AMP Blown

[SHOHARD]

Hey guys got a question. Why did both of my amp ground ports burn up when my power wire touched the ground wire. I know the fuses are suppose to blow and stop the voltage from traveling to the AMP's, so the fuses did blow but somehow power was still traveling to the AMP's. I know voltage can jump from one spot to another so does that mean the power was jumping across the fuses? When I say that my AMP's ground ports were burnt I mean they look like they were lit on fire, there was wiring still burnt to the ground ports. Please give me some insight on this issue.

Thanks,
SHOHARD

 

[SHOrod]

Are you referring to an aftermarket amplifier, or the stock amplifier? Since the power touched the ground, I'm guessing aftermarket. Did you install it? What amperage of fuse is installed on the power lead, and what gauge of wire is used for the power and the ground?

-Rod

 

[SHOHARD]

Are you referring to an aftermarket amplifier, or the stock amplifier? Since the power touched the ground, I'm guessing aftermarket. Did you install it? What amperage of fuse is installed on the power lead, and what gauge of wire is used for the power and the ground?

-Rod

Yes they are aftermarket with 4 guage wiring going to the power and ground and both amps have 1 30 watt fuse. They have 60 watt fuses going to the power leads.

 

[SilverSH0]

Yes they are aftermarket with 4 guage wiring going to the power and ground and both amps have 1 30 watt fuse. They have 60 watt fuses going to the power leads.

What do you mean 30 watt fuses? Are you mistaking 30 amps for 30 watts?

First of all, fuses take a split second before they blow. If you have direct contact between a power and ground wire chances are it will leave a burn mark. The contact is going to create an arc of electricity which will create a burn mark where it arced. The faster reacting the fuse the quicker it will blow. There are slow fuses that are used in audio to allow sudden current spikes that are not sustained. Slower acting fuses will allow that arc to be maintained longer.

My guess is that the power touched the ground, it burned up the amp in the split second before the fuse blew, and then the fuse blew and prevented the amps/wire from catching fire.

 

[SHOHARD]

LOL!!! Yeah I meant amps. Thanks for the help.

 

[SHOrod]

I apologize for the delayed response. I've been on business travel the last couple of days.

The 30 amp fuse at each amplifier is also intended for internal failures of the amplifier. A short at the input power lead to the amplifier will not be protected by the 30 amp fuse, but rather by the 60 amp fuse which, as mentioned by SilverSHO, is likely to not be a fast blow fuse. Having 60+ amps of current available is a lot of power to be dissipated as heat when the power and ground shorts.

A better way to power these amps would be to use the 60 amp fuse at the battery, 4 AWG wire to a fused distribution block, a 35 or 40 amp fuse in the distribution block for each of the amps (since these are more expensive than the ATC fuse used in the amps, size them slightly higher), and then either 8 AWG or 4 AWG from the distribution block to each of the amps.

-Rod

 

[SHOHARD]

I apologize for the delayed response. I've been on business travel the last couple of days.

The 30 amp fuse at each amplifier is also intended for internal failures of the amplifier. A short at the input power lead to the amplifier will not be protected by the 30 amp fuse, but rather by the 60 amp fuse which, as mentioned by SilverSHO, is likely to not be a fast blow fuse. Having 60+ amps of current available is a lot of power to be dissipated as heat when the power and ground shorts.

A better way to power these amps would be to use the 60 amp fuse at the battery, 4 AWG wire to a fused distribution block, a 35 or 40 amp fuse in the distribution block for each of the amps (since these are more expensive than the ATC fuse used in the amps, size them slightly higher), and then either 8 AWG or 4 AWG from the distribution block to each of the amps.

-Rod

Rod,

Thank you for your input it really helps. Now I have another problem. After installing my a
Speakers, amps, audio controller and wires my battery keeps dying and I hear this wineing in the speaker when it's on low or when there is no power going to it. The last two days I wake up and my battery is complete depleted and I have to jump start my car.

What could the problem be? Is it the power wire that turns on the amps? Or am I grounding out somewhere? Also I smelt a burning smell coming out of my air duck today as well so I disconnected the 4 guage going to my battery.

Sorry for all the questions.

Shohard

 

[SHOrod]

Hearing the alternator usually means you either have a poor ground for the amps or there is a ground loop with the input signals. Is your amp ground a solid, clean ground near the amps? Are you using the low level or high level inputs to the amp? If low level (aka: RCA inputs) then are you using shielded RCA cables?

