Well after wiring the subs down to 2ohm each (Alpine Type Rs) i went through a TON of fuses... everytime i would turn them up whatsoever it would blow one. So i decided to wire them back to 4ohms i know im underpowering them but until i get the situation fixed i've got no other choice. Anyway, now when i turn the subwoofer volume up past 0 and keep the volume anywhere above 30 (goes to 35) it blows a fuse. the volts go from 12.4 down to 10. something then the fuse goes. i switch it over to see what kind of amps are going through it and it was getting close to 25 then whenever it would hit 30 the fuse would go... I've got 4 gauge power and ground wire with 12 gauge speaker wire on them... i double checked all the connections.... i can't figure out why im blowing fuses..... i double checked the ground, even resanded to make sure it was clean.
does anyone have any suggestions on what could be wrong? i am thinking of putting another battery in to get rid of the voltage drop but even with that i doubt that would fix it from blowing fuses...
thanks in advance,



2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

What amp, gauge power wire, and fuse rating? And are they blowing on the amp or the inline fuse. From what i read it sound like there blowing on the amp

Kenwood Kac X812D amp, 4 gauge power wire, 30A fuse rating and its blowing one of the 2 that are on the amp.


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

are you sure they are wired to4 ohms? changing your battery probably wont help, I'm not trying to insult you but you may have wired the subs wrong and if you didnt then the amp might be bad.

yeah i thought the same thing (Wired up wrong) because it worked when i had them like this the last time... but i double checked those too.... they're hooked up JUST like the instructions say... (says would be 8ohm if in series or 4ohm in paralel (sp?)) i've got them in paralel


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

Do you have a dvom? if you got them parallel them thats your problem.....with a meter you could definately know what is going on....what you need to do is wire them in series, then bridge them to the amp and you got your 4 ohms....each one alone will be at 8 ohms.

you have 2 subs, and they're dual 4 ohm or dual 2 ohm?

its either wiring issue or the amp is just having problems. if it was working like this fine before and you have checked all your wiring and your positive its not your wirig its likely the amp.


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yeah they're the dual 4ohm subs and they are wired at 8ohm each, i tried them in both series and paralel. im going to take them out again tonight to make sure i've got them wired right... and no i dont have a dvom. i'm not sure the amp is capable of being bridged i was looking to find the specs on it but couldn't find anywhere that says it was bridgeable.


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

i had a sony amp that would do that. i just ended up getting a differnt and better one.
i would suggest trying to bridge them then splitt the signal at the teminal to the speakers. maby put in some 40amp fuses (allthough that may allow the amp to be damaged).

But if i bridge them wouldn't it be creating more power for the amp? so it'd blow fuses quicker?


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

and im pretty sure the amp im using can't be bridged.


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

you dont have to bridge it on the amp...you "bridge" the speakers...in other words since they each are 8 ohms, when you put both +'s & -'s leads from the subs together you get 4 ohms....then you just hook em up to the amp(not necessarily bridged)

that would be the same as running them in parallel isn't it?


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe

no, because you wire them in series then you put em parallel "bridged". In series each sub is 8 ohms. If they were in parallel each sub would be at 2 ohms....meaning when you "bridge" them it will be 1 ohm....See when they are 8 ohms ( in series) and you "bridged" them you get 4 ohms.....the magic number!

illdwes, what you're calling bridged is actually "series parallel" (see this link) . Bridged is indeed something you do to the amp. It lets you use the 2 single channels as one channel with more power (look here). Here is another more technical explanation of bridging.

my friend had the same amp and it had a internal short matbe yours has the same?

well if you read my post thats what i said....."no, because you wire them in series then you put em parallel"....see what i said...plus the words "bridged" were in quotes for a reason.....i was trying to make it easier for him to understand cuz he obviously didnt get it..(no offense stitch) so plz i know what im talking about other wise i wouldnt have responded to his post.....

Maybe you do know what you're talking about, but bridging is a term that shouldn't be used to describe speaker wiring configurations. Your posts make bridge seem synonymous with parallel which is wrong.



Stitch, why don't you narrow down what's causing the problem by hooking up 1 speaker to 1 channel and see if it still blows fuses. Now hook that speaker up to the other channel and do the same. If the fuse blows in each channel try a different speaker. If it still blows, your amp is probably bad.

Labotomi wrote:Stitch, why don't you narrow down what's causing the problem by hooking up 1 speaker to 1 channel and see if it still blows fuses. Now hook that speaker up to the other channel and do the same. If the fuse blows in each channel try a different speaker. If it still blows, your amp is probably bad.

I hope he doesnt have the same type of fuse I have. That would be an expensive test for me at 12$ a pop (literally) lol.

SEC-Z wrote:

Labotomi wrote:Stitch, why don't you narrow down what's causing the problem by hooking up 1 speaker to 1 channel and see if it still blows fuses. Now hook that speaker up to the other channel and do the same. If the fuse blows in each channel try a different speaker. If it still blows, your amp is probably bad.

I hope he doesnt have the same type of fuse I have. That would be an expensive test for me at 12$ a pop (literally) lol.

Well, unless he gains some basic electrical troubleshooting knowlege, this is the easiest way.

SEC-Z wrote:

Labotomi wrote:Stitch, why don't you narrow down what's causing the problem by hooking up 1 speaker to 1 channel and see if it still blows fuses. Now hook that speaker up to the other channel and do the same. If the fuse blows in each channel try a different speaker. If it still blows, your amp is probably bad.

I hope he doesnt have the same type of fuse I have. That would be an expensive test for me at 12$ a pop (literally) lol.

I dunno where you buy your fuses, but you're getting raped dude!!


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I understand what you're talking about when you say try with one channel then same speaker with other channel then do the same with the other speaker to make sure its not one of the speakers an not the amp. Im going to try this when i get my car back from work (the cat plugged up on me on the way to work, almost didn't make it lol) so i left it there until the new ones comes and i throw it on. If it still blows on both speakers il assume its the amp and i'l take a trip over to the place i bought it.
Thanks, and by the way im just buying OEM 30a fuses they come in a pack of 5 or and they are 2.99


2003 White Cavalier LS Sport Coupe