Amplifier help?

[unfocus]

So when i bought this eclipse the guy said I needed a new amplifier, I never bothered to get on and just left this one here.

Its a clarion amp with 2 clarion subwoofers. just for chits my dad and I decided to connect everything again, of course the amp didn't turn on so we just left it. I drove later the night and when I got to the mall I heard this loud thud in the trunk.

The amp power light would flash on, then off. Then I blasted my radio and it stayed on. watched a movie came back and the amp was still working.

This morning woke up turned on the car and the amp won't turn on. It just flashes like it did before but now it just goes back to being off.

Any ideas? Was I just lucky i got the broken amp to work for a little? Or is it not actually broken?

 

[FalleN4ng31]

I'd start by checking all the wiring; It certainly could be a bad ground or a short or break in the remote turn-on lead. It could also be overheating, causing the thermal shutdown to activate. (I don't know if yours has this feature, but many do.)

 

[ohlegend]

Check all of the connections and make sure nothing is loose. Make sure your amp has a good ground connection. When I had a system, i would alwasy make sure my grounds were touching bare metal and not paint.

Also check fuses and make sure they are properly seated

 

[kchaazz]

Yup, sounds like a loose/ bad ground to me. is the amp solidly mounted, or just flopping around back there? If the latter is true, that thud you heard was likely the amp shifting around and temporarily re- establishing a connection

 

[DJ Raydiate]

The first thing I would do is take the amp and box out and hook it up directly to the battery with an in line fuse. You can hook up you phone or any other audio device to the amp via rca cables (just for testing purposes) By doing this, you are testing the amp in question it's self. If it works doing it this way then you know the amp is good and you need to look into the wiring.

The best way to look into the wiring would be to start at the amp and work your way up front. You are going to want to expose all of the wiring to check for breaks/shorts.

To be honest, if the amp turns out to be good, I would just rip all of the wiring out and start fresh. Be sure to check the rca/line levels.

 

[unfocus]

Well I haven't done any of what you guys have said because a little lazy and not having enough time but.

I just noticed something weird, when I start the car up in the morning or first time in the day, the amp doesn't work, but hours later or so the amp will work when I decided to drive and go out.

 

[AWDforthewin]

Well I haven't done any of what you guys have said because a little lazy and not having enough time but. I just noticed something weird, when I start the car up in the morning or first time in the day, the amp doesn't work, but hours later or so the amp will work when I decided to drive and go out.

Have you checked the amp fuse itself? Assuming yours has one? And are the subs and amp properly sized if one or the other it I big or small it can case your amp to go into "protect" mode and flash on an off until it feels the levels are at safe operation levels again? But do check the ground and connect to hate metal not paint!

 

[dsmvenge]

I had this problem before with an amp. Take the cover off and check the inside for melted caps or, burnt smelling componets. I had the amp working then it burst into flames in my trunk.

 

[2g_white_gst_95]

I would start by checking the ground and the power wire to make sure they're connected properly. After that I'll check the remote wire which should be a blue wire coming out of the back of your stereo, this wire to the amp tells it went to come on. If all three of those wires are connected properly .it could be that the speakers are wired into heavy of a load for the amplifier and that is causing it to shut down into thermal protection.

 

[AWDforthewin]

I would start by checking the ground and the power wire to make sure they're connected properly. After that I'll check the remote wire which should be a blue wire coming out of the back of your stereo, this wire to the amp tells it went to come on. If all three of those wires are connected properly .it could be that the speakers are wired into heavy of a load for the amplifier and that is causing it to shut down into thermal protection.

X2 on the remote line! Causes me non stop problems or a long time until I re wired it it was pinched begin my stereo and losing connection!