Is my amp dying?

[huskyfan23]

The past couple months the speakers connected to my amp (front speakers) have been going off randomly. This usually happens when I'm at a stop or going fairly slow, but it just occurs randomly. It very rarely does it when I'm going above 5mph. The speakers just cut off and then come back on a couple seconds later. Sometimes there is a scratching and you can tell they want to cut but they don't. I pulled my HU earlier today and made sure everything was connected tight. Everything is soldered and covered so none of the wires can ground out. I turned on the HU and shook the wires around and nothing happened. I shook the amp power wire at the battery and nothing happened. I shook the amp and nothing happened. I shook the amp ground and nothing happened. Everything is connected properly and tight. The only thing I'm guessing that could be wrong is the RCA's suck (which they do but you think if there was a problem then they wouldn't work at all) or the amp is going bad. Anybody seen anything similar or have any ideas? Thanks.

 

[4X402]

take the case off the amp and take a good smell, if it smells like anything was burning, then ur amps probably screwed. however check your wiring, i had water in my old fuse holder that was transmitting current, and that cut out randomly 2.

 

[Mista808]

Is it a clip type sound? You know... when you're slumpin your subs for hours and after awhile amps will turn themselves off? I know I had that going on in my Prelude I had a few years back and that was just because my subs were too powerful for my amp. Maybe your wires aren't thick enough as far as the gauge? I don't know a whole lot about that though so if I sound dumb just assume I am

 

[huskyfan23]

take the case off the amp and take a good smell, if it smells like anything was burning, then ur amps probably screwed. however check your wiring, i had water in my old fuse holder that was transmitting current, and that cut out randomly 2.

That's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that (and never would have). The fuse holder was dry but one end of the fuse had quite a bit of some black substance on it. I threw a new fuse in there. I also put electrical tape on each end of the block so no water can get in there.

 

[mrpeaches]

check the power lead from the battery to the fuse and a few inches back towards the amp, it could be corroded inside there. even if your leads are clear, it could still be corroded inside.

also if you have a pioneer deck there is some kind of ground on the rca outputs that ive seen come off a few times, when it happens the internal amp doesnt work either, so check that.

 

[kelly2]

could it possibly be that at idle the alt can't provide enough current for the amp. you said it doesn't happen over 5mph, so try it while parked and at idle. when it cuts out rev the rpm's a bit and/or check to see if the amp is turning off if it has any lights or whatever it may have.

 

[huskyfan23]

It sometimes does it over 5 also. Sometimes it happens on the freeway. I was thinking the same thing you were but it doesn't really make sense that it would do it at 60+mph. The voltage also doesn't dip when this happens. The gauge is around L in Normal.

 

[DOZIER]

I have hooked up several systems and have quite a bit of experience with this problem. In fact this problem is what I just resolved with my buddies car last week. Except his amp is not strong enough for the subs. It was struggling and the ga. power wire was not big enough to supply the amp. I think this is a number of things that could be wrong. You may be pushing the amp just barely too hard to where it does not want to completely cut off, but it goes both ways. You know, on and off, and back on. Your amp could be working right and it just is not getting enough power supplied to it so it pushes until it is starving for power and it takes a small break to charge back up then it comes back on. A good way to test this is to listen to a song with steady bass notes playing drawn out bass notes and see how long it takes to cut off. If you listen to a song with just a bass beat like thump, thump, thump....it takes up less power...soo put some booooomm back there lol and see if it only takes a short period of time to cut off. If so, then your amp is pushing hard as it can with the wire and current it has to work with. If it just keeps cutting off no matter what you are playing or how loud......Congradulations.....you have a bad amp. Sorry for the long drawn out explanation. I kill myself sometimes.

 

[huskyfan23]

I think I should explain what the amp is and what it's for. It's a 300W RMS MA Audio amp. I'm using it for my front components. I am using 4 gauge wire. It worked fine the way I have it set up for over a year.

 

[jeff96]

Ok a few questions about your setup. It sounds like you have multiple amps, correct? Is this the only amp having this problem? How are your amps setup (are they sharing a ground, are they sharing a remote turn on wire, are they sharing a power cable). Also you may want to check your speaker connections although this is probably unlikely that two different speakers become loose at the same time. If you suspect it is your rca's and you have another amp for your back speakers, swap input this way if your back speakers start cutting out you know its your cables. This has nothing to do with the alternator it may sound cruddy but you will always have enough power for sound to come out. Another thing could be are your amplifiers overheating....

 

[huskyfan23]

Been meaning to update for a while. Since I replaced the fuse I have had no problems whatsoever. It's been a while so let's hope it stays that way. Thanks!