ok guys, im posting this on every board i go to because noone i ask can figure out the issue so i need as much input as i can get...

install =
2007 Scion tC
red top
Big 3 with 0awg
0awg ran from battery to the back
fused distro block to 4awg to
zx1500.1 and
zx450.2
2 12" L7s and
SS65.2 in the doors.
4awg grounds on both amps
ground wires are under 8" long each, both grounded out at a bolt that holds the seat back to the car
location has been sanded to bear metal

450.2 plays fine never an issue

1500.1 will cut out at higher volumes

subs are wired to 2ohms


bass boost on the amp is at 0
hz is around 100
gain is a little less then half
used a DMM to set the gain

playing at idle at lower volume the voltage AT THE AMP stays constant at 13.2-13.4 so its not a voltage issue...

thought my 1500.1 was over heating so i added 2 fans, 1 for each amp, each pointing directly at the vents on the amps, that didnt change anything, the amp runs a smidgen cooler but not anything special...

ask questions i didnt answer and tell me things to check/think about, ive been ____in with my stereo for a week now and its still not gettin it..

 

I know jack about audio but could it possibly be a bad amp?

 

It might have an AMD processor in it jk.. I run AMD myself

Maybe try taking the one amp that is working out of the loop and see if the other amp still cuts out.

 

no, amp was already sent to Kicker and they said there was nothing wrong with it.

im AMD too....

 

bad ground.

take off the paint on each of the bolts with your ground. or use a distroblock and go to a 0 gauge ground.

 

ok guys, pulled my rear seats to undo the ground and find a new one/better one... pics were takin from the front of the car looking back, where the red wire is is where the ground was... thoughts/ideas/suggestions? (other then using a different color ground wire...)

 

I dont have my ohm chart to check your sub wiring as of rite now.. however there are a few tips i can give you to troubleshoot it..

1. Swap out the subs, try another set of subs with a 2ohm load, and if your sub amp doesnt cut out then its the sub or wiring of it.. best place to go try out a set of subs for free is at your nearest circuit city or bestbuy, where they have plenty of subs on display, just ask the sales counseler if you can have a demo of the subs in your vehicle, or just explain your situation.

2. Is the amp capable of the 2ohm load, being a kicker amp of that size, i would say it is, however its best to make sure.

3. Try another amp of the same caliber, and if that doesnt cut out, it may be the amp, however its not 100% unless you have done step 1 first.

4. You can try a 1 or 2 farad cap, however thats a more pricey route, i would try to the first 3 steps first.

5. meter the subs voice coils individually, and get a second opinion from an audio installer at a shop, NICELY ask one of them to see if your wiring is correct.

its something to try to incooperate in your troubleshooting, while in the mean time ill see in my notes to see if your wiring of the sub looks correct. goodluck in the mean time

 

Just wanted to verify... Subs have dual 2 ohm voice coils?

Nevermind, I see it now.

 

switched to 1/0 power and ground wires and thats it, works as it should.

thanks guys.

(still looking for a better grounding spot, but as of now it works!)

 

whats the final impedance that the amp is seeing after you hooked both subs together? is the amp seeing 1, 2, or 4 ohms final load?

 

2.3

 

How do you get 2.3?

 

ok. good. well if the 0 gauge wire fixed it (which doesn't seem right to me) then it's all good i guess.

 

less resistance and better flow for the ground in 0awg then 4awg...

i did the same stuff to my stereo that i had been doing before and my stereo took it all without an issue...

 

i don't see the difference between 4 and 0 gauge being enough to make an amp shut off at higher volumes. i know 0 flows more current but i don't think it would be enough of a difference to cause that problem.

i ran an 800 watt rms amp off 8 gauge for months and had no problems. that is very similar to running 1500 watts rms with 4 gauge. i'm not saying 0 gauge isn't a good idea i just don't think using 4 gauge would cause problems.

 

at that length the difference in resistance between the 4 and 0 gauge ground is probably nothing so that wouldn't cause the problem. Besides if there is only 4 gauge going in it doesn't need anything but 4 for ground.

The ohm load seems right for what you are trying to do. Each sub has the coils wired in series so each sub is 4 ohms and the paralleled to the amp gives you the 2 ohms. so that should be right.

What I would try and do it measure the voltage at the amp and turn it up till it shuts off and see what the voltage was at when it shut off. It sounds like you may be dropping to low in voltage.

When it cuts out does it go into protection(green light turns to red light) or is it just shutting off and then coming back on?

What source unit are you using? And it is only your subs that shut off?

 

before, when i turned it up and it cut out it stayed at 12.3-12.4 (same as when it was playing)

before when it was turning off it would be green light, red light, no light, red light, green light... repeat.

HU is a avic D3 and yes only the subs, the fronts play fine.

 

hmm thats weird. Hard to diagnose too much without seeing it happen myself. With the light going from green to red to off and back on that means that the amp is physically turning off. Thats what it sounds like at least.

Since the fronts stay on I will assume that you are maintaining voltage even though 12.3-12.4 volts is pretty low and a hard base note could drop it to 11 or so which would likely cause it to shut off.

How long does the 1500.1 stay off?

Where are you testing your voltage readings?

 

12.3 is the lowest the amp ever got, EVEN DURING HARD HITS. it turned off for a fraction of a second at a time. voltage reading were made at the amp.

 

i was wondering, what inputs from the radio are you using on the amp.
Are you using RCA or Highlvl inputs, im not completely famalier if the 1500.1 kicker is capable of high lvl input, however only one type should be used, if you have both plugged in that could be a possible cause of the problem.

As far as your wiring of your subs, it looks fine.

As a rule of thought with ground and power, you wanna match it with the same size thats going in and coming out of that amp, if a 4 gauge is going in for power a 4 gauge should be coming out for ground. I have seen an 8 guage ground wire melt before when the input power wire was a 4 guage ( the rubber insulation melted).

If your amp doesnt utilize a spade connecter style for input of the power and ground (the ones where you crimp a spade terminal and gets held in place with a phillips or flat head screw and square looking washer) and instead uses a simple insert ( the one where you just expose the wire metal enough so it goes in the hole insert and gets held in by the screw via allen screw) you wanna make sure there is no frey of wires from the ground and power that could be touching anything that its not suppose to. Simply put make sure your connections are clean.