Need help with Amplifier, going into protect.
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 354 Registered: Mar-06 | So heres the scoop. Kenwood amp, which is already bad news. But anyway, it keeps going into protect I'm pretty sure, all the fuses are good, all the connections are good in the power wire, no breaks, no nothing. Speakers are hooked up properly and the ground is perfect. The only thing that looks sketchy to me is where he pulled the power wire under the hood, its not through the firewall, its through the door and just under where the hood hinge is, but anyway, the power wire is red, but right where its under the hood its lost its color, and is more of a clear/brownish tint color. Anyone know what is going on/what to look for/ what to do. Muchos Gracias! |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 355 Registered: Mar-06 | The amp also has full power, the red light stays on, but the blue light that should be on all the time turns off after start up. This is the wire below.  |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 405 Registered: May-09 | Hope you can list the model of your amp and the speakers/subs that it has connected. The red cable is not the problem, although if you can replace it and reroute it later, that would be good also. Also when you say the ground cable... etc, are perfect, you mean that you redid those connections recently? |
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Gold Member Username: KaerfplSpencerport, NY USA Post Number: 1372 Registered: Jun-06 | The discoloration is most likely caused by the heat. I would check out the Inline Fuse and make sure it's not melting or damaged in any way. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 356 Registered: Mar-06 | The inline fuse is fine, the subs are type r 12s, and the amp is a kenwood kac-9104D http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014E2PD6 And the ground is still attached to bare metal originally and hasnt moved it since, so that shouldnt be the problem. |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 410 Registered: May-09 | There is a switch on the amplifier named ISF it has 3 settings, off, 15Hz, 25Hz set it to 25Hz and see if it enters protection mode again. |
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Gold Member Username: Extrmndor3Http://illuzonemu.serv..., ^^^Sick Game Post Number: 8652 Registered: Feb-06 | you blew the mosfets of the power supply in your amplifier.. wich makes it go into protect mode.. all you gotta do is repair it... you probably ran it below its impedance for a really long time.. or clip the hell of it.. RIP that amp |
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Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, South Carolina Post Number: 14525 Registered: Dec-03 | It's most likely that the amp is going into protect mode due to: the load presented being too low (say, 1 ohm if the amp is 2 ohm stable) the gain being set too high, causing the amp to clip and enter thermal protection the fact that it's a Kenwood, and is a POS. Kenwood and Sony amps are both notorious for going into protect mode for no apparent reason, then outright taking a dump. |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 419 Registered: May-09 | Yes Vc23 if by any chance you wired the coils of your subs in parallel thats the problem, if that is the case just wire the coils of the subs in series and you are done. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 357 Registered: Mar-06 | Thanks for all your input! But joe, the subs are dual 4, and we wired them down to a 1 ohm final load. I cant say for how hard my friend ragged on his amp, but he is not very car audio inclined. He was still running his subs through a l/o converter even tho he has a hu now. I fixed that but didnt adjust the settings on the amp. I will try all the above solutions and see what happens. Thanks again! |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 421 Registered: May-09 | Vc23 there is your problem your amp do not support 1 ohm loads, just 2 ohm loads. Check the manual. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 358 Registered: Mar-06 | ah sh1t. I thought only kicker amps were the only 2ohm stable amps. Welp. Ill try to re-wire them and hopefully it keeps on kickin. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 359 Registered: Mar-06 | The amp is 1ohm stable, and also I dont think its going into protect, in the manual it says when it goes into protect the power indicator goes out, but the power light stays on, however the blue light doesnt stay on. rewired the subs to a 4-ohm load and got nothin. Hooked up the subs to my amp and they worked fine... Im not sure what the issue is. |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 431 Registered: May-09 | Sorry VC23 I had two pdfs for kenwood amps open, got the wrong one, yes if the light is not off it is not going into protected probably is not receiving signal from the HU but, Let me understand the I/o converter is one of those devices for use with stock head units?? so you ran RCAs directly from an aftermarket HU to the amp?? I don't really get what you are saying. