Subwoofer Isn't working?

[Trexkare]

My amplifier is powered, My two RCA cables are hooked up to my head unit, Remote wire is ran to a spare 10W fuse, and I haven't the slightest idea as to why my sub isn't working. My subwoofer itself only has two wires ran to it, and they're both secure.. Any guesses or common problems that I should investigate? I'm a first timer. No melted wires or blown fuses, the sub has never been ran.

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[NIHL8ION]

Why isn't your remote wire ran to the remote turn on lead on your head unit? The amp is turning on and no output?

 

[Trexkare]

I had thought that was the case, so I took out my head unit and saw a blue/white spare wire that was on my wire harness. I wired all that up, pluged it all in, turned it on and then my amplifier wasn't being powered. So I'm guessing that that isn't the issue?

With the remote wire hooked up to a fuse my amp turns on and doesn't give any output to my sub.

 

[Trexkare]

If it helps anything, I have this sub Amazon.com: Pioneer TS-SWX310 12-Inch Shallow Series Preloaded Enclosure: Car Electronics

Along with this amp Amazon.com: Hifonics Zeus ZRX1500.1D 1500W Mono Class D Car Audio Amplifier With Three-Way Protection Circuitry: Car Electronics

And I have a 4 gauge wire kit rated up to 1600 wats

 

[NIHL8ION]

On Some Radios there is a blue wire with a white line, as well as a solid blue wire. That was more than likely the power antenna output which would only turn on the amp if you had it on source: am/fm radio. Connect to the solid blue wire and you should be good. What head unit are you running? Does it have a sub rca out, or just front / rear? If it DOES have a sub rca out and you are connected to that - It is possible that it's not sending the amp any signal through your RCA's due to settings in the menu of that head unit, check the settings... Next I would check output of the amp, if it has output, I would test and verify that the sub is connected to the speaker terminal & you can easily do this with a multi-meter on the terminal of your enclosure... You should get a 4 ohm reading (Or at least close to 4 ohms) - If you don't then it's likely that the speaker is not properly connected to the terminal inside of your box...

 

[Trexkare]

The wire harness has both a blue wire with a white line, and a solid blue wire labeled remote wire. Since the harness connected to another fully blue wire, I figured that was already designated to something, so I tested it on the blue and white. That is probably where i went wrong. But, I was on FM radio?

The head unit has 2 inputs Sub1 and Sub2, so i have my two RCA cables plugged into it so that isn't the issue.

Ill have my father take a look with me after work to check more off the list of possibilities. Thanks for the help, Nihl. Ill update this again here in about 5 hours

 

[NIHL8ION]

The wire harness has both a blue wire with a white line, and a solid blue wire labeled remote wire. Since the harness connected to another fully blue wire, I figured that was already designated to something, so I tested it on the blue and white. That is probably where i went wrong. But, I was on FM radio? The head unit has 2 inputs Sub1 and Sub2, so i have my two RCA cables plugged into it so that isn't the issue.

Ill have my father take a look with me after work to check more off the list of possibilities. Thanks for the help, Nihl. Ill update this again here in about 5 hours

YES - run the remote wire for your amp to that solid blue wire labeled remote - You can just tap into it and retain the connection that is already there and it will still serve it's purpose ;-) like I said though... I would check to verify that you ARE sending your amp a signal through whatever rca's you have connected to it... GL, hope you get it working soon //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

- Check your amp settings as well, wouldn't be the 1st time someone forgot to turn up the gain lolz ;-)

 

[Trexkare]

I haven't adjusted anything on my amp because its too powerful for my peak rating on my sub, so i didn't want to turn anything up and accidentally blow it lol. subs rated at 1k and its a 1500 mono.. I was extremely under-educated when i bought all of my equipment. So I was going to turn it on and adjust it carefully. But ill check the gain and etc as well, but im guessing the main issue is the remote wire not being connected properly.

 

[NIHL8ION]

I haven't adjusted anything on my amp because its too powerful for my peak rating on my sub, so i didn't want to turn anything up and accidentally blow it lol. subs rated at 1k and its a 1500 mono.. I was extremely under-educated when i bought all of my equipment. So I was going to turn it on and adjust it carefully. But ill check the gain and etc as well, but im guessing the main issue is the remote wire not being connected properly.

That sub is 4 ohm - That amp does NOT make 1500 @ 4 ohm, more like 500 under ideal conditions with good electrical... Still be careful, your sub is 1k peak / 250 rms, so YES, you will be overpowering it thus still, but not by as much as you're thinking ;-)

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Slowly turn up the gain, also make sure the subwoofer is set to ON on your headunit.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

If you suspect the remote wire is hooked up incorrectly and not allowing the amp to turn on, run a jumper wire between the main power wire and the remote input connection on the amp. That should allow the amplifier to turn on, and verify the problem is at the connection on the headunit.

 

[Trexkare]

Hey guys, heres a video i made to show off what alls hooked up to what. Whats wrong with my sub - YouTube

 

[DevilDriver 10+ year member]

Plug your RCAs into the input on your amp. Do you have a aftermarket H/U? If you do you may have to turn on thesub output

 

[jasonbillnelson 10+ year member]

What kind of RCAs do you have? If the are directional then they can only be installed one way. Think like a check valve, fluid can flow one way but if it tries to go the other way the valve closes and it won't work.

I made this mistake one time...and one time was enough to check every time.

 

[Trexkare]

I got it working, the head unit was a **** puzzle and I had to google how to get to the settings to enable the subwoofer. literally had to hold volume for 4 seconds, then rapidly push the volume button 8 times, and turn it left then right. Why must things be so vague. Thanks for the help guys, Really appreciate your help. Now i know in the future what to look out for.