Subs power dropping randomly..help?

[ziayn]

So last week my subs randomly stopped hitting as hard as they usually do. They're still on but not hitting like they should. I've checked all the wiring and it all seems good. When they go back up to full power they hit hard and everything, but they're mainly staying at low power.

I went to two audio shops today, the first told me it was my bass knob and that I could remove it...I did and nothing happened...he also changed the power wire..$25 gone. The 2nd shop told me my subs are going out and that I need better subs..$20 gone.

I have a 1200 Watt Rockford Fosgate amp and two 15" Memphis Audio Subs. Anybody have any other ideas.

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[dubstepper1000]

Have your checked your RCA connections? something could be weird there. I'm assuming you checked the ground and the connections to the fuse under hood. It could also be the speaker wires, are you running them through one of those plastic inserts to get the wires inside the box? Because if you are, STOP. Those things are literally the cheapest thing in the world and if you run that kind of power throught hem, they cant hold up and will start melting, resulting in a very unpredictable connection. If you can, just run the wires through the port on the box.

 

[ziayn]

Yea i checked the RCA, bought a new pair and just tried them real quick before tucking anything away and it didn't work. I removed the ground and sanded the area down a bit more just in case. I checked the fuse and remote wire. The speaker wire runs from the amp to those clips things built into the box. Amp to box and then box to subs.

 

[big scott]

what i would do is put a dmm on the output of the amp and see what it reads when it working right and when it gets lower.

im thinking maybe amp.

but would also check subs.

do you have a volt meter???

if not get one.

you can use a dmm for this. check and see if your voltage is very low when your subs are not hitting hard.

 

[ziayn]

Update, I got them hitting at a constant power by get new speaker wire and running them thru the ports in to the subs. But they're still not hitting as hard as they should be. They're definitely louder but not quite there yet

 

[ziayn]

bump... anybody have any other ideas, I'm flat out.

 

[bump465 10+ year member]

bump... anybody have any other ideas, I'm flat out.

Iv used amps that had blown some output caps and never protected. The amp still functioned as it should but lost a good chunck of power and clipped alot sooner. Open it up and see if any caps are swelling/blown. That happened to my boss amp, id be suprised if a rockford did that and didnt protect itself.... but maybe?

Also if the subs share a chamber in the box it can be tricky to see if only one is getting power especialy if you have a sealed box. The wires may have fallen out of one of the subs and its just acting as a passive radiator. Double check the sub wiring - or just use a multimeter on "ohm"

 

[ziayn]

I checked the amp today and no resistors/caps seem to be swelling or blown. I've literally re-done the whole wiring today from the ground,power,and remote to the wiring harness behind my headunit. Doing the head unit only kept the subs going for a minute and then they dropped back down to about half power. I'm flat out of ideas aside from the battery,alternator or my subs going bad. Anybody else have any ideas?