In my daily driver i have a MA audio hk800d and 2 polk momos. I thought the polks had blew so i jsut took it out and set them aside. It was a nice day today and i started messing around. I put the polks back in along with a profile 400 amp, nothing impressive. For about 5 minutes it worked beautifully, then my old problem came back that i had with the MA audio amp. Whenever the volume is turned to anything past 15 the subs cut out and the amp either turns off or goes into protect. Im pretty sure i ahd the wiring right but jsut to be sure i hooked up just one sub(SVC 4 ohm) and the amp still did the same thing as the MA audio one. So then i starrt thinking ok maybe the subs just arent totaly blown but they are enough. I take them out and put a multimeter on them....4 ohm on both. So then i hook up another sub to the amp and its still cutting out. And one again i hook up the ma audio amp to the new sub...still dont work. Any ideas where to look for a short? I ran a new remote wire a while ago and even tried tapping into a random ACC wire for the turn on input for a bit. Ground has also been redone multiple times. Is it possible that a tiny 4 cylinder alternator jsut cant provide enough current...even for a profile?!

 

To me it sounds like your amp is clipping, which is triggering protect mode. Since this might not be the case, I'm going to give you a list of things to check.

- First and foremost turn the gain down on your amp to a low level (no where close to 50% or higher – maybe like a third of the way up) and see if it goes away. This will eliminate the chance of any clipping, which the most common thing that trips protect mode in my personal experience. Fear not, you will not lose that much output – read to the end of the post.
- Check the speaker wires to see if it’s grounding out somewhere. Since this is a sub application, just run a few feet of new wire between the amp and the sub if it's hidden. If everything is visible, make sure that the insulation is fully in tact.
- Heat. Where is your amp located? Is it getting air? Is it generally hot when it goes into protect mode?

There are other reasons why protect mode is triggered, but these are the most common.

Here are some things that sound fine from reading your post:

- I wouldn't blame your speaker wiring. Either amp should easily be able to handle the 4 ohm load the single test sub was putting on it.
- Your speakers are not blown if they sounded fine before the amp went into protect mode and read 4 ohms each. If you blew your speakers, they would either create tons of load or sound like poo.
- Your alterantor is most likely fine, unless it was having charging problems before you got started with your stereo.
- I would say both your ground and remote wires are fine. Neither of them should have an impact on protect mode.

If your amp stops going into protect mode after turning down the gain, turn the head to your normal listening level and walk the gain up until either your clip led comes on (if your amp has one) or until it trips protect mode. Once you find that point, back it off some. I’m sure others will chime in with a more exact way to do this Also, keep in mind that you can control the sub's volume level from the head as well... You don't have to craink the gain that high.

 

ok i need a little help with adjusting the gain. MY gain has a rotary **** and a switch. In one position the switch turns the rotary **** adjustment to 200mv to 2v...then you move the switch and its like 2v +....should i keep it on the 200-2 or the 2+?

edit: my alpine deck has 2v preouts and also the profile amp was the original amp i had on these subs way back before i tried the ma audio one, it worked fine then with the gain in the same spot

 

i tried a different set of rcas and still nothing. Now if you look at the amp the good blue led is on but no sound is comming out. It seems the longer i try to get it to play the less it works. I also tried messing with the gain but it didnt reall have much effect. I think im jsut gonna try hooking it up in another car soon and see if i can find whats worong

 

A bad ground can cause your amp to go into what appears to be protection mode, i had this problem a while back it was just an insufficent ground. When your power wire is connected and the remote wire gets power, if the ground is disconnected or loose it will cause the protection light to come on.

 

yeh i thought it was that but when i tried regrounding the amp in the trunk it didnt do didly squat.....i think i may have to ground the battery to the body better in the engine bay then. Maybe some more engine to body grounds too

 

I found the problem...the main fuse wasnt broke but where it contacts the pickups it was loose...i pryed the edges away and now its just peachy

 

The main fuse... in the amp? or in the in-line power wire? because my first thought would have been the power/ground.

 

Come to think of it I did have a fuse that caused a problem one time. It was the round style fuse and some how the soldier in it got hot and it would intermittently lose power but the fuse looked fine