Amp protection mode issues...Please Help!!!

[mallen8805]

Recently I've been building my long awaited system in my 97 Ford F150. I have hit a snag now though, as whenever I turn the volume up to where i get into some heavier bass notes my subwoofer makes a pop noise and cuts out for 2 to 5 seconds. Upon further investigation my amp is going into protection mode when this happens. I've checked my connections (battery to amp power, amp ground, speaker wiring) and it all seems strong (bare metal on chassis ground, solid and correct speaker/power cable connections.) I am running a completely stock electrical set up and I was wondering if this could be the culprit. If so I would think I would have lights dimming before the amp cuts off or some indication of a power drain, which is not happening. That is what I would think but I am still a rookie installer so that may not be the case. I've done all I know to do and I really need some help because I am stumped...

Here are the specs....

• Kicker KX1200.1
• (1) Beyma Xmax 12" DVC 2 ohm speaker 1200 w rms
• (the speaker is wired at a 1 ohm load and amp is 1 ohm stable.)
• 0 gauge power wire
• stock batt, no cap
• amp gain set almost all the way down

If I've left important specs out that might give you some clues let me know.

Any feedback would be much appreciated...

[meelo]

I guess another thing to wonder is how is it mounted and is there a lot of heat building up where it is....

maybe it's thermal shutdown...i've had that happen to my amp once when i had it mounted in a very tight location without fans and it would pop/cut off until it cools down...you may be right at the limit but not way over....when heavy notes hit that cause it to use more power than normal...

just a thought

[Austin]

Even though the amp is 1 ohm stable the impediance will drop below 1 ohm at times especially during heavy notes. The amp may not be able to handle true 1 ohm. just wire it for 4 ohms and it shouldnt shut down anymore. Just my little bit of input.

[mallen8805]

Well cooling shouldn't be a problem because it is mounted where the back seats used to sit on a sheet of mdf so its all open air and the amp stays at a temperature thats not hot to the touch when it does this. And for the comment on the ohms dropping that is a possibility I just havent heard of that being a problem with these amps, I'm definatly not near full potential and its cutting off. Could this signify a deeper amp problem???

[ogg]

An insufficient ground can cause this problem.
Where/how is the amp grounded?

[MidnightG35X]

I would say wire the sub at 4 ohm also and see if the problem fixes itself. I say the problem is too low of impedance. Have you tried lowering the gain on the amp to see if that fixes the problem?

[kyheng]

What I will do(as hat has beed said) when the amp shuts down:
1. check the lights of what is the problem
2. feel the amp's temperature(if you can lick it, means you are in deep trouble, send the amp for checking)
3. rewire the sub for 4ohm load. I know it will greatly reduce the output power

When low notes comes in, it may drop the impedance lower than 1ohm. Or hitting near to its fs value also will cause lots of stress to amp. Maybe increase the LPF to higher value, say 63 or 100Hz.

[mallen8805]

Thanks for all the help. from what ive gathered from the posts on this thread I need to def. check the ground and make sure it is grounded well. I have it grounded under the carpet drilled to the floorboard and the paint has been scraped where there is a bare metal to metal connection. Also if I have no luck with the ground then I will reluctantly wire it 4 ohms (loosing 900 watts rms) to see if that rids the problem. If so there will be a kicker kx1200.1 in the classifieds. Thanks again for the insight, more opinions/comments are welcome.

[a$$hole]

I'm sorry this happened to you, and I have never heard of this occurring before

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It is caused by the low ohmage . . .

You could go to Realm of Excurision and look up amps on the amguts portion of the site.

some of these amps are stable into .25 or 1/4 of an ohm [ this means no protect mode

[ogg]

Originally Posted by a$$hole

I'm sorry this happened to you, and I have never heard of this occurring before

It does seem quite odd for an amp that supposed to be 1 ohm stable. I would think they would take the variations in impedance into account when rating the amp.

I still suspect an insufficient ground may be the culprit.

[mallen8805]

Well I was pretty set on it being the ohms issue but it seems thats not the case...wired it to 4 ohms and the same problem. Only this time i noticed that the amp wasnt not only going into protection like it had before and the subwoofer was making the same godawful sound...now i'm worried it might be the sub. Any ideas if it dosent go into protection and still makes popping noise. Or could it still be the ground??

[ogg]

What you just described sounds like a blown sub

[a$$hole]

Happens

If you buy a new one do not repeat this experiment {Iffn U run sumptin flat out really ,really hard . . . it'll DIE ]

[kyheng]

If not impedance problem, guess you need a multimeter before you go futher. Measure the voltage on battery and then on amp(still off). Then on your HU and amps, then see the voltage. If the voltage drops from front to back is >2V, then you got a bad ground(or even power connections).
If the above is not the case, well, a bad amp maybe...

[mallen8805]

Verdict: BLOWN!

Guess I was too harsh on it...time to start saving for a new sub.