i spent the better part of today installing a used system into my car, couple of 12 inch polk subs with a 75W x 4 bridged to 180W x 2 alpine amp. i have a solid power, remote and ground so im not sure what the problem is. the amp powers on and after a couple of hits from the subs the light on the amp fades a little bit and the subs cut out, only to return 3-4 seconds later. i do have some fairly in depth knowledge of car audio and im pretty sure the amp is correctly set up. i have also tried with the car running thinking it could possible be drawing too much power but the same thing happens. i have played around with the gain settings but this has no affect. if it matters i am using the stock head unit in the car with a line out converter. any and all help is appreciated. thanks.
power supply is 8 gauge and the ground is good. i get 11.5 volts when running unbridged and when bridged with one sub hooked up, but when both are kooked up bridged, voltage drops and the amp cuts out.
hmmmm...not enough power getting to amp... 1. bad battery 2. not a good connection at battery or at fuse 3. defective power wire
11.5 volts with the car running. 9.5 while not running which is the same as a 2 week old battery i just put into another one of my cars.
with the car running you should be getting at least 13.8-14.5 volts, your battery must keep dying? I think your alternator is toasted. With your system cranked and pumping i can see it going down to maybe 12.6 12.8 but would come right back up again. i would redo all the battery connections and check alternator charging wire connection first.
yikes!!.that is not enough to power run a head unit let alone an amp. do like the others recomended.re check everything. make sure your conections are tight on everything. where is your amp grounded?
i am giving up. i have a 340 watt 2 channel amp that works fine in the car so i dont know if the amp is a pos or what is going on but i have working subs so its good enough i guess. thanks for the help guys.
ok yes it is working but the voltage going to it is no enough it should be over 12v. the next time it shuts down may be its last. we are trying to help you. can you tell me how thick your power and ground are?
yeah....a brand new battery should REST between 12.5-12.8 volts With the engine on the voltage should be ATLEAST 13.8 volts how are the subs wired to the amp??
i think the multimeter may be mis-calibrated, i tried 3 cars and all three were about 12.0v with engine running so i don't think that 3 cars would all have the same low voltage problem. power is 8 gauge and ground is 16 gauge speaker wire 2x. the only working setup i can get with the alpine amp is running 2 of the 4 channels. whenever it is bridged it doesn't work right.
12 volts is still below battery voltage...when the car is running the voltage should be ABOVE battery voltage...if not than the car is running on the batteries power alone and the alternator is doing nothing
I agree with pedro...change the ground wire. Then take car to a car parts store...ie Autozone..or another chain.most of the time they will check your charging system for free ....thinking that you will buy something from them.
i vote you upgrade the big three with all new terminals, sanded connections, and at least 4 gauge. i also agree bogging the battery down that low, would take a lot of amps, my power acoustik 2400d wouldnt even go that low on a stock battery.
