warm dust caps?!

[Austin175 10+ year member]

You know I been wondering he same thing with my SA 15"s. I'm only giving them about 400rms each an after a while they get warm but don't stink or anything they use to but not anymore.

But I also do park in he sun alot so it mint just be from that but I don't drop below 12 volts full tilt all I have a big three, stock alt and a optima red top under the hood. It could be my ground as my back seats fold down we sanded an scraped down to the metal on the bolt that holds he seat it so I'll change it this week an see if it helps.

 

[jasonAz 10+ year member]

I agree! Ground it to sheet metal, a bolt is a bad spot to ground.

Lol, yeah bad ground too get a bare metal contact (paint sanded off) and use a bolt or self tapping screw to put the ground terminal in.

 

[Jerhemy 10+ year member]

You know I been wondering he same thing with my SA 15"s. I'm only giving them about 400rms each an after a while they get warm but don't stink or anything they use to but not anymore.
But I also do park in he sun alot so it mint just be from that but I don't drop below 12 volts full tilt all I have a big three, stock alt and a optima red top under the hood. It could be my ground as my back seats fold down we sanded an scraped down to the metal on the bolt that holds he seat it so I'll change it this week an see if it helps.

sounds like we have the same ground location pretty much haha, I will be upgrading my ground in the next couple of weeks here hopefully, so I can finally rule that out as a possible issue or the "choke point" of the electrical system.

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

sounds like we have the same ground location pretty much haha, I will be upgrading my ground in the next couple of weeks here hopefully, so I can finally rule that out as a possible issue or the "choke point" of the electrical system.

Me two lol I'm doing it monday just gonna drill a hole right next to wear I have it right now. Also for 800 watts these subs get down my box is 40"W x 24"D x 18"T tuned to 35hertz but some of decafs stuff gets so low that you can't even feel it lol hopefully more power will help until my wall is done.

 

[Jerhemy 10+ year member]

Me two lol I'm doing it monday just gonna drill a hole right next to wear I have it right now. Also for 800 watts these subs get down my box is 40"W x 24"D x 18"T tuned to 35hertz but some of decafs stuff gets so low that you can't even feel it lol hopefully more power will help until my wall is done.

Nice man, I have definitely heard that these sa's are super efficient. I'm giving mine ~1000 rms each and they get down fo sho. I'm gonna probably just run a couple 1/0 gauge ground front to back, garuntee a good ground spot. Mine are in ~2.75cubes each tuned to 33 I think it is.

 

[Imtjnotu 5,000+ posts]

all subs generate heat when in use........its normal for a dust cap to get warm....regardless of the sub.....

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

all subs generate heat when in use........its normal for a dust cap to get warm....regardless of the sub.....

This. If the dustcap is particularly hot to the touch, or you start smelling the glue on the coil heat up then you know you are pushing it a bit much (or clipping).

 

[Jerhemy 10+ year member]

This. If the dustcap is particularly hot to the touch, or you start smelling the glue on the coil heat up then you know you are pushing it a bit much (or clipping).

I am definitely going to be borrowing my brothers osciloscope*** or buying one soon so that I can test to see if i am indeed clipping.

But it's good to know that some warmth is normal, I will just keep an eye on if they get hot ever.

Thanks

 

[Jerhemy 10+ year member]

You should come to the show at Audio Designs in Winona on Saturday the 26th! Atleast view some other rides and get some ideas.

I am definitely planning on attending this show at the moment, how many people usually show up to this show or a show like this? just wondering what to expect. also, what would be a good class to enter for my first competition? i'm not looking to win anything,I just wanna get metered and have a good time checking out other set ups.

Thanks for any info man.

 

[Julian 10+ year member]

Dust caps heat up when you apply power to it... it is a COIL that you are applying power to... its going to get hot. Most of the heat is dissipated by the motor but remnants you can feel. If you produce more heat than you can dissipate the cap gets warm... perfectly normal...

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

im jus curious.......so yal are saying if the dust cap gets warm your amps clipping even if you used a distortion meter(dd1) and it says the amp signal is clean then your still clipping? because mine get warm after a bit, but i have one sub(rated 1000rms) and my amp is set to 2200rms @ 1 ohm with meter and showed no distortion. im just wondering

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Every sub will generate heat, anything with current passing through it will warm up. So if your subs get warm, no biggie. If they get hot, turn it down. Some woofers cool their coils better than others, some voice coils can stand 300 degrees temps, some can stand like 500 degree temps. So some woofers can handle the heat better. I know I can get my Fi's pretty warm on the cone and be fine as far as damaging the speaker, but it has great cooling, flatwind coils, and is a high quality voice coil. Know your woofers.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

And another thing, after long term use, everything will warm up to an extent. A good test of a system is to see when things stop heating up, or if they do. I have mine set right on the verge of disaster. I can warm everything up nicely and get full power, but once the amps get to a certain temperature, they stay there. It usually takes a minute for the woofers to warm up. Too much more volume and things would start blowing.

 

[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

I am definitely planning on attending this show at the moment, how many people usually show up to this show or a show like this? just wondering what to expect. also, what would be a good class to enter for my first competition? i'm not looking to win anything,I just wanna get metered and have a good time checking out other set ups.
Thanks for any info man.

I've never personally been to a show either so it will be my first time too, honestly I would look at what they're having and seeing if you have the right equipment, I found out last week I needed 2 speakers playing on the outside of my car for bass boxing.

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

the only time i have ever smelled mine. i was doing a demo at a comp with the song "white girl by jezzy" at about 3/4 the way up, the low note heating my sub pretty good. i played the whole song before i really started to smell it. other then that i never smell it, it only really gets warm on the low-low notes(28hz) i hardly ever play below 37hz, when i do i manange my gain pretty well and watch my sub excursion