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only 1 sub working!

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:52 pm
by green_machine
Hey,
I have 2 subs, 2 amps and a power cap in my car. what happened was the bass kept turning off or distorting really badly or making like a loud pulsating bass noise. this would happen when i went over bumps etc.
what i did was tightened up a few connections, until it was normal again. i then fixed the problematic amp in place so it wouldnt move around and dodge up the connections again. this worked fine but now for some reason only 1 sub works. i checked the connections from the sub to the amp and they're fine. what's weird is if i disconnect the earth wire from the amp and then re-connect it, the sub works for like a second then goes off again. any ideas??
thanks

Re: only 1 sub working!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:19 pm
by inliner_04
if it makes random pulsing bass sounds not in time with the music then it means your amp is dead, its what happened to my old one.
are you unplugging or plugging in the earth cable whilst the amp is on? beacuse if you are then you probably just blew up your amp which is exactly how i did mine like i said above.
when changing ANY cables on the amp you should remove the inline fuse from the power cable

Re: only 1 sub working!

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 8:25 am
by green_machine
if i unplug the earth wire none of the subs work, if i plug it in again they both work for a split second then one goes off and only one works. it doesnt pulsate now though

Re: only 1 sub working!

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 1:24 pm
by jar_jar89
theres definatley sumin wrong with the earth the, or it to do with the power goin into the amps. are they powered in series one after another to each other or from a distribution block splitting power to both of em individually?

Re: only 1 sub working!

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:21 pm
by green_machine
thanks for helping mate. there's a distribution block thing with 3 power cables all joining on to it, i think there's one for each amp and one for the power cap, but both subs are connected to only one amp. i think both the amps are connected though if that makes sense?
but i dont think its the power cos i can see that both amps are on. it's just one of the subs that isn't working. any ideas?

Re: only 1 sub working!

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 5:51 pm
by jar_jar89
maybe it one of the RCA preouts from the back of the headunit? is both amp signal from one rca preout then u used y splitters to put across all channels on the two amps? it could be that if u not used crimps on the power or remote power cables that one the wires has a stray bit of wire touching sumin it shouldnt or sumin and making it surge the amp on and off. or maybe cos ur alternator (55amps standard on corsas although some do have 70-100amp ones) that not able to keep up a sufficient stable voltage/ampages to the audio equipment, but then u would notice ur lights dimming etc aswell. i believe about 60% of the alternators current is for basic car functions, so that like 33amps givin ya 22amps to play with. most mono block amps require like 19amps an hour for stable operation. unless ur running low amp operating circuit u may find two amps is putting excessive strain on the alternator and if it on its way out it may start to produce surges +/- of 12v requirement. this would probs affect both amps though tbh and in ur case is quite unlikely. again u would probs notice other electrical failures in/on the car. i rekon have u used a earthing distribution block aswell with say 8 gauge from amp to earth dist block then 4gauge from earth distribution block to your chosen eathing point on the chassis. it may be that if ur running 2 earth cables to the same point on the chassis one of em is not gettin a good enough contact point an so is causing the amps circuit protection to kick in and turn it off.
more than likely this or the RCA connections at the headunit or sumin will solve ur problem. if not then it ur amp that on its way out after being left loose inthe boot and bangin round too much.