Think my amp went...?

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

My amp (Cerwin Vega EXL-1200D) turns on and isn't in protect mode or anything, but doesn't power my subwoofer (I checked the sub wiring). Few days prior I pushed my box to the right and it pulled out the my amps power wire to the second battery. I put the wire back in without disconnecting the battery ground. It made a some tiny sparks, nothing big, and still worked.

The next day we got our first frost and my subwoofers rumbbled when I turned the car on. Also, rumbbled when I turned the car off. Still played though. Then after work, I was getting no sound from my subwoofer.

I checked the RCAs and was wondering what you guys think happened and/or how I can fix it? I didn't check the ground because wouldn't the amp not turn on if the ground was messed up?

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[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

get a dmm and check the power and remote for voltage ,then make sure you have a good ground.this will tell you alot and is the first place to start.

 

[joshy629 10+ year member]

sometimes amps will power up but not even put anything out because the ground is loose and its just good enough for the amp to come on. this happened in my girl friends car. check the ground. is thats not it take the case off the amp and look at the outputs and se if they are broke. this also could have happened. or maybe a wire came loose inside the box on the sub? never hurts to check everything before you rule it out you know? hope this helps

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

The sub and box are in my room and running off my plate amp. So i know for 100% its not speaker related. What setting do I use on my DMM to check the voltage.. The same one I used to set my gains?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

its one of the voltage settings ,the same one if you were to check the voltage on the cars battery

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

Do I put the red needle of the dmm on the power wire and the black one on the ground? Or just use the red needle on the power wire. Or the speaker input + and - ? Also, how do I check remote wire, I assume it's working since the amp turns on..?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

red on power and black on ground ,then red on remote . see what the voltage is. if the voltage is low then the amp can still come on , just no output,same if the ground is no very good.

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

should be around 13.8 ?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

anything over 12 volts engine off is fine,but the higher the better.be careful checking with engine on

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

I'm getting 14.17v when the car is on, and 12.32 when the car is on ACC. What else can I check before I have to take the amp out?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

did you check at the amp and what was voltage at the remote

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

Yea that was checked at the amp. The remote wire was going up and down with the music i think. Think the lowest was 40v ? What should it be at? I'll check it again if need be.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

turn the deck on ,but turn the volume down ,should be a 12 volt current on the remote

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

12.78 with car on. Thats with the Red pin on REM and black pin on ground. It's like 10. something when the car was off, cd player on pause and 00.

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

I also switched the RCAs from the subwoofer amp to my door speaker amp; they played bass on my door speakers. So it's not the RCAs either.

Any other ideas before I have to take apart my beautiful install ? lol.