Sub worked fine in standard, now not in standard or network

[tigey]

Had a new powered sub (Rockford Fosgate P300-12") running from a Pioneer Deh-80prs for three weeks. Replaced the four stock Toyota speakers and am running them in pairs from separate 60-watt Kenwood amps - they sound fine - but the sub isn't working. Adding to the mystery is that the manual says the power light is green and the protect light is red, while my light is blue. I've switched wires to the other amps, and they all work except the sub. I believe the sub is 2-ohm, but so is the built-in amp, so I guess it shouldn't matter that the hu is not 2-ohm stable since the sub's not powered by the hu.

Also, sometimes the sub plays, but it's always too loud, but strained, if that makes sense. Naturally, it played fine until now it's too late to return it. I could use any insight I can get. Thanks in advance.

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[Umbra]

Had a new powered sub (Rockford Fosgate P300-12") running from a Pioneer Deh-80prs for three weeks. Replaced the four stock Toyota speakers and am running them in pairs from separate 60-watt Kenwood amps - they sound fine - but the sub isn't working. Adding to the mystery is that the manual says the power light is green and the protect light is red, while my light is blue. I've switched wires to the other amps, and they all work except the sub. I believe the sub is 2-ohm, but so is the built-in amp, so I guess it shouldn't matter that the hu is not 2-ohm stable since the sub's not powered by the hu.Also, sometimes the sub plays, but it's always too loud, but strained, if that makes sense. Naturally, it played fine until now it's too late to return it. I could use any insight I can get. Thanks in advance.

How do you have all this stuff wired up?

What gauge wires?

How are they grounded?

What's the gain set to and how did you set it?

The more details the better people will be able to help you.

 

[tigey]

4-gauge wire runs to a fused distribution block, three 8-gauge wires exit the fused distribution block, each feeding a separate amp. Thaey are grounded close together with 8-gauge wire in a location a DMM said was solid. Originally I had the sub grounded to a bolt that felt direct-to-frame (and the DMM said it was solid), but then moved it so the sub and the amps would be grounded within a few inches of each other. The gain is as low as possible at present, but I've moved that from time to time during this ordeal.

 

[Umbra]

An ideal ground is a ring terminal bolted to sanded, bare metal chassis.

I'm going to bed for the evening, but if no one solves your problem by tomorrow I'd suggest taking some pictures of the grounds.

Also, make sure you're getting 12+ volts at the amps and the remote wire. How is that wire done, by the way?

 

[tigey]

For the grounds on all three amps, I have used self-tapping screws into what I think is pretty flimsy sheet metal just below the back window. The DMM says it's solid, so I used it. I also suspected ground, so I changed it back to the original ground, but no dice. The original ground area is solid steel, just behind the taillight area. Both the present and original ground areas are sanded, bare metal. The other amps play fine using the same grounding area, but they're only 60 watts RMS each; the sub amp is 300 watts, so maybe the ground's not adequate for 300 watts, if that's possible.

At one point, while the sub worked correctly, I was playing with equalizer or something, went for a five minute ride with sub unsecured and some lard *** ******* on her Burger King ice cream cone pulled out in front of me on the wrong side of the road. I hit the brakes, the sub tipped, but played just fine. Anyway, since nothing else has worked, I've taken apart the sub to inspect for physical damage, but none is visible. I do see two positive and two negative leads to the speaker. Does that mean it's a dual-voice coil? If so, can I test it by connecting it one of my Kenwoods? Should the amp be bridged then? Also, do I need to disconnect the soldered-on built in RF amp before I can test it? I hope I can power it without having to unsolder that puppy. Thanks.

 

[tigey]

By the way, I'm not running it off of the remote wire, I' m running it off audio. I switched it back to remote, though, to see if that was the issue, but it still didn't work right. I think, though, that I was in the driveway (car not running) when I did this. Maybe I should try again while the car's running.

 

[tigey]

Problem solved. After trying just about every combination of wire swap and wearing a tinfoil hat, Imtjnotu offered to come over and help me this weekend, but I stumbled upon - not solved, there's a difference - the fact that when the volume remote wire is connected, the sub won't play. It's either a pinched wire, a bad remote wire port, or the fact that this wire runs alongside the power and ground wires (unlike the other signal wires, which run along the other side of the car). Anyways, thanks Imtjnotu for the offer, and umbra for the suggestions. I appreciate your time and generosity.