Over heating amp

[JRoss22]

Ok this doesnt have to do with my Challenger at all but I figured I would ask all of you on here because of all the combined knowledge. So the weather out here has been getting around 105* almost everyday now and the amp for my sub is over heating and will just turn off in the middle of songs . I was thinking because my truck has two spots on the dash to mount auxilary switches, I was thinking would it be possible to fab up something with like to tiny fans for like a computer and tie them into my electrical system but have them on a switch to turn on when I am listening to music for an extended period of time? And also what would be the easiest way going about this as my skills in this are limited but I think I can handle it to get it done.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Where do you have your amp mounted now? I know they can get pretty hot. Adding a small fan as you suggested sounds like a good idea.


  Mike

[JRoss22]

Right now it is mounted behind the backseat... I am worried about it overheating bc its getting hot enough to the point you could cook up some good food on it and that it can also start a fire which I dont need... I was thinking also of diverting the floor vent foor my A/C to the amp also so when its running hot just crank up the air... I just wanna solve this problem... Should have bought the amp with the build in dual fans .

[ShelbyDogg]

Easy fix Jross.  Just get a couple of PC fans, a diode, and a cheap foglight relay from Auto-zone, and you're good to go.  You can wire them to come on when the amp is turned on, or get a sending unit to have them come on after reaching a certain temp.

Use the big red amp wire to supply the voltage and the little blue wire to turn it on when the stereo gets turned on.

Rob

[JRoss22]

Thanks Shelbydogg... I will go see about all that maybe get the computer geek that lives down the sreet from me to help with the whole porcess since I am sure he has done alot of wiring in his day.... I know I want to get all this done fairly soon as once my friend gets back from Europe her and I are taking a road rip and dont want anything to go wrong with my stereo... Anyone else ever have any problems with over heating?

[ShelbyDogg]

maybe get the computer geek that lives down the sreet from me to help with the whole porcess

Be careful having that computer geek hook it up. It'll smoke then flame, then burn your whole car down!  Then who will you blame but yourself.


Rob

P.S.  I'm a computer geek.

[JRoss22]

Very true now that you mention it I dont think I could trust him to get it done right.... But one thing for sure when I get the money I am going to invest in a fire extinguisher just to be on the safe side... Wouldnt want the truck to burn down.... I guess I am going to have to put a little research into this before I execute it....

[Robb]

Easy fix Jross.  Just get a couple of PC fans, a diode, and a cheap foglight relay from Auto-zone, and you're good to go.  You can wire them to come on when the amp is turned on, or get a sending unit to have them come on after reaching a certain temp.

Use the big red amp wire to supply the voltage and the little blue wire to turn it on when the stereo gets turned on.

Rob

bingo.

use the amp turn on lead to activate the relay.  dont use the auto-antenna cause only works with FM turned on.

Make sure your gains arent too high either

how big of an amp are we talking about (what fuse are you running to it )

[JRoss22]

1000 Watt amp and hard to believe it or not that is still under powering the single sub I have... RMS is 1100Watts peak is 2200 Watts not to shabby for that but back to the amp... I am running a 60amp fuse to it I had a smaller fuse running to it b4 but that fuse blew... I really want to solve this problem of it over heating as I pulled the seat down and noticed some black burn marks from the amp.... all you guys are such a great help as to helping figure these things out...

[Robb]

burn marks on what ?   the amp itself or the seat or the carpet ?


Make sure it has a good aiflow around it. 


There's a reason I asked about the fuse size rather than the manufactures specs.   Basically, the manufactures specs can easily be tweaked to show about whatever value they want, but the fuse doesnt lie   

14volts x 60 amps = 840 watts      take heat loss of 50%....      usable ~420 watts total rms...    210 watts per 2 channels.  bridged to one channel, your looking at 350 watts.

How big was the original fuse and at what Ohm load and wiring scheme are you showing for the SubWoofer?

what characteristics are you experiencing that makes you think that the sub is currently underpowered ? 

How big is the wire leading to the amp and is it connected directly to the battery ?   Are your ground wires upgraded at th amp and the battery ?  Have you upgraded your alternator ?

Than can all make a difference on how hard your amp is trying to work.  (causing overheating)   

[MEK-Dangerfield]

burn marks on what ?   the amp itself or the seat or the carpet ?


Make sure it has a good aiflow around it. 


There's a reason I asked about the fuse size rather than the manufactures specs.   Basically, the manufactures specs can easily be tweaked to show about whatever value they want, but the fuse doesnt lie   

14volts x 60 amps = 840 watts      take heat loss of 50%....      usable ~420 watts total rms...    210 watts per 2 channels.  bridged to one channel, your looking at 350 watts.

How big was the original fuse and at what Ohm load and wiring scheme are you showing for the SubWoofer?

what characteristics are you experiencing that makes you think that the sub is currently underpowered ? 

How big is the wire leading to the amp and is it connected directly to the battery ?   Are your ground wires upgraded at th amp and the battery ?  Have you upgraded your alternator ?

Than can all make a difference on how hard your amp is trying to work.  (causing overheating)   

Robb,

  Those are some great points!!! 

  The manufacturers WAY over-state power numbers. I have a supposid 600 Watt amp powering just 2 6X9 tri-way speakers. It came with a 60 amp fuse that was bad. Yep, what a great start I had.  I couldn't find one that big, so I went with a 30 amp fuse and crossed my fingers. No problems. In reality, I believe my amp ratings break down into 100 Watts per channel as I have it connected. I have beefy top of the line speakers, so it works. Again, make sure you are connecting the amp with wires that are big enough to handle the load. The ground wire to it should be as short as possible. In any event, these things do get HOT to the touch. I never heard of one over-heating though. Again, I don't live in 105 degree heat either.


  Mike

[Robb]

I used to compete in the IASCA circuit and as such I have blown a lot of fuses and toasted a couple of amps, but they were abused and always a dedicated subwoofer amp.  Moving those big ol cones to get the thump effect takes alot of energy (and the bass is what lots of people want to show off as well) so thats natural.



You have to really be beating on something under normal conditions to get it to turn off or blow a fuse.  Assuming everything else is installed correctly. 

A fan will help, but it is a bit of a "band-aid on a broken leg" unless the heatsink was designed with the fans in the firstplace.

You can run a 30 amp fuse in an amp rated for a 60amp fuse, its just when that current draw is exceeded, the fuse will pop.  With full range speakers youre less likely to crank that amp higher than what a 30amp fuse will bear.   If you had a pair of 12"s instead of 3-way 6x9's on that amp you might be popping the fuse a bit more often. 

The amp draw is variable in that only draws the power it needs per the program material and wiring scheme/ohm load being shown to it, opposed to a constant 60amp or say a 30amp draw.   I purposely put oversized amps on tweeters and midranges so that I can keep the gains down, and therefore the system noise down and the dynamic-range up.

You can put a 20 watt rated speaker on a 1000 watt amp and it can play fine for years if you dont overdrive the speaker, you just wont be pushing the amp to its full capability before the speakers limits are exceeded.  You can usually hear a speaker that is being overdriven because it sounds like sheet.  If it sounds clean and clear (and you know what clean and clear is, haha) youre usually ok unless the speaker just simply "ages".


its all the little things that make the big difference.

[JRoss22]

Robb I took a few pictures of my setup and I think the sub is wired at 4ohms maybe 2 its been a while since I hooked it up but here are the pics.....and also it is running on a 30 amp fuse instead of a 60amp...

[JRoss22]

Hey Robb I installed the 30 amp fuse yesterday never turned on the stereo but today when I went to leave my house the fuse popped within 10 minutes of turning on the stereo... What could be causing it?