my amp!

[Photonfanatic 10+ year member]

I ordered all my gear online cause it was much cheaper that way. One of the components of my system was my of course my amp. I got a Rockford Fosgate prime 300 watt amp, 4-channel. So I take my whole system in all the boxes the stuff came in, to a car audio shop that looked legit, at least from their showroom. Didn't look run down, was actually quite large and had a fairly decent selection. So they wired up my system, and it all worked except there was an alternator noise. I had to take it back twice the same day for the alternator noise.

Finally the guy zip ties all the RC connectors where they connect to the amp. He just zip ties them all together and cinches it down. I'm no audio installer, I assume he knows what he's doing. That fixed the alternator noise. Well about a month goes by, and one by one all the speakers stop working. So I take it back to him and he tells me the amp is broke. He doesn't know exactly what happened, but the amp is broke. So I do my own testing and come to find out its the RC inputs. When you move the cable around a bit the speakers will pop and crackle. So the speakers are fine.

I took it back several times but they would never fix it. I've given up hope that they even care about their mistake. What should I do? That amp was only $130, so I doubt its worth paying the manufacturer to fix it. I really don't want to have to buy a new 4-channel amp though. Are Rockford Fosgate's amps really this sh1tty? Or was putting a zip tie on the RC connectors at the input just more than any amp could take? I called another audio shop in Dallas and they said they're familiar with that amp having problems. What do you think I should do? Thoughts? Opinions?

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[ciaonzo 5,000+ posts]

Open it up and look where the RCA connectors are soldered to the board, probably stressed those. Resolder them.

 

[Brandon@GZUSA 10+ year member]

The shop should warranty their work, which it sounds like they have. Your warranty issue with the amp, unfortunately it falls between you am the retailer. This sounds like another unfortunate incident of equipment failure and no one for you to hold accountable due to the online nature of your purchase.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

I would doubt the quality of that shop merely based on the fact they told you zip tying RCA cables would fix alternator whine...

 

[blobb454 10+ year member]

****.... This ***** and goes back to the most recent thread elsewhere on here. And why I would buy the amp from a local shop if it were possible. Id do what ciaonzo said. Open it up and take a look. Unfortunately you have no where to turn...

Or mail the amp to manufacturer and prey for free repairs.

 

[Photonfanatic 10+ year member]

To be clear the shop is the one that killed the amp, since they are the ones that zip tied the all the RC cables at the input port. I had no idea what they were doing back there, they simply took the car around to the bay and did their work. It wasn't until I was fed up that I started looking into the problem myself. This is of course, the standard gamble you take with all but the most rare, and reputable shop.

Its just that there are not any other audio shops in range of my small town. The next closest one is also mom and pop, at 50 miles away. I guess I should have known. I'll take a the amp out and take a look at the guts.

However, time for my next question. I don't have any idea what speaker wire goes where, in that amp. What is the easiest and most convenient way to label each wire? So that when I put a new amp in, I can just hook it all up myself. Tired of trusting morons who hire hacks.

 

[basswiigee]

lol, zip tying the rca's doesn't ruin a amp.... more than likely just equipment failure, i've ran through alot of prime's never had that problem but that is their lowest quality amp....

 

[basswiigee]

you probably had an issue there with the amp prior, hence the whine they gave you a short quick fix, pressure may have been too much on a already bad rca and it broke...

 

[cfox10 10+ year member]

lol, zip tying the rca's doesn't ruin a amp.... more than likely just equipment failure, i've ran through alot of prime's never had that problem but that is their lowest quality amp....

It would have to be stressing really hard to do damage. But they told him that's how they fixed alt whine? That's not cool.

op, how much did you pay for the install?

 

[ciaonzo 5,000+ posts]

To be clear the shop is the one that killed the amp, since they are the ones that zip tied the all the RC cables at the input port. I had no idea what they were doing back there, they simply took the car around to the bay and did their work. It wasn't until I was fed up that I started looking into the problem myself. This is of course, the standard gamble you take with all but the most rare, and reputable shop.
Its just that there are not any other audio shops in range of my small town. The next closest one is also mom and pop, at 50 miles away. I guess I should have known. I'll take a the amp out and take a look at the guts.

However, time for my next question. I don't have any idea what speaker wire goes where, in that amp. What is the easiest and most convenient way to label each wire? So that when I put a new amp in, I can just hook it all up myself. Tired of trusting morons who hire hacks.

The channels should be labeled as A, B, C, or 1, 2, 3, etc... Just tape each wire pair with the channel identifier. Also observe polarity, + and - of each wire. You want to be sure and preserve that relationship. Might also want to mark the RCA cables and where they came from. Do everything with the power off and fuse removed for the amplfiier power wire.

 

[blobb454 10+ year member]

Use scotch tape and label each one. I agree here, shop wasnt really at fault.

 

[DARKHART 10+ year member]

We've installed SEVERAL of the Prime 4-channels and Mono blocks with no issues so just because it's their entry level amp doesn't mean it's poor quality. It could be that there were weak solder connections and it could be that the pressure on the RCA's were too much which seems unlikely. My point is it could have been any one of a number of things including the installation.

 

[Photonfanatic 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the help and replies everyone. I really do appreciate it. I will take the amp apart and look at the solder connections when I get a chance. However, in the event that I can not find anything apparent to fix, what is a good amp that I can buy used to replace that one? Its a 300 watt amp, 75 watts per channel. My speakers are all 100 watt speakers. I figure if I buy a used amp, I can get one that is a little higher quality.

 

[basswiigee]

this...

Soundstream Rub 4.500 Active capable - Car Audio Classifieds

 

[Chriszle 10+ year member]

Cheap amp bought online. My vote is faulty amp, pending inspection of the RCA input.