Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio why do I keep bowing fuses.....

My RCAS were defective I replaced them. Now when ever i turn on my car the fuse in the pwoer wire blows. I didnt change anything around just RCAS.

Are your fuses the right amp rating for the amplifier (example: running a 20A fuse on an amp that requires a 40A fuse)

You may also have a short somewhere along the line in your power cable. does the stereo work with the car in the accesory position, or does it just pop the fuse whenever the amplifier is turned on? If you are running your power line and RCAs down the same side of the car it's possible you may have damaged the wire and it's contacting metal (grounding out) which would pop the fuse. Also make sure the wire to the amplifier is hooked up correctly. I know you said you only changed the RCAs but it's always worth looking into unexpected explanations.

Ive always used 30amp fuse i have fosgate 250 watt amp the older ones not the new looking style. yes the radio works fine on auxilarary and yes I have the rcas and power cables on different sides. My amp turns on w/ the car not the radio for some reason the remote turn on wire on my deck only puts out 3volts not 12 so its wired 2 turn on w/ the car.\

I had tgis set up wprking for months i sold my subs then i ran into thos problem. i just waab use my ap to wire up 2 speakers in the trunk.

try a 40amp fuse and go from there.

First if your amp is blowing fuses upon power up, DO NOT go to a larger fuse, you have a problem either with wiring or the amp itself. If you blow a fuse when the amp turns on, your amp could be bad. And if the amp is bad, placing a larger fuse can cause more damage to the amp. Amps blow fuses in this situation if the power supply has been damaged or you have a bad output device in the amp.

I would suspect the amp is bad because you can't have a short only when the car runs (unless your main power lead is not coming from the battery and energizes only with the car on, which is very bad)

All radios should put out 12V to the remote/power antenna lead. If its not, your radio has a problem or you were wiring it wrong.

theres something wrong w/ the radio i had the same probelm it put out 3v in my last car also. and yes the power wire is conected to the battery

I don't think there's anything wrong with the amp itself. I think it's a problem with a voltage spike from being turned on via the car's accessory switch that's blowing the fuses.

If the radio is putting out a solid 3V and you can't afford another head unit, or head unit repair, you can get a relay from Radio Shack that will turn on with 3V from the head unit to put 12V through to the amp to have a delayed turn on. That will solve the on-off-on-POP! problem when you start the car.