Testing subs?

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

I have been having problems with my sub. I sent it back for them to test and fix it. they said there was nothing wrong with it. so when it got back to me i ordered a new amp because the one i had was messed up. so i got my new amp in go to hook it up and nothing works. I think the sub is broken but idk how to test it. I have a old audiobahn sub that i hook up to the new amp and it works. When music is playing the sub isnt moving at all. however if u push on the cone u can feel the notes that it should be playing.

Click to read more...

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Have a dmm? Test the coils. You will have a slight drop in resistance but if they are 2 ohm, it should read 1.8 or 1.9. If you hook the probes up and nothing shows, you have a dead sub.

Also, how do you have them wired? What wattage from the amp?

 

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

i have them wired at 2 ohms and 500wrms from a jl 500/1v2. do i have to have the sub hooked up to an amp to test the coils?

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

i have them wired at 2 ohms and 500wrms from a jl 500/1v2. do i have to have the sub hooked up to an amp to test the coils?

No, test the coils with the sub off the amp.

Also, do you have the voice coils wired against each other? Like, out of phase. If it's a dual VC sub and the VC's are wired out of phase, that may be the problem.

Check with a DMM first and let us know what the voice coils read, then the troubleshooting will further.

 

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

ok. I have it wired one negative to the other negative, to the negative on the amp. same with the positive side.

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like you have it wired properly, do the DMM test. How did you set your gains?

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

What subs are they and what voice coil configuration?

 

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

0.1 is what i got from the dmm when i test the coils. Well i havent got to seting the gains yet because i cant even get the sub to move at all.

 

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

I sent it back to them for the to test it because i was driving down the road and my car started to smell and then i pulled over opened the trunk and there was smoke coming out of the port on my box. however they proceeded to tell me that there was nothing wrong with my sub, but it still wont work.

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

Can you push down on the cone or is it locked in place? What is the coil config and how many subs?

 

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

yea you can push down on the cone. 1 15" d4vc re audio se

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

Hm and you say you had the - to - and + to + on the sub?

If so, that should have been correct. If it did read 0.1Ω and you took the reading with the correct settings, your voice coil is blown //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif.

Did you measure both voice coils? Did they both read 0.1?

 

[lawlyes2007 10+ year member]

yea. the dmm is a piece of junk tho and idk what setting i should use on it. when i get out of class ill take a picture of it and post it.

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

yea. the dmm is a piece of junk tho and idk what setting i should use on it. when i get out of class ill take a picture of it and post it.

You don't need a $300 DMM to measure sub voice coils, even a $20 yellow DMM from Home Depot will do the job GREAT. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif.

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like its blown. Did it work and then stop or did it never work?