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 360 Registered: Mar-06 | Yeah, it uses the signal from the rear speakers, and it converts it into rca's then you just hook the rcas to the amp.. But he still had the l/o converter in while he had a aftermarket hu hooked up... So awhile ago I pulled that out and just ran rcas from the hu to the amp yes. It was working fine for about 4 months, then all of a sudden the subs wouldnt work. Checked the hu and everything was hooked up fine... so I'm clueless |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 434 Registered: May-09 | If it is really not entering protect mode the only thing that can be is that is not receiving signal from the head unit or the amp input stage is blown which it would not force it to go into protect mode. If there is a second amp there you could wire the RCAs going to the troubled amp to the other to see if signal is there. If there is no second amp you could provide signal to the amp with a mp3 player, the only problem is that you need a 3.5 to rca cable to connect the mp3 player, if you can do that just make sure that the mp3 player has volume set to zero to start. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 361 Registered: Mar-06 | Yep dont worry, Hooked his amp up to my wiring and it works flawless. Looked at all the fuses again, and at first glance, the inline fuse wasnt blown, but I pulled it out, and look at that.  |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 362 Registered: Mar-06 | Not big enough wire be the cause of that? and its burning up? or just clipping the sh1t out of it? |
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Silver Member Username: Joe1234Post Number: 437 Registered: May-09 | Ok well so the wiring DID have a PrObLeM ... thanks for coming clean on that not everyone does. In fact the fuse did not burn but the blade fuseholder had poor contact with the fuse. That fuseholder is done and so are those power cables, to play safe place new wires tightly connected. Worse than that I don't think that the fuse is even rated for the 60 amps it needs to be. Wiring is inexpensive and easy to find, this contains all you need inline fuse etc: http://www.walmart.com/ip/AMPAC-AK4000-4-AWG-Amp-Install-Kit-with-Do-It-Yourself -Amplifier-Installation-Guide/16814161 Pick nothing less than 8AWG but going 4AWG is better also sand the chassis to ground connection. I am really glad you nailed it. Let me know if I can help further. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 363 Registered: Mar-06 | Yeah for sure, It was just irritating. But no, I install everything myself, and never had any issue with my stuff, but this was a friends car. And he had someone else set his up. But I'm just glad we got it figured out. And yeah that was a 70 amp fuse, and he's rockin 8 gauge wire, I told him to at least upgrade to 4 gauge, so hes puttin in an order tomorrow at knukonceptz. : ) Thanks for everything guys! |
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Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, South Carolina Post Number: 14531 Registered: Dec-03 | actually VC23, you were wrong on three counts to be honest. the amp you have is 2 ohm stable, kicker makes 1 ohm stable sub amps, and the average amp is 2 ohm stable. 1 ohm stable amps are a newer thing, really if you don't count a few of the Orion HCCA models, and even now, 1 ohm stability is an exception, not a rule.. just things to keep in mind. also, the lower the load you present the amp, the less dynamic headroom you have, the more you stress the power supply in the amp, and the more current you'll need to drive the amp. Your SNR will suffer, as will your THD and damping. the only real advantages to super low impedance loads are watts per dollar, and space used by the amp. (a 500W amp at 4 ohms will be physically larger, and more expensive than a 500W @ 1 ohm amp.) |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 365 Registered: Mar-06 | Boom roasted, thanks Glass! Depending on the site, it does say that amp is 1-ohm stable. And not going against you, but mostly all the kicker amps I was looking into, mostly the newer/older 2500.1, 1000.1 were all 2ohm... But I believe ya. And yeah, I adjusted his gain down a little bit, and kept them running at 4ohms. so he should be all set. |
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Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, South Carolina Post Number: 14534 Registered: Dec-03 | looking at the older KX or ZX series? It's possible the car's charging system just couldn't handle the amp at 1 ohm then.. in that case the amp may have just been damaged to lack of sufficient current. Honestly, I don't really use RF stuff, myself. It goes back to the Orion vs RF rivalry in the 80s/90s.. I was an Orion guy. It's like GM vs Ford I guess. If running at 4 ohms lets it work, then it may be just an issue of need for a bigger alternator. |
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Silver Member Username: Vc23EastCoast, Michigan Dos Fi BLs Post Number: 366 Registered: Mar-06 | KX, Newer ZX, And yeah, I feel that was the issue. I just told him to wise up and get a Sundown 1200. My Orion 2500d is straight to run at 1 ohm tho right? Assuming all electrical upgrades are done.. |
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Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, South Carolina Post Number: 14540 Registered: Dec-03 | yup the 2500d is 1 ohm stable @ 2500WRMS |
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