Kyle 4x4 4life

For all you stereo buffs out there i got a question...ok i just got a kicker 400.1 amp that i am running to two twelves. And it works great until i turn it up loud the amp will go on protect untill i turn it back down...i change my power and ground from 10 guage to 8 and it helped a little but still does it...Anyone know why its doing this?

PS. I've ran a Kicker 300.1 and a Pioneer 760x2 and both worked fine and never shut off...My subs are older audiobahn's(pic below), is the 400.1 a little to much for my subs?

93gc40

You either need to instal a capacotor in the circut or a higher output alternator. It going to protect because it is not getting enough juice. Could also be bad connections or ground somewhere.

Kyle 4x4 4life

Alright, another question. I was going to buy a capacitor today but the only place in the little town im in to get one was radio shack, and all they had was a 5 farad for $160, and i didnt wanna drop that much, and i dont really need that many farads do I?

HCCAFan

Whatever you do, don't buy a capacitor. Spend a couple dollars on an ohm meter and see what the amp is seeing. You probably either have it wired at too low an impedance or the positive and negative are touching somewhere. Or, you could have a speaker wire grounded out on the chassis somewhere. Small possibility your ground is loose.

ericfx1984

could be that you have a blown speaker or a damaged coil in the speaker... could be light short on the speaker wire... as for the bad ground... not really that liklely

Kyle 4x4 4life

Alright, well i know my grounds not loose cuz i just hooked it up, but it may not be the best ground. And i'll go through and recheck all my wires although i almost know they are ok...and if it still dont work i'll get a cap and see if it does the trick.

HCCAFan

Caps don't fix stereos that are working right. It sure won't help you. The only real function a cap has for cars is eliminating alernator ripple.

Usually a wire gets messed up when you are hooking up something new. How are your subs wired?

ericfx1984

the other thing is you might be throwing too much load at the amp and that would do it too

99FreshenedCherokee

x2 igot a 2000 watt amp connected to 3 tens and it goes into protect when i leave it on high for like an hour....it gets super hot!....check if it gets hot when it turns of...if it doesnt then it might be that the subs are a higher rms than what the amp puts out...also how do u hav'm connected?...bridged or in a series?....alot of amps arent bridgeable....also check how much rms each sub needs...

RoyalXJ

sounds like a ground issue to me. remove your ground and grind your mounting surface down to bare metal on both sides (lug/bolt and nut side)

Kyle 4x4 4life

Alright guys thanx for all the info, its not a real huge deal, just was kinda curious why it was doing it. I can still turn it up and it'll bump like hell just not to its full extent. When i get the time i'll see if i can fix the ground and check the sub wires. But anyway i have both the positive and negative speakers wired together into the speaker slots on the amp, its a one channel amp so its has nothing to do with being bridged. And on the back of the subs i have no idea how its wired, i got them from my friend and never took them out to look...O and if it makes a difference the speaker wires are pretty small.

Malik3404

+1

check how your speakers are wired; if wired down can you amp handle that load

I think you mentioned smallish speaker wire, maybe a upgrade to 16g

Kyle 4x4 4life

Alright, i have some spare extra 16g so when i get a chance i'll throw that in there and see how it goes.

tiwvr1

my opinion, I would increase the power wire to at least 4 gauge. And u do not say at all how long or how big of gauge your ground is. I would do at least 6 gauge ground, and run it AS SHORT as possible, less then 2 feet, or I would definilty go bigger ground. And what speakers are u running? Usually if it goes into protect it is cause the speakers are drawing to much power and over heating amp. Might be better to go to one sub.

Kyle 4x4 4life

Alright, and my ground is 6ft, but i can reduce it to about a foot. And i had just bought the 8 gauge today so i cant afford to get new wires again...and im running audiobahns idk much about them so that may be the problem, but im looking to upgrade to cvr's soon. And my buddy told me how they where wired and its basicall like the pic but sub 2 goes to the amp not the other sub...would that make a difference?