Subwoofer Help!!

Jdgshred

CarAudio.com Newbie
Hello, I recently was handed a kicker cxa 800 watt amp and a kicker compr 12 inch 4 ohm dvc sub, wired to 2 ohms. I put it in a ported box. I tuned it by ear (which could be wrong)…. But anyway I get a rattle upon certain songs… but the weird thing is that if I press on the rim of the subwoofer it goes away. I took the sub out of the box and checked the gasket(which was fine) so I added the weatherstrip caulking and installed again to make sure everything was tight and there were no air leaks going on, but it is still happening. It’s almost a mix between a rattle and flapping. I tested the sub and it’s not blown, and the impedance is spot on. Please help and point me towards a solution
 
Tap on the cone with your finger or hand lightly and see if it does it.

You could have a loose plastic part on the cone, or you could have tinsel lead slap. I'm not sure what your kicker looks like, but woofer with center dustcaps will sometimes blow them off, partially. I've had this happen. You need to sort of tap on the woofer to find the source of the sound, but don't damage the woofer while doing so.
 
Can you verify that the box is not loose. By putting your weight on the face, you are keeping it from hitting on the walls. I would drill holes on the edge, down into the center of the walls. Then screw 2 inch coarse thread drywall screws. I would do 4 screws per side, starting one inch from the corners. Then seal the inside. Adding Elmers glue before screwing is optional.
I once bought a pair of 15" Planet Audio Big Bang "damaged" subs at EZ Pawn, for $40. Tore the carpet off, reglued and rescrewed the box. Those subs wiggled my eyeballs.
 
I had a old school kicker 15 and although I ran it into the ground it never exploded on me, that shits crazy

What do you mean you don't have a dust cap
There is nothing in the center of the sub?
 
I had an older L7 awhile back and although this may not be Op's issue this one was weird. I bought it used, rattling and when pushed on it went away. I figured the spider was loose worst case as on a L7 there is no normal dustcap visible and it read perfect impedance. But upon inspection it was the cone where it attaches to that (idk what they call it... solocon tech?) brace behind the cone. I only was able to see it with the sub on the table moving the cone outwards while looking for a loose spider. It as so unusual t took me a few to actually see it even tho it was right in front of me. Some epoxy fixed it right up and cheaply. I got me a $32 working L7 that day... 🤣

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I figure it was manufacturer defect because the amount of adhesive on there was awfully light before I gooped on the epoxy (and probably added 50g of mass).
 
I do not have a dust cap on my specific model.
Are you referring to adding extra screws to tighten any gaps in the box?
Yes it is so the face will stop flexing and vibrating against the side panels. This is just an assumption since a loose motor can make a rattle as well. That is why it is a good idea to bang on the empty box before doing anything. That way you can hear/see if panels are loose.
 
yes bang on the empty box and see if it makes a hollow wood sound.....LOL....and a loose motor is gonna cause more problems than a rattle......just stop dude you sound like an idiot

You'd be surprised at how box rattles can hide from you. I built maybe a couple of hundred of boxes. Been around many many doodoo prefabs as well. Box walls slapping together is very real and very frustrating to actually find sometimes.
 
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