subs keep locking up
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,618
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From: stix of florida
Honda Grom
subs keep locking up
So...... here is the latest drama with the sound system in the car.
what we are having a difficulty with is figuring out why the subs keep becoming toast in my car. I tapped off of the factory sub line..(non bose) and for some reason... after playing a while, the subs lock up and the amp goes into protect mode. About to get a volt meter and see if maybe the car is putting out something weird like 17volts due to a faulty volt regulator. Any other suggestions? It's not the audiolink and I have already relocated the ground cable.
Any ideas would be appreciated because I am stumped.
what we are having a difficulty with is figuring out why the subs keep becoming toast in my car. I tapped off of the factory sub line..(non bose) and for some reason... after playing a while, the subs lock up and the amp goes into protect mode. About to get a volt meter and see if maybe the car is putting out something weird like 17volts due to a faulty volt regulator. Any other suggestions? It's not the audiolink and I have already relocated the ground cable.
Any ideas would be appreciated because I am stumped.
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 690
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From: England, Surrey
CLK Coupe 200 Komp 53 Plate
Have you checked that the remote cable, has it got a constant voltage, as this has happened beofre to me the remote was supplying power but not quite enough.
Try another temp cable just to test it.
Try another temp cable just to test it.
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Joined: Aug 2002
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From: York, PA
2003 C230K Sport Coupe, 1986 190E 2.3
Could also be the line level ins being over driven with power by the factory deck. Most likely though it is over heating. What model and type amp is it and where is it mounted. If it is mounted on the back of the seat for example the amp will be angled so that the heat will not disapate off of it properly and will instead trap the heat and cause it to shut off prematurely. Also large voltage swings on the 12 volt line and the amp turn on line will cause most amplifiers to go into protection.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: stix of florida
Honda Grom
nope. It is mounted properly facing up so the heat issue is addressed properly. As to the volatge well I checked and it's running somewhere around 13-14volts. The line levels were low too...... The first amp i ran in there was a MTX500D. the 3 fuses blew and when i opened it up, 2 of the transistors are toast. The subs locked up as well .... even though I listened to everything the night before for 30 mins and nothing was wrong as I adjusted my gain etc. And yes.... everything is grounded properly. 4 gauge power and 4 gauge ground.
I then swapped the amp and subs out for the set up in my work truck. It did the SAME thing again except it didn't toast the amp.... I had a 45 min drive where everything worked fine. The last thing I did was pull the last set of subs I have laying around...... and tried it connected to a home cd player, instead of the line from vehicle. After 15 mins.... the subs locked up once again. The whole point of me just putting in subs was to not spend too much money... lol..... now I am out an amp and my 2 sets of subs. Crutchfield will replace the first set of course so that means i have a set of subs to keep messing with til I figure out the problem
. It's just that no one can figure out what is up....... any more ideas guys?
I then swapped the amp and subs out for the set up in my work truck. It did the SAME thing again except it didn't toast the amp.... I had a 45 min drive where everything worked fine. The last thing I did was pull the last set of subs I have laying around...... and tried it connected to a home cd player, instead of the line from vehicle. After 15 mins.... the subs locked up once again. The whole point of me just putting in subs was to not spend too much money... lol..... now I am out an amp and my 2 sets of subs. Crutchfield will replace the first set of course so that means i have a set of subs to keep messing with til I figure out the problem
. It's just that no one can figure out what is up....... any more ideas guys?
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: NH-NJ
I actually had this exact same problem a few years back. I was running 2 subs off of a 4 channel amp after going through 3 amps we finally got it right. It turned out that the amp had a special way it needed to be wired to run them bridged. In addition I think there was also a problem with them being connected in parallel or series. Sorry I cannot recollect exactly what it was but at least this may give you something to think about.
Thread Starter
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From: stix of florida
Honda Grom
nah..... 2 4ohm subs in parallel is a 2ohm load. the 500D handled that in my other car for 2 years. This is the simplest wiring possible..... which is why it's so frustrating now that it's doing this.
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Super Member
Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Los Angeles
2002 c230k
Originally posted by electromethod
nah..... 2 4ohm subs in parallel is a 2ohm load. the 500D handled that in my other car for 2 years. This is the simplest wiring possible..... which is why it's so frustrating now that it's doing this.
nah..... 2 4ohm subs in parallel is a 2ohm load. the 500D handled that in my other car for 2 years. This is the simplest wiring possible..... which is why it's so frustrating now that it's doing this.
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Super Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 875
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From: Los Angeles
2002 c230k
Alright, are you floating you input ground? The ground from the line in might need to be isolated from chassis ground. Also see if you amps case is grounded by measuring between the case(bare metal) and the ground(negative) of the speaker wire.
