Stiff subs or unrealistic expectations?

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

You have a whole list of issues to fix here, not just the box. I'm guessing you have numerous weak points in the electrical system that we don't yet know about. I would suspect everything at this point, your grounds for the battery, the wire connecting your alternator to the battery, the current capacity of your amplifier's power wire, the quality of the amplifier's ground termination. I wouldn't even bother playing the amp until you get the electrical issues sorted, and then your next problem is the massively leaking box. A sealed box needs to be 100% free of air leaks. Even a pinhole leak can cause a change in performance. Poor quality wood will leak air right through the pores.

 

[Braindead]

Why didn't you just use a single run of wire instead of splicing?
Or like Side Show said, crimp connectors, also called butt connectors are like ten cents apiece at radio shack. I got a big kit of terminals and connectors like two years ago for like $30 and still haven't ran out of anything.

I have some small ones i used on my wiring harness for my hu, but they're too small for the speaker wire i used. I might go pick some up

 

[Braindead]

You have a whole list of issues to fix here, not just the box. I'm guessing you have numerous weak points in the electrical system that we don't yet know about. I would suspect everything at this point, your grounds for the battery, the wire connecting your alternator to the battery, the current capacity of your amplifier's power wire, the quality of the amplifier's ground termination. I wouldn't even bother playing the amp until you get the electrical issues sorted, and then your next problem is the massively leaking box. A sealed box needs to be 100% free of air leaks. Even a pinhole leak can cause a change in performance. Poor quality wood will leak air right through the pores.

I'm positive you sold me a good product. The box will be replaced in a month or two with one from dc creations, i'm sure the grounding point will be better and i'm getting a ho alt and doing the big three in a month. Just bought a new battery to replace the broken one, its a interstate megatron that was just rebuilt.

 

[Braindead]

If your battery was old or in crappy condition....and you took a nice long time to do your install....A weak or crappy battery can be hurt from discharging too far. A weak or old/worn alt can be damaged from trying to charge up that bad battery as well.

Now to your sub issue.....it sounds to me like you have one sub or coil out of phase.

Do us a favor and post a few pics of your install including pics of your battery. It will help a bit with the diag of your problem.

My cars working again, how can i spot a phase problem with one of my coils or subs?

 

[TreyE 10+ year member]

I'll go ahead and say my box is sh*t, isn't sealed that well and i made one of the cutouts too large so one sub is only supported on one side, the other side just rests on the edge. The other sub fits perfectly, I'm going to be buying a new box from a custom builder in a couple months.?

This had me rolling^^^ lol. Its not the box though unfortunately since the subs arent moving you have a different problem. You need to do a lot more research, you kind of seem to know what you're talking about at times then not other times so Im not sure where to start.

Double check subwoofer wiring easily:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/Support/rftech.aspx#wiringwizard

Double check big 3:

How To Do The Big 3: Tutorial - Electrical-battery- Alternators- Wiring - SMD Forum

How to check your ground (Take off the seat mount, that is not sufficient imo):



Start there, review all items and triple check done properly, and let us know if anything is different.

Trey

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

My cars working again, how can i spot a phase problem with one of my coils or subs?

The problem you are describing sounds just like it to me.

Make sure that the + is to + and - is with -. and that both subs are wired the exact same way.

 

[Braindead]

This had me rolling^^^ lol. Its not the box though unfortunately since the subs arent moving you have a different problem. You need to do a lot more research, you kind of seem to know what you're talking about at times then not other times so Im not sure where to start.
Double check subwoofer wiring easily:

Rockford Fosgate® - RFTECH Support

Double check big 3:

How To Do The Big 3: Tutorial - Electrical-battery- Alternators- Wiring - SMD Forum

How to check your ground (Take off the seat mount, that is not sufficient imo):

Got a new battery and alt, subs are moving fine. The bass cancelled everything out on my phone when I recorded them playing, and my rearview has some decent bounce with the gain knob at 3/4, the subs seem to be moving more and more every day. I'm going to guess most of my issues were from a bad charging system and battery.

 

[Braindead]

The problem you are describing sounds just like it to me.
Make sure that the + is to + and - is with -. and that both subs are wired the exact same way.

Now they move about 1/8 of an inch when playing with the knob turned to 3/4, that sounds about right. I get .95 ohms at the terminal, but do you think it'd still be worth it to check?

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

Now they move about 1/8 of an inch when playing with the knob turned to 3/4, that sounds about right. I get .95 ohms at the terminal, but do you think it'd still be worth it to check?

unhook one sub and see how it sounds.

If the bass becomes deeper or even louder with just one playing.....that means that they are out of phase.

 

[TreyE 10+ year member]

Do the subs have any resemblance to this when playing?



Do they move exactly the same? Show us video regardless if we cant hear anything.

 

[Braindead]

Do the subs have any resemblance to this when playing?

No, they both move in unison. But i'm kinda worried, on my way home today i noticed a faint high pitched tinny sound coming from the subs. I turned down the volume and finished the drive, went to work and on the way home from work they seemed to have much less output. The one thats closer to the terminal is a little stiffer than the one farthest away from the terminal, i'm kinda fearing i blew it. But they're only about 3 days old and have about 1-2 hrs of play time on them.

 

[Braindead]

Do the subs have any resemblance to this when playing?

No, they both move in unison. But i'm kinda worried, on my way home today i noticed a faint high pitched tinny sound coming from the subs. I turned down the volume and finished the drive, went to work and on the way home from work they seemed to have much less output. The one thats closer to the terminal is a little stiffer than the one farthest away from the terminal, i'm kinda fearing i blew it. But they're only about 3 days old and have about 1-2 hrs of play time on them.

 

[Braindead]

also, my lpf is set to 250Hz because i haven't had time to tune the amp. I hope that's the problem

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

lol blown sub for sure LPF should be set to about 80HZ

 

[Braindead]

lol blown sub for sure LPF should be set to about 80HZ

Do you think both would be blown?