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Is my amp toast?

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ThunderOne

ThunderOne
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Tuscaloosa, Alabama
I recently dynamatted my whole cab, and when I went to plug everything back in, my sub has basically no power. It has a tiny amount of power, but it's next to nothing. I checked the voltage at the amp +/- terminals and remote wire, they're getting plenty of juice. But something's happening when the power leaves the amp.

I'm not sure what I need to be looking at... what should I be looking for while checking the terminals at the speakers? What about the RCA inputs? Should I check the fuse behind the head unit?

Sub is an SWR-12D4

Amp is MRX-M50

HU is Pioneer DEH-P600UB

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double check your ground... this happened to me a few months back. i had a bad ground
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The ground is directly on the chassis.. I have not had any issues with placement before. Like I said the amp is getting plenty of juice. Would it still be a possibility?

How do I check the ground with the multimeter?

 
The ground is directly on the chassis.. I have not had any issues with placement before. Like I said the amp is getting plenty of juice. Would it still be a possibility?
How do I check the ground with the multimeter?
Click to expand...
Take the ground connection apart and make sure it's all shiny metal. Is it grounded through to the outside air?

 
It is always a good idea to put some sort of sealant on your ground connections, they can go bad overtime if exposed to elements.
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The ground is connected to ground off part of the frame. I sealed silicone all around the connection. Like I said, the amp is getting plenty of power, it's just not putting any out to the sub. I've had no issues with my ground connection until I unplugged it to remove the carpet. Now that it's all connected again, something is acting up and not

Pushing any power to the sub

 
Take a DMM check AC voltage at your amps output, play a 50hz test tone....for this even one from a phone's test tone generator will work just fine. Tell me what ur reading on the DMM?

play at ur full volume, disconnect speakers and subs if they are connected to that amp, or u dont want to damage them from the test tone.

 
Take a DMM check AC voltage at your amps output, play a 50hz test tone....for this even one from a phone's test tone generator will work just fine. Tell me what ur reading on the DMM?play at ur full volume, disconnect speakers and subs if they are connected to that amp, or u dont want to damage them from the test tone.
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I didn't change any settings on my amp or HU and it's just not doing anything. Went to an audio shop today... their solution? Turn the bass boost and loudness up. Wow, thanks for that $35 bit of advice. -_-

I'm having a friend check it out this afternoon. I did not mess with the ground contact on the chassis, it has worked flawlessly for almost a year now. When I check the AC voltage at the amp's speaker terminals on a normal rap song, it's very low. Very, very low. Which would make sense, since the sub acts like it has about 10 watts going to it. But before, it would thump. So I'm starting to think it might be my amp :/

But I don't know how it happened!

Thunder,

What readings should I be getting? Are you talking about touching the contacts onto the speaker terminals at the amp?

 
I didn't change any settings on my amp or HU and it's just not doing anything. Went to an audio shop today... their solution? Turn the bass boost and loudness up. Wow, thanks for that $35 bit of advice. -_-
I'm having a friend check it out this afternoon. I did not mess with the ground contact on the chassis, it has worked flawlessly for almost a year now. When I check the AC voltage at the amp's speaker terminals on a normal rap song, it's very low. Very, very low. Which would make sense, since the sub acts like it has about 10 watts going to it. But before, it would thump. So I'm starting to think it might be my amp :/

But I don't know how it happened!

Thunder,

What readings should I be getting? Are you talking about touching the contacts onto the speaker terminals at the amp?
Click to expand...
Fin phone, already responded but it didn't count I guess. Anyway sorry friend if that's the case yes your amp is the problem. Only thing you can hope for now is that it may be something simple like a setting on the amp or hu u overlooked? Gain on amp(inc. Remote gain) or maybe a sub/w setting on hu

 
Fin phone, already responded but it didn't count I guess. Anyway sorry friend if that's the case yes your amp is the problem. Only thing you can hope for now is that it may be something simple like a setting on the amp or hu u overlooked? Gain on amp(inc. Remote gain) or maybe a sub/w setting on hu
Click to expand...
Okay so here's the conclusion I came up with... let me know if this is a possible scenario.

After hooking my phone up to the amp via RCA/3.5mm and playing a 50Hz test tone, my sub was getting a healthy amount of wattage. So I figured the RCA cables going to the HU were the problem. Replaced them with some good ones I found at Radioshack... still no success.

My friend believes the HU is the problem. When I had the truck taken apart, the cords were lying on the ground. The power wire touched another wire and caused an electrical spark... it only happened for a split second. I checked my fuses behind the HU and at the battery but they were still good. My friend thinks that the power wire may have touched an RCA wire(s) and jacked up the subwoofer output RCA terminal(s).

Is that a possibility? If so, a new HU is in order..

 
Okay so here's the conclusion I came up with... let me know if this is a possible scenario.
After hooking my phone up to the amp via RCA/3.5mm and playing a 50Hz test tone, my sub was getting a healthy amount of wattage. So I figured the RCA cables going to the HU were the problem. Replaced them with some good ones I found at Radioshack... still no success.

My friend believes the HU is the problem. When I had the truck taken apart, the cords were lying on the ground. The power wire touched another wire and caused an electrical spark... it only happened for a split second. I checked my fuses behind the HU and at the battery but they were still good. My friend thinks that the power wire may have touched an RCA wire(s) and jacked up the subwoofer output RCA terminal(s).

Is that a possibility? If so, a new HU is in order..
Click to expand...
Definitely possible. That's why I always disconnect my negative battery wire so theres no power running through the vehicle while I'm working.

 
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ThunderOne

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