small spark from +12v wire to amp +12v terminal

[dshisnit]

I hooked up a brand new amp today and it doesn't work out of the box. The only thing that could have possibly caused this other than a defective amp is this...When I was hooking up the positive (constant) wire to the amp there was a small spark. I usually hook up the ground after the positive, but this time I didn't because the positive was the shortest one so I hooked it up last. I have seen sparks like this many times and never had a problem. It was a very small spark. No fuses blown. I know the wiring is right because this amp is replacing another amp that I have been running for quite a while with no problems.

I am wondering if the spark coming from the +12v wire with the amp already grounded could have somehow screwed up the amp.

The amp seems to power up normally and the protection light does not come on. I have also played with all the level controls and crossover to make sure it isn't something like that.

Like I said, the spark is the only thing that happened that could have possibly caused this. I know this for sure.

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[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

most likely,you fried the amp,never hook up live wires to a amp,especially if its not grounded first,i learned this lesson a long time ago.good thing at that time it was a cheap amp.

 

[TnT_Sounds 10+ year member]

I always ran all my wires and wired everything up at the amps then grounded the main battery and wired up the positive, in my opnion you may have fried it.. Take a DMM and see if your gettin any juice to it

 

[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

the last thing i do is connect the in line fuse at the batt

 

[pentavolvo 10+ year member]

ive wired tons of amps hot and never had a single problem, i would test input with an ipod and hook a voltmeter up to output and see if u get anything

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

It shouldn't have, assuming everything else was correctly hooked up. The circuit has to be completed somewhere...

 

[dshisnit]

The amp was grounded.

 

[dshisnit]

Connecting the main fuse at the battery is basically the same thing as what I did. I just made the connection at the amp. It was a small spark right when the wire touched the +12v terminal on the amp. I have had this happen plenty of times with no problem.

 

[SRim23 5,000+ posts]

I could be wrong but with any electrical arent you supposed to go Pos, then neg. and when disconnecting go neg, then pos?

when its wired up does the amp have a light showing its powered up? did you possibly blow the fuse under the hood?

the first couple years i was into car audio i wired up my amps hot all the time and never did any damage. seems something else might be wrong. you sure you didnt accidentally hook your ground to pos and pos to ground?

 

[bball09124 10+ year member]

i've wired a bunch of stuff up hot before i knew better and never blew anything.

 

[Ali1 10+ year member]

I've always insertted by hot power wire into the amp and never had a problem.

 

[kentb 10+ year member]

if its a small spark. don't worry. try it again.

most likely you pushed the positive wire too much that i touched the amp heatsink.

then when you put the ground it touched the heatsink which in turn will cause a spark

 

[acubsfan 10+ year member]

For your sake, I hope you just blew a fuse somewhere. You checked all fuses on the amp and on your power wire?

 

[scoob8000 10+ year member]

Was the spark between the + wire and + amp terminal? Then don't worry. Even if you connected the battery last, you would of had a spark there. I've seen this on just about every amp I've ever hooked up. When you first connect it to power, it pulls a little current (sometimes over 10 amps worth) until the internal caps are charged.

If something were defective and shorting out in the amp, you would of had a big spark. Depending on your fuse, nearly a welding flash like spark. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Like others said, check for power at the + wire, remote turn on, and check the ground and fuses..

 

[chase007 10+ year member]

ive wired tons of amps hot and never had a single problem, i would test input with an ipod and hook a voltmeter up to output and see if u get anything

I'v Hooked up plenty amps hot back in my old days I also put the ground in first and had a inline fuse on my pos batt....Just don't do it only takes 2 mins to take off ur batt...Could possibly save you hundreds in dollars