Wired up a Kicker ZX400.1 and a 10" solobaric DVC 2ohm. When I first key on, the power light comes on the amp, but as soon as the CD player comes on and sends a signal, the protection light comes on and blinks slow, maybe 1-2 second intervals. My initial thoughts were maybe the ground is bad, but any other ideas or has anyone had the same issue?
I wasn't able to find much on Kicker's website. As far as I know the sub works fine and everything is wired properly.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Dan
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
use a dmm to check both coils
Get Loud or Die Trying
use a dmm to check the load going to the amp. i'd lean more towards improper wiring before a bad sub.
car audio noob since 1984.
ground resistance?
Get Loud or Die Trying
What is your "turn on" set to? DC offset, 12v, or audio?
The turn on is set to 12v.
I grounded to the metal bracket for my fold down seats (2004 Cav)... The metal isn't painted, but isn't quite bare either. On the back of my HU, I have 3 pre outs and a rear output set of RCAs. On the pre-outs I have one marked "F" and one "SW" which I assume is for subwoofer output. I have the RCAs connected to that. 4 ga. wiring with 60 AGU fuse.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
*sorry, 2 pre outs and a rear output.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
Seat brackets are a fickle beast. Ground somewhere else.
I don't want to drill any holes anywhere and it was the only bolt I could find for the terminal (5/8"). But I'll have to take a look this weekend and find somehwere else to go with it.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
don't be afraid to drill a hole. that's the proper way to do it and you'll be thankful you did later..
Andrey B wrote:don't be afraid to drill a hole. that's the proper way to do it and you'll be thankful you did later..
This. Or even just a couple self tapping screws on clean metal, as long as it's solidly held.
The gas tank is under the seat area, so try to ground more toward the sides of the car.
final ohm load, i bet your trying to run a 2 ohm amp at 1 ohm or even slightly less
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I was curious about the final ohm load, but this setup worked for over a year when my cousin owned it and it was installed by a shop. I replaced the old amp (which had gotten wet and shorted itself out) with the exact same model amp but a newer version (06 vs. 08)
I might be wrong on the sub specs, I have to pull it out of the box and see.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
I'm sorry, I think it is dual 4 ohm coils and i think they are wired in parallel and the amp was set for 2 ohm load... but I will have to verify when I get home. I'll also have to get a DMM and measuer the load as well.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
so you have it wired so when you turn the key on the amplifier turns on even if the radio isn't on? why is it wired this way and not wired properly with the remote turn on wire from the headunit? next. try undoing the rca's from the amp and maybe try taking the rca's out of another friends headunit into your amp. if you hear music you know something is either wrong with your rca's or the signal coming out of the headunit. if you dont hear anything you know its something in the amp itself or your speaker wire. you can easily check the speaker wire. even at a low ohm load i'd think the amp would still play for a few seconds before anything happened.
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No no it's wired with remote turn on... I thought that was what the 12v switch was for on the Amp...
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
well you said when you first key up the power lights up on the amp. i took this to mean when you kicked the key over to acc. your amp powered on. then you said when the cdplayer came on no noise came out. i took this to mean you turned the key to acc, the amp lights up then you turn the radio on.
so do you really mean when you turn the radio on the amp first lights up but no music comes out? id try to find a buddy with a system you can check with.
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Yea sorry for confusion. I accidentally wired my remote back into the factory harness adapter instead of the HU (whoops) and the amp wouldn't turn on at all. So I can 100% verify the amp is powered by remote from the HU.
I have a Pioneer deck and it powers on, then the amp lights up. There is a 1-2 second delay until the radio will come on, at which point the light on the amp goes off then Protection light starts blinking. I'll have to see if i can track down another subwoofer or else verify how the coils are wired in mine, which I can't imagine that being a problem but who knows.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
I was thinking if it was a bad ground it wouldn't even power on? Or could it be once it sees a signal the ground is causing it to go into protection?
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
If its a bad ground itll still power on. I had a problem with a bad ground when I got my Sundown amp. It would kick on and run fine at a low volume but as you turned it up it would start to pulse in an out with the music. Grounding causes weird stuff to happen.
Do I need to have the Aux setting turned on in my head unit? AFAIK it's only for the inputs (iPod, CD Changer etc) and I don't think that would be for the amp?
I think I'm gonna try and get a better ground for it today after work.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
No, aux would have nothing to do with it.
It's going to be ground, I can feel it
I feel so dumb having it be as simple as a ground, but I guess you can't overlook anything right...
I unplugged the subwoofer so that there was no discrepancies in the final ohm load and it's doing the same, so I'm gonna redo the ground tomorrow afternoon and see what's up.
Dan Trump
2004 Cavalier LS Sport - Victory Red
Good man. Make sure you sand the paint off the area youre going to be grounding to.
