This is EjBaL, Im on my brothers name, for some reason it wont let me log his out. Anyways, I was wondering if my Rockford Fosgate 360a2 is 2 ohm stable. I cant find anything anywhere saying if it is or isnt. Its the older style if that makes a difference.

 

ttt

 

If I am correct all of the "a" amps are 2 ohm stable...I was running a Punch 500a2 at 1 ohm bridged for a while.

 

on the birth certificate the max power is rated at 2 ohms, but Im just not sure, and dont want to risk anything.

 

Even if for some reason it was not 2 ohm stable, the protection circuit would shut it down before you could damage them amp. It would cut out alot and you would then know to change the setup. But I do believe they are all 2 ohm stable. Since your certificate states it is you will have no problems!

 

It's probably only 2 ohm stable in stereo, i.e. each channel. If you bridge it, I doubt that it is 2 ohm stable because most 2 or 4 channel amps aren't bridgable below 4 ohms.

 

i would be in absolute dismay, if the amp was NOT 2 ohm mono stable.

ive used alot of the old stuff, alot of it at 1 ohm mono, never had problems.


the old rockford stuff rocks

adam

 

I completely melted my Rockford 60.2 by running it bridged (2 channel amp) into 2 subs in parallel... worked awesome for a long time; then the thermal shutoff kept kicking in. Added two fans; it was better. One day... "POW!" Blew the hell out of a mosfet chip. Turned out that the PCB got too hot, and one of the traces melted off on the underside of the board, and touched the chassis. Must've shorted out the mosfet- besides pieces of mosfet, there was a big burn mark on the inside bottom of the case.

I bought the replacement Mosfets (used a cross reference chart and wound up getting "better" specs then the original Motorola chips), but never put 'em in... can't decide on a good way to fix the trace.

 

Most Rockford amps are capable of handling a 2 ohm mono load. Though they are rated at a 2 ohm stereo load. So you shouldn't have a problem with it.

 

What happened to Tom is a good example of what happens with amps in general.

For every 3* rise in temp, you cut the life of the amp in half (I think that's it... in any case, heat kills). When you bridge an amp, you make a lot more heat. It'll work today, it'll work tomorrow and it might still work in 5 or 8 years, but ultimately the lower impedance you run, the sooner your amp will die.

I've found that in general, the older Rockfords will take a 2 ohm bridged load all day long, but they get VERY hot doing it. I've got a 360a2 in my Jimmy running 4 ohms bridged and it doesn't get loud worth a sh*t. These amps like low impedances, but you do have to realize that you need to keep it VERY well ventilated and fans aren't a bad idea either.

 

I have to agree with Jim85IROC: The Rockford amps do tend to get very hot with a 2 ohm load; hotter than a lot of other amps out there. Don't get me wrong,they are decent amps. But like Jim said,the hotter they get,the shorter they live. I have an Earthquake amp in my Expedition playing at 1 ohm and have never had a problem with it. Even at competitions and shows,it has never generated nearly the heat most other amps would in the same situation.Warm enough to let you know that its playing,but never more than that.

 

I've owned a few Rockford amps in the past and I've sold a ton. The old Power amps are great, but the Punch amps have started to go downhill from what I have seen. Not in power, just in quality. It's one brand that if you have to fix it once, you'll fix it forever unless you toss it. They are good amps though as long as you don't try to strain them with loads they can't handle. When Best Buy started carrying them, I have seen a decline.

What always killed me when I sold them were people pushing a buttload of speakers with a little Punch 60. Like 4 12's or 6 10's off of an amp that was really designed for mids and highs. And then they bring it back wondering why it burnt up. Or using a Punch 100 I think it was in the same way, with the chip on full range instead of sub or something odd.

 

this is an older amp, the older style 360a2, not the newer style. I am running it at 4 ohms now and its got plently of power, I just wanted to know for future refrence. So if I got 2 4 ohms subwoofers, would you suggest running them off this amp or no?

 

if it were mine, i would run them.


adam

 

older = 360a2? Wow; I must be getting old. I remember a 360a2 as being a new amp, that wasn't as good as the old Rockfords.

So, that being said; was this the 1998 series? If so, this might help you; looks like it's just designed for 4 ohm in mono. http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftec...r_MAN2368A.pdf You can probably try it at 2 ohms mono, just watch the temp, and keep the gain down.

 

thanks alot tom, all I know is that its the older style amp, not like the new ones. The birth certificate that it came with said it put out 542 watts at 2ohms, I love how these amps are underrated :hail:

 

Those were the good ol days!

 

Tell me about it. My 360a2 is the newest amp I own.