Why is my amp over heating?

[viperrgh2 10+ year member]

Just installed a system in my buddies 07 legacy GT. We installed a 4gauge power wire with the inline fuse to the amp, the ground however is only an 8 gauge ground because we ran out of ring terminals for the 4gauge but I figured since it's a shorter distance and the amp is only pushing 380rms anyways so It would be fine? It's an old school mtx road thunder 2 channel amp bridged to 4 ohms with a JL 12W3 dual 2 ohm subwoofer wired to 4ohms as the way rockford's wiring wizard said to. It has a high speaker input coming from one the rear speakers. No matter where we set the gains the amp just seems to over heat ridiculously and then goes into protection mode... anyone have any clue as to why? Could the amp be bad, it is a used un-tested amp...

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[GAM3OVR 5,000+ posts]

best way top test that is to get another amp

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

run each coil to a seperate channel??? iono but id try that also. could just be that the amp runs hott?

 

[nickolas_j_t 10+ year member]

I think the amps bad.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

maybe it over heats because the amp is producing heat inside a trunk that is already hot as hell //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

upgrade the ground wire, because you should have gone with 4awg in the first place anyway

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

mabie...

ground is too small for starters.

ground/ power wires loose somewhere

bad ground

gain to high

to much bass boost

test the speaker wire at the amp with a dmm to make shure you have it wired correctly.

 

[CobraStang98 10+ year member]

mabie...ground is too small for starters.

ground/ power wires loose somewhere

bad ground

gain to high

to much bass boost

test the speaker wire at the amp with a dmm to make shure you have it wired correctly.

x2 on everything here, could be anyone of them.

 

[vellocet 10+ year member]

If you don't have a terminal ring, you could always temporarly tack it down with a self drilling screw and a large washer.

What ohm is it wired at?

 

[cotjones 10+ year member]

Just installed a system in my buddies 07 legacy GT. We installed a 4gauge power wire with the inline fuse to the amp, the ground however is only an 8 gauge ground because we ran out of ring terminals for the 4gauge but I figured since it's a shorter distance and the amp is only pushing 380rms anyways so It would be fine? It's an old school mtx road thunder 2 channel amp bridged to 4 ohms with a JL 12W3 dual 2 ohm subwoofer wired to 4ohms as the way rockford's wiring wizard said to. It has a high speaker input coming from one the rear speakers. No matter where we set the gains the amp just seems to over heat ridiculously and then goes into protection mode... anyone have any clue as to why? Could the amp be bad, it is a used un-tested amp...

Well usually even with a bad ground the amp should work up to a certain level, possibly cut off but not usually over-heat. I have a feeling you are having the same problem i had with a similar amp. here are a few simple test steps for you to try:

#1 My best guess is that your input voltage is too high. I hooked one up the same way as yours (input from a rear speaker) but didn't know my input was about 20 watts and fried the **** out of an old RF amp. See if you can look up a manual on the amp and find the maximum input voltage of your amp, then check the output with a DMM and make sure you aren't exceeding it.

#2 While you are at it, make sure you don't have any speaker wires crossed. and the speakers are wired correctly. Double check the speaker's VC wiring.

#3 is your amp fused properly? if it is and your amp is not blowing fuses, i would definitly say its either ur input voltage, speaker wiring, or a problem with the amp's internals. Luckily it should be easy enough to figure out.

Just so you know to make sure, (if your speaker is indeed a dual 2ohm sub)

you should have the (+) of coil (A) attached to the (-) of coil (B)...

and only the (-) of coil (A) and (+) of coil (B) attached to the amp.

 

[cotjones 10+ year member]

upgrade the ground wire, because you should have gone with 4awg in the first place anyway

8 awg should be fine, of course 4 awg would be better but unless you are running the cable like 25 feet the 8 awg should be sufficient. although, you should have them matching.