Ok, I have a nice sterio system. 4 polk speakers, 2 12" kicker competitions(8 ohm, bridged to one channel). The speakers are fine, but my amps are not I think. I have a phoenix gold xs2300 for subs and kicker impulseix404 for the 4 polks. I have a nice pioneer deck also.

I was driving on a 2 hour road trip adn the amps will cut off periodically. They are in a well ventilated area, but they jsut cut off after like an hour. Not at the same time usually, but the both did eventually. I only had the volume on 13-15 max and I dont have boost turned up all the way. Whats the deal? Should they be cutting off like that?

The only thinkg I can think of is my connection. I have an 8 gage wire running from battery to the back adn then it goes to a splitter and I think form the splitter they are both 8 gage wires, but they goto the amps. Then the remote wire is hooked up to the xs2300 then another wire runs from the xs2300 to the ix404 remote. Any suggestions?

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89 camaro 305 tbi, flomaster 3 chamber cat back, gutted cat, Edlebrock open element, 2 kicker comp 12"'s, polk for the rest. Phoenix gold xs2300 to subs, kicker impulse 404XI to 4 speakers, pioneer DEH- P7000R head unit, and finally a 12 disc changer. Full leather interior from MrMikes.com

 

Although I know little about your amps, my first guess would be heat. What kind of power are amps capable of producing. You may be over working them. My second guess (and this may not even be close) but maybe you need to try running a 4 gauge wire to get more power back there. I don't that the wire would cause that type of problem, but if your amps aren't getting enough power, who knows. I would just experiment til you find a combo that works.

Matt

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I think i read somewhere that running higher gauge wire than you need would make your amps heat up more. I'm not exactly sure about this but I would definatly run 4 gauge power wire before I upgraded to a better amp.
The amps you mentioned are both of pretty high quality and I couldn't imagine them just heating up over running an 8 ohm load and running 4 speakers.

Can anyone reinforce my theory on higher gauge wire causing amp heat? Or am I way off?

 

If your amps cut out, it usually means that they are going into protection mode. If both amps cut in and out at the same time, it would be a power wire or a remote problem. But you say that they dont both go on and off and the same time, which leads me to believe the problem lies elsewhere. Try setting the gain a bit lower and see if that helps. How did you verify that the amps were turning off? Was there no power light lite on them? The reason i ask is just because you dont hear any sound doesnt mean the amps are off. They may not be receiving a signal from the deck. Also, what is your voltage at when this all happens? Personally, i'd run 4 ga from the batt to your dist. block, then 8ga from there to the amps.
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[This message has been edited by Justins86bird (edited October 25, 2000).]

 

at first I thoguht it was teh song, but when you hear nothing but SUBS pounding, it throws tha idea out. At first I only had th esub amp s I think they used 8 gage and then whe ni got the second amp I ddint feel like paying another $50 for wires.

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89 camaro 305 tbi, flomaster 3 chamber cat back, gutted cat, Edlebrock open element, 2 kicker comp 12"'s, polk for the rest. Phoenix gold xs2300 to subs, kicker impulse 404XI to 4 speakers, pioneer DEH- P7000R head unit, and finally a 12 disc changer. Full leather interior from MrMikes.com

 

8 gauge is WAY too small of a feed for both amps. You should be running a 4 gauge feed, then 8 gauge from the distribution block to each amp. With a feed that's too small, the voltage can be reduced during high current consumption which can cause the power supply in the amp to heat up due to the extra current consumption needed to meet the power requirements. I don't think that's your only problem though. Your amps are not being adequately cooled. They should sit flat, with nothing above them.

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I made a custom case for them. It has 2 walls, a floor and a roof. They lay flat and the detacthable roof is like at least 4 inches about the top of the amps.

This may be unrelated, but sometimes when I go to unlock my car I get shocked and can see the spark from the lock to the key. I will probably switch to 4 gage once I get a chance.

 

The shock is likely static electricity. When I wear boots it happens to me.

The fact that your amps are incased in the thing you described is a very likely source of your problems. Remove them from that contrapment for a few days and see if it helps.

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You may also try putting a fan on the top of that enclosure, or the side drawing air across the fins.

You also really should get that wire changed out! It's better to have too big a wire than too small!



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