i have 2 12's and a "performance techneque" amp, im not sure of the power rating for the amp but my buddy (who gave it to me) said it was pushing 400w probibly in mono.
my question is has any one else had a problem with getting anough power to the amp, it powers the amp but nothing from the 12's. could this be a realy powerfull amp and i just need a cap to spike the power for the amp?

 

ehhh...? your amp turns on but you dont have any sound from the subwoofers? is that what you're saying?

 

ya, and the wiring from the amp to the speakers is good...

 

actually, there are two lights on the amp one is green for the "power" and the other is red for the "diagnostic" when i key on the power comes on, when i start it green turns off and red turns on. i don't know what diagnostic does...

 

are you sure the wiring from the amp to the drivers is good?

 

A red diagnostic light is probably the amp's protection mode kicking in. Check for shorts in all your wiring and make sure the wiring set-up itself is correct.

A 400W amp shouldn't have a power problem as long as you're using at least 8awg wire, a good 8awg ground, and your battery isn't dead. For added assurance, you can upgrade your stock power and ground wires as well.

 

the 8 gauge wiring from the amp to the speakers is good, there are no shorts in the power, had some problems with the batt a few days ago but seams to be ok now after i recharged it.
my friend said somthing about powering the cd-player with the amp (batt power to amp, amp to cd-player, cd-player audio to speakers) but that don't sound right to me i don't want to power all my speakers, just the subs.

 

Wow, yeah... don't do that set-up. Your amp's not supposed to run the head unit.

What's the resistance of your subs? And do you know what impedence load your amp can handle?

 

i wish i knew, the subs are those blue kenwoods with the red zig-zag design (if that helps...) and the amp is a mosfet performance techneque bridgable max 400w+400w. i got both from friends so i never got to see any specs.

 

if you're positive that you havnt shorted out any speaker leads or anything, can you draw a picture of how everythings connected?

 

 

please dont tell me you are running your cd player off of your amp...

it may be a F***edup amp. check all of your wires again, it could even be your remote turn on.

 

check the voltage to your amp turn on lead, should be something like 11.5-12v. Also, do the speakers in your car work at all.. and it's just the subs that are non-functional? The red light comes on as a protection light, it's used to tell you when the amp has shut itself off because of too much power goin to it, or too much power required from it... set all the gains down and try running it at low volumes... I know i tried to power my AlpineR 10s off of my home reciever and when they'd try to hit hard the reciever would turn off.

- Andy

 

is this a mono amp or are there two channels? from your pic it looks like you dont really have a circuit going through your subs... but maybe its just the way its drawn.....

 

I'm assuming that the wire from the deck to the amp is actually the remote turn-on and not a power wire. The latter would be bad.....

Anyway, if they're not dual voice coil subs, then it's pretty safe to assume that their impedence is not less than 4ohms apiece. If it's more, then they won't get as much power, but at least they're not hurting anything.

So, assuming you're running the 2 subs on seperate channels, then the amp should really be able to handle 4ohms stereo. If it's running bridged mono or if it's a monoblock amp, then maybe it can't handle a 2ohm load.

 

I had a problem with my amp one time and the subs would just making a Oscillating sound. Turns out my power wire was too thin for my amp and my amp wouldn't get enough power to reproduce the sound, so it just kept on making a repeating sound. Other than that I'm not sure what the probelm could be, make sure you double check all your wiring for shorts as the others have said.

 

HamSpiced:
no, im not powering my player with my amp. sombody gave me the idea but i didn't act on it.

White Ninja:
the rest of my system works flawless just the subs don't.

mudaholic:
the amp says max 400w+400w so im assuming they are 400w to each speaker.

TrueBlue91RS:
yes your right, it is my remote turn-on. im running seperate channels.

harry's91rs:
the subs don't even hiss or anything...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i have had two people check my wiring, ive tried different subs, and amps, and everybody thats tried to help me has been stumped.

 

Well, if you've ruled out the wiring, and all the specs match up, then you may be dealing with some faulty components. Either both the subs happen to be fried, or -- more likely due to the protection signal you're getting -- the amp could be damaged in some way. Try disconnecting the woofers to see if the red light goes away. If it does, then the subs are at fault. If not, then it's likely the amp as long as you've ruled out the rest of the electrical system (ie. the battery, fuses, wires, connections, head unit, etc.).

