Sub works when stationary then quits when I start moving

[KKiwi]

Hey guys, I'm new to this seemingly never ending amount of forums I'm now using... I have a 12" Kicker CompC sub with a Kicker CXA300.1 amplifier. The stereo is an Alpine UTE-73BT. I hooked the sub up the other day and it worked fine, then I drove the car and the sub stopped working, but as soon I came to a complete stop for a couple of seconds the sub began thumping again. I can't see the amp to determine if it's somehow getting overloaded and going on the safety shutoff on it but that's how it seems to be acting with me. It has nothing to do with the car being in gear or neutral or park, or if the engine is revving or not. I can put the car in neutral and rev the engine and the sub will still work, or I can be in neutral on a hill and as soon as the car begins to move it cuts the sub off. It makes no sense to me... I have a '99 Volvo V70XC and according to the wiring diagram the remote wire is hooked up correctly and the battery positive and ground wires are both solid, so I'm at a loss for what's going on here and I can't find anything about this happening to someone else online

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[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

battery positive and ground wires are both solid, so I'm at a loss

I have seen this happen twice. Both times the amp was the culprit. But try this anyway; disconnect the remote on the amp and jump a wire from amp positive to amp remote. It should stay on all the time. Drive to see if it shuts off. If it shuts off, disconnect the RCAs on the amp and connect an RCA to 3.5 mm cable from amp to your phone. Test it.

 

[KKiwi]

So I did what you said to hook the remote wire straight to the battery positive and it's working just fine now. Does that mean I had the remote wire connected to the wrong wire on the car? I'm just trying to hook it into a switched 12v wire, right? Cause that's what I had before

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

into a switched 12v wire, right? Cause that's what I had before

Yes. If the lighter works only with the key, use that.

 

[DRBOOM]

Looks like your remote wire is loose. Make sure you track the old remote wire as its may touch metal, best to take it out and replace with new one. Try not to use cigarette wire if possible. WIht car audio, everything has a purpose and try to go around wiring it the correct way to avoid any issues in future.

 

[Mikescotland]

I don't think it's a Remote wire. He says it doesn't matter if engine is on or off.
I'd say check the alternator voltage, some sub amps go into protection @ 14.8V.
That would explain why it happens when he's driving. Voltage regulator might be getting bad, head units usually work fine up to 16V.

 

[SlugButter]

I don't think it's a Remote wire. He says it doesn't matter if engine is on or off.
I'd say check the alternator voltage, some sub amps go into protection @ 14.8V.
That would explain why it happens when he's driving. Voltage regulator might be getting bad, head units usually work fine up to 16V.

If the engine is off, the alternator wouldn’t be running though. That doesn’t make sense either.

 

[SlugButter]

Actually, I don’t see anything about the engine being off. If you crank the volume with the engine off does it work fine?

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

He said going direct to battery with the remote wire keeps the amp lit when driving.

The wire must have been connected to something that’s losing power when he drives, or the connection is simply being broken in some way when the car is in motion.

Tapping off the cig lighter for the remote 12v trigger is fine. If the assumption that a novice will use ScotchLoks is correct, it’s better to tap the big lighter than an unknown wire in the ignition harness…