Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio cooling down an amp

I just installed an amp and a sub in my 'tour, and it sounds great. The problem is, it cuts out after a short time because it overheats, then comes back on again in a minute. I was wondering if anyone has taken measures to correct this with perhaps a custom enclosure with fans in it, maybe even computer fans? Any info would be great.

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AJ M.
Mmies8646@rowan.edu
take away capital M above for email
http://elvis.rowan.edu/mieskola

MODS:
Cerwin-Vega Door Speakers
JVC CD Head Unit
JBL GTQ220 Amplifier
Sony 2540 Amplifier
Kenwood 8" Dual Voice Coil Sunwoofer
JL Audio 8W3 Dual Voice Coil Subwoofer

Where/how do you have the amp mounted, what kind is it, and how do you have it wired up? I've got a pair of RF's mounted in a custom rack in my trunk, and they have never cut out on me.

i would check the wiring and make sure you're not running the amp too hot by running a load lower than it can handle. my amp is in the trunk and even on the hottest days, i never get sound cutting in and out. only once, when i ran my subs in parallel (2 ohms) for along period did the circuit breaker trip.

still with a 4 ohm load if you're unsure.

hmmm, makes me wonder. I am running a sony 2540 amp (temporarily). I have it bridged to 2 channels so it is putting out 50 watts by 2 channels. I have these two channels going into a JL Audio 8w3d4 sub. The recommended power for this sub is 50-125 into each channel. I do have another amp, a jbl gtq220, which when bridged to 2 channels puts out 100x2. Could my sony amp be bad? I doubt I am putting too much of a load on it.

to clarify, i am going to replace the sony with the jbl, the jbl is not installed yet.

if the sub is a DVC configuration and you're running one channel to one coil and the other channel to the other coil, you should be fine as long as your amp is bridged properly. not to sound condescending, but are you sure your sony amp can be bridged? some cannot, and doing so could stress the power supply.

i suppose, replace the amp. if it works, then you know there is something wrong with the old amp. sorry i can't be much more help than that.

good luck!


oh....alternatively, try running the sony without bridging it. just run channel 1 and 2 and leave 3 and 4 open. you'll run less power, and the amo might clip, but it definitely shouldn't short out.

[This message has been edited by baco99 (edited August 24, 2000).]

no, the sony amp can be bridged to 2 channels. I dont know what the cause of that problem was. I replaced it today with the jbl amp, and so far so good. Twice as much power, and it doesn't short out. I am starting to think that maybe 2 12's rather than one 8 would be more suffice. While the 8 is top of the line(JL Audio 8W4D4 $139.00), i think that perhaps 2 12" rockford fosgates from best buy for $64.99 each would be better. What do you all think?

AJ

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AJ M.
Mmies8646@rowan.edu
take away capital M above for email
http://elvis.rowan.edu/mieskola

MODS:
Cerwin-Vega Door Speakers
JVC CD Head Unit
JBL GTQ220 Amplifier
Sony 2540 Amplifier
Kenwood 8" Dual Voice Coil Sunwoofer
JL Audio 8W3 Dual Voice Coil Subwoofer

hey I got a question of ya how many channels is the sony amp and is it a new one if it is and you dont have a further use for it I would like to know the price you would be gettin rid of it. My system sounds like crap right now cuz I believed for some reason to take out the factory amp to get better sound(dont know where i got that idea from?) But know Im in the market for a 4 channel amp and i like sonys
kenwood elexon headunit/tape 44x4
kenwood in dash cd player
kicker 6X8(back doors
lanzar compoet (front doors
kicker tweets
2 sony xplod 12s in a bandpass
lanzar vibe 240(600 watt
lighnin 1 farid cap

This is the deal. I have 3 amps running in my trunk. I live in Las Vegas, so it gets hotter than you know where here too, and I had the same problem with my amps. They were getting too hot and overheating. This is what I did and it worked really well. I went to Radio Shack and got some big 12volt fans. They're black and stuff like that, you can't miss them. Then I just hooked them into the amps' power supply. They say you can hook the + into the remote start so they start and stop, but that made my amps make funny noises. So I just hooked them up to the regular + and -. Give that a try and see if it works. The only time they have ever cut out on me after that was when I had the bass running real high and had been driving home from Cali in the heat. It still took it about 3 hours.

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'96 Zetech
Limo Tint
1000Watt System

If you have noise bleeding trough from your fan you need to get relay. The relay you need has five pins on it numbered 30, 85, 86, 87 and 87A. You will only be using the first four pins. 87A will not be used so I suggest capping it off with heat shrink tubing. The remote wire from the HU goes to 85. Connect the negative wire from the fan to 86 and connect 86 to ground. Run a remote to each amp, tie them together with the fan positive wire and connect to 30. Run a fused 12v constant (Use a 0.5 or 1 amp inline fuse) to 87 and connect a diode (1N4002 or equiv.) between 85 and 86 to prevent inductive kickback from the relay. This way the HU will turn on your amp(s) and fan when it turns on. You can get fancier and add switches and thermal sensors but give this a try first. Good luck.

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Mark Niedermier
1999 SVT T-Red
KKM/Eibach/B&M/no res.