Since you also hear the alternator noise when the radio is off, it sounds like the amplifiers may not be powering down when the car is shut off. What are you using for the remote signal to control the amplifiers?

-Rod

 

[SHOHARD]

Hearing the alternator usually means you either have a poor ground for the amps or there is a ground loop with the input signals. Is your amp ground a solid, clean ground near the amps? Are you using the low level or high level inputs to the amp? If low level (aka: RCA inputs) then are you using shielded RCA cables?

Since you also hear the alternator noise when the radio is off, it sounds like the amplifiers may not be powering down when the car is shut off. What are you using for the remote signal to control the amplifiers?

-Rod

Rod,
The ground is less than 18" from the amps connect to a bolt in the trunk. Yes they are clean solid grounds. I have high level inputs to the amp but I can change between low and high. Here is the ****** amp I have for right now until I upgrade http://www.sonicelectronix.com/lp/p...yPecQTIsTsFOBYgt4FDmbpjpembBgknu2saAqCw8P8HAQ

I will list everything I have in my sound system so you have a better understanding.

Sound System Setup
AMP KIT: Knukonceptz 4 guage kit-http://www.knukonceptz.com/mobile-audio/amp-installation-kits/sp/complete-4-gauge-amplifier-installation-kit/

Distribution block: ANL 0-8-4 guage wire- http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-4-8-Gauge...t-2-Outputs-/191875627079?hash=item2cacadb847

x2-RCA Wires: Soundquest- http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Qualit...Audio-Cable-/131282595334?hash=item1e910d6e06

Rear 6x9" Speakers: Rockford Fosgate Punch- http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROCKFORD-FO...AKERS-P1694-/222201012364?hash=item33bc36608c

1" Rockford Fosgate P1T-S Tweeters- http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rockford-Fo...r-Punch-Ser-/311117572972?hash=item48700d6b6c

Front 6x8" Speakers: Rockford Fosgate Punch- http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Rockfor...584723?hash=item542f494893:g:EFQAAOSwBPNXR2S~

4 Channel AMP: (******) Power Acoustic- http://www.sonicelectronix.com/lp/p...yPecQTIsTsFOBYgt4FDmbpjpembBgknu2saAqCw8P8HAQ

1 Channel MONO CLASS D AMP: JBL- http://www.bestbuy.com/site/jbl-770...lack/8356118.p?id=1219325224598&skuId=8356118

Audio Output: LC7I- http://www.knukonceptz.com/mobile-a.../complete-4-gauge-amplifier-installation-kit/

x2 8" Subwoofers: Pionner Shallow Free Air Enclosure Subs- http://www.ebay.com/itm/181572864240?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Speaker Wire: 10 Gauge- https://www.walmart.com/ip/DB-Link-10-Gauge-Speaker-Wire-100-in-Blue/20825693

How I wired everything

I ran the 4 Gauge power wire down the left side of the car with a 120A fuse aprox 12" from the battery. It connects to the distribution block in the trunk on the left side behind the carpet liner. From there there are 2 output 8 gauge wires running to the Power Acoustic AMP and JBL AMP connected to the passenger side trunk behind the liner. The power input remote wire is running from the head unit straight to the Audio Controller LC7I and from the output to the AMP's remote wire so they turn on and off. I have all of the grounds running to a bolt in the trunk for the AMPS and Audio Controller. I pulled the stock head unit and spliced into the speaker front and rear wires, I do not have the tweeters hooked up yet. I have wires running straight to the speakers from the AMP and then to the Audio Controller LC7I and from there the speaker wire run back to the head unit ( Is there a better way to run the wires?). The 8" Sub woofers run to the JBL AMP and they are wired up to 2 OHMS, like this link option 1: http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/woofer_wizard.asp?submitted=true&woofer_qty=2&woofer_imp=3 The speaker wire

Questions I need answered.
I hope that this helps you understand my setup better and help diagnose the problem I am having with my battery dying. I am going to order a capacitor but I want to make sure I need it before I buy. Do I need a Capacitor? My tuner also thinks that my speakers are messing with my Knock Senor readings because before I upgraded my sound sytem it was reading great, now its saying I have crazy knock. Would the sound system mess with my sensors?

Once again sorry for all the questions but I need to get this fixed.

Thank you,

ShoHard