Please help with amp throwing sparks.....

Discussion in 'Car Stereo Amplifiers' started by Ksan, Jun 29, 2008.

  1. Ksan

    Ksan Full Member

    Ok, I bought a brand new hifonics Bxi1608 mono Amp from sonix. I hooked it up with 4 Ga. Wire for + and - . I was outside today setting the gain when I moved it and it hit the side of the seat post and sparks went everywhere. Scared me so i un-did the fuse and checked ALL the wiring. Everything is wired right + is to + on battery and speakers and - is grounded to a hole I drilled into the X-cab base. Remote turn on is right and everything I know to check is done. I then hooked the fuse back up ( I have 100 Amp fuse inline a foot from the battery ) I took a screwdriver and touched the seat post and the side of the amp and sparks went flying again. I took the fuse back out and have no idea why it is doing that or how to fix it. Does anyone know what is going on and what I can do to make sure my truck does not burn up? Thank you for your time and help.
     
  2. fstrfvo

    fstrfvo Full Member

    Is the amp mounted directly onto the bare metal of the vehicle? If so take a piece of mdf mount it onto the vehicle then the amp onto the wood. It sounds like you have a grounding problem, there could be a problem with ground block inside of the amp, also where do you have your ground wire mounted at on the vehicle?
     
  3. Ksan

    Ksan Full Member

    Amp throwing sparks

    Thank you for the reply, I have the Amp under the seat on the passenger side. It is sitting on carpet and not touching any metal, the problem is when it comes into contact with metal. I do not have it bolted down and I slid it over and hit the seat mounting bracket metal and that is when i found out it threw sparks when metal in the truck touches it. I have a one foot ground 4 Ga wire running to the seat belt bolt, sorry I said a hole I drilled but i looked again and remembered i could not figure out where to drill a hole (scared I would hit the gas tank or something else) So I grounded it to the seat belt bolt. I do not know what is wrong with it but I am worried about it and I didn't want to spent the money but i guess I will go by a sound shop tomorrow and see what is wrong. They wanted 100.00 dollars just to install the amp. Not counting the wire, so I just ordered the wire with the amp and did it myself. I am not dumb on this stuff i have did it before a few times but I am not great at it either I don't know all the good install tricks. Thank you for your time.
     
  4. fstrfvo

    fstrfvo Full Member

    The 2 things that I would change would be to mount the amp onto some wood as it act like an insulator and change your grounding point. Make sure it is grounded to BARE metal. Make sure you sand all paint off of the metal. Also do not use your seat bolts as a ground, drill your own hole.
     
  5. sl0wm03

    sl0wm03 Full Member

    Just keep it from touching metal, the only part touching metal on your car should be the end of the ground.