Have you checked the fuse on your amp? Could be blown.... that would be nice and easy.
If not, do you know anybody who could 'lend' you an amp to swap into the set-up in order to test if that's the problem? One warning though: if the problem is due to something other than the amp, the you run the risk of damaging the amp you use to test your system as well. I'd only give this method a try if you're CERTAIN that it's not anything else. Good luck dude.

 

ya like i said, i have allready tried different subs and different amp and it still acts the same. the only thing left to blame is the head unit but it is pretty new, its the Aiwa CDC-MA01

 

disconnect the rcas going from your headunit to your amp--does the protection light turn off?

 

i was just thinking that.. if it isnt the wireing, and the voltage is fine it must be the RCA's. i still think it might be your remote turn on.. it may have too much of a charge. goodthinking mudaholic. What mud are you from?

 

if it is my remote turn on what would couse the overcharge? the head unit?

 

disconnect the remote wire from the amp, and use a small wire to connect the remote turn on terminal to the constant +12v terminal -- if you still have the problem, your remote wire signal isnt causing the problem

 

First clear your mind and think.It couldnt be your turn on lead,the amp is turning on!If it were me I would get another RCA cable and try that.It doesnt take much to break the wires in those.If the amp still goes into prtect mode disconnect the RCA wire,then turn your stereo on.If it still goes into protect,your amp is fried(i would try this first).Hope that helps!

 

well to be perfectly frank, the problem doesnt make a whole lot of sense.. if you rule out the remote turn on and the rcas, like i said, and you know the wiring is correct, then either your head unit isnt sending a signal over the rcas, or the amp isnt outputting a signal to the subs.. my bets always been that the amps fried.

 

i have a replacement deck coming in in a couple days, my rca connection in on the deck is bad, its giving a bad signal to the amp. i'll update when i get the replacement...

 

lol,
ok well i replaced my deck and tried it again. instead of the protection light coming on when the deck turns on it comes on when i turn on my "H-bass" but not with my regular bass (these setting are on the deck). and i am still getting no power to the subs anyway, the amp doesn't even get hot

 

cheap amp maybe? Do you have anyone around you that has an amp of a brand name... like an Alpine...JBL..kicker or such that you could borrow and maybe try powering one or both of the subs off of?

- Andy

 

don't mean to be rude, but i answered that question twice allready... i tried different subs and a different amp. plus my friend just pulled the amp im useing out of his car, and it was working fine.

 

then its your wiring heh

 

disconnect the RCAs from the amp.

disconnect the speaker leads from the amp.

get a multimeter with the screw on aligator clips, clip the black to ground.....any ground. set the meter to test for 20V DC, touch the red to the 12v input at the amp, check the remote 12v at the amp (with the HU on) both reading should be betwwen 12 and 14.5 volts DC

it is?...ok good, clip the ground onto the outside ring of the RCA plug (this is the negative side). becareful about touching the inside lead with the clip touching the outside lead, this will destroy your HU if it is on.....better keep it turned off while you do this. connect the black clip to the complete outside to avoide a short if the clip has big enough jaws. now,....still being careful, turn the HU on crank the VOL up set the meter to measure the lowest volts in AC that it can (2 VAC on most) touch the red pin to the center pin on the opposite (L or R) RCA plug at the amp....this is also to avoid a short. switch it around to be sure both RCAs are good, you should get a little voltage reading at least 1-2 volt AC when the radio is on. this tells you that the RCAs are good......

connect them to the amp, set the meter to read 20 volts AC (next notch up) undo the clips, use the pins, put the black into the - speaker lead and red to the + speaker lead....crank the radio.....you should see 1-8 volt AC......no? bad amp. yes?....your speakers were connected wrong. take note of the impedence and properly bridge the channels...or don't bridge if you are not sure if the amps and speakers impedence is matched.

 

what's the difference?

 

thanks for the info, i'll go check it out.
the remote turn-on has a relay attached to it so when the deck turns on it sends power to the amp.