amp getting too hot?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 393
Likes: 1
From: Bryan Tx.
amp getting too hot?
i just finished an amp, a sub, an xm radio and a nav install and everything finally came together and sounding great. i took her to town tonight and the base signal shut off about 20 minuites in. the power indicator light was on, both the amp and amp volume **** . i turned the radio off for about 15 minuites and tried it again and it was back. i guess its getting too hot? i mounted it on the back wall, i put a piece of plywood behind the carpeted back pannel and screwed the amp through it. should i put spacers between the amp and carpet? wtf everytime i take a sigh of relief and start enjoying it it takes a crap. the amp is a fosgate 325.1, w/ a 10" fosgate P1 sub. what do you guys think? thanks Fry
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,394
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area CA
Is the amp mounted on the plywood BEHIND the carpet or on top of the carpet? If it is behind you have to get it some air. If it is not behind please tell us how you have it wired (the subs) and what load the amp is seeing. You may be pushing the ohm load too low with your set up and causing it to over heat ... where is the gain at in a minimum (0%) through max (100%) measurement?
Fej
Fej
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 393
Likes: 1
From: Bryan Tx.
ok here's some info. the sub is a 4ohm svc, 150w rms, 300w peak. the amp is mounted on top of the carpet, the gain is set at about 50%, the freq is set at about 50%, the crossover is set to lp. the speaker wires are plugged in to channel A + and - does this sound right? i cant find the manual for the amp
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 7,201
Likes: 0
From: DP(oh you know where) IL
St. Jude Donor '06
back wall meaning the trunk back wall. that should have plenty of air circulation back there. even behind the pass seat, my amp doesnt get hot. warm, but not to where it shuts itself off.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,847
Likes: 439
From: Spring Texas
make sure you use at least 8 gauge wire for power and ground. You could be starving the amp. Also looks like the amp is not designed to be mounted like that (hot air trapped in the cooling fins). May want to mounted another way, or throw a 12 v fan on the side.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,394
Likes: 0
From: Bay Area CA
At what level on the HU do you listen to it? IE 1-35 volume numbers is 15 loud? 20? 30? I would start first with cutting the gain down to minimum and see if the amp continues to overheat. Looking some stuff up be back in a few.
Fej
Ok did some research. You should have the positive and negative wires routed to match in to the "A" channels on the amp. With a SVC sub it should see a 4 ohm load so no problem there. You need to lower the gain down to at least 25% if not lower. You also need to bring that crossover point down to at least midway between the 80hz and 160hz marks on your amp. I would personally say 100hz or lower for your crossover point. Most people start at about 80hz for the subs.
Fej
Ok did some research. You should have the positive and negative wires routed to match in to the "A" channels on the amp. With a SVC sub it should see a 4 ohm load so no problem there. You need to lower the gain down to at least 25% if not lower. You also need to bring that crossover point down to at least midway between the 80hz and 160hz marks on your amp. I would personally say 100hz or lower for your crossover point. Most people start at about 80hz for the subs.
Last edited by fej; Dec 17, 2006 at 10:25 AM.
