Audio Help Please!!!!!

cliffordwoeller · 06-02-2008, 04:42 PM

Ok so I am having some serious audio issues.

This is what I have installed I have 1 12" rockford fosgate p3 subwoofer one 12" mtx thunder6000 subwoofer powered by a 900 watt rockford fosgate amp. a jvc head unit with a jvc ipod module running to the back of the head unit. oh and a 700wat rockford fosgate amp for the highs ( which they are blown right now and so therefore the highs or amp doesnt really do anything.) okand heres how i have everything wired up or set up.

starting at the battery I have 8gauge wire and right before the power wire enters through the firewall I have a block fuse and then the power wire continues to the rear of the car under the back seat inbetween the seats and behind the rear seat is a rockford fosgate distrubution block deal thing. basically its a block where the 8ga power wire runs in and on the other side is 4 ports where i have 4 different power wires running to both amps ands a three way crossover. the 700watt amp has two power wires going to it and two grounds that are grounded underneath the rear seats. and the 900watt amp has one power wire and also grounded underneath the rear seat. All power for the amps are 4 gauge wires but on the 900 watt amp the ground is an eight gauge thats grounded under the rear seat.the three way crossover about 16ish maybe 14ish for a power wire and same size for a ground and believe its also grounded under the seat....now the problem that has just started....

saturday after everything has been installed for the last few weeks the subs stop working. I try to figure it out and discover the fuse in the fuse block in the engine bay is blown ok so i change it and as soon i I start the car and the audio starts it blows that fuse... it sparks a lil in the fuse block for a half a second and thats when i could see the fuse blew and pulled it out and on one end of the power wire where the fuse block meets the power wire i could tell it had arched or something cause the inside of that part that the fuse sits in had a small spot that was black like it had arched or burnt there or something.... so i go to auto zone get 2 40 amp fuses and immediately blow them then get a 50 amp and blow that... the auto zone guy say thats it could be a short, a bad ground, or maybe the amp needs to go directly to the negative post on the battery as opposed to grounding it at the frame... so today i check everything and pull the head unit out to look at it and inspect everything and nothing looks out of the ordinary so i decide to unplug all the rca cables from the three way cross over so basically nothing like the amp subs or anything else would be gettin power remove the face plate from my head unit and put my last 50 amp fuse in the power block turn the car on but since the face plate wasnt on the radio or anything else wasnt on didnt blow the fuse...as soon as i replace the face plate the fuse blows....... hmmm i am out of ideas...any one have an idea why it could be doing it ?

AGT · 06-02-2008, 04:56 PM

Do you have either the fuse block or the distribution block screwed down or touching metal?

and if you pull RCAs it won't take the power away from them just the signal.

AGT · 06-02-2008, 04:57 PM

Is the ground mounted on a well cleaned surface. Where is it?

cliffordwoeller · 06-02-2008, 05:16 PM

the grounds for the amps are all screwed into the fram underneath the rear seat and yes they are clean i mean i wiped them down before i screwed them into the frames... the distribution block and the fuse block are all enclosed in a hard plastic shell like thing so no metal is touching metal. I think what i am gonna do is when i get back home take pictures of everything and post them and see if that helps a lil bit

lonnie · 06-02-2008, 06:04 PM

The pics will help a whole lot but there has to be a short somewhere cause you are blowing a 50amp fuse...thats alot of current. Also if it is fused at 40 amps and it blows then putting a 50amp fuse in there will likely damage what ever it is hooked to. The fuse is there to protect the equipment now if you are putting bigger fuses in there then you are going to burn something up If you haven't already.

Just from what you wrote you should try to isolate each piece of equpment from the other and power up seperately, this will tell you if they all work individually, if they all power up then I would add one at a time until the fuse blows with the proper fuse being in there of course, that should tell you which component is causing the problem. Note: I would take them off of the power distrubution block and run striaght to the battery if you can, at least just to test it.

Ryan from Ohio · 06-02-2008, 06:14 PM

Quote:

This is what I have installed I have 1 12" rockford fosgate p3 subwoofer one 12" mtx thunder6000 subwoofer powered by a 900 watt rockford fosgate amp.

Ok theres the first problem. You cant wire two different subwoofers in parallel or to a mono amplifier.

Next is you need to add up your fuses on your amplifiers. Eventhough the one amp isnt in use, it still draws current. So either pull the fuse, or fuse accordingly on your power wire.

Next your ground. When its asked if your ground is clean, he wasnt talking about dirt. It needs to be clean bare metal, not over paint.

If your ground is clean, your amps are fused properly- and its still blowing fuses you have a bad amp. its that simple.

cliffordwoeller · 06-02-2008, 07:08 PM

ok on a foot note before reading this I tried something else. I took the fuse out of the 3-way , disconnected the remote wire from the 900 watt amp and replaced the fuse and started the car and blew the fuse again...so i feel like i am either gonna have to pull all my wires out and and inspect them very closely for any exposed wires and i guess get some one that knows electronics to help me install everything. if you have any ideas what i should do i am always up for comments or your ideas

cherrington17 · 06-02-2008, 07:19 PM

[quote=lonnie;361170]The pics will help a whole lot but there has to be a short somewhere cause you are blowing a 50amp fuse...thats alot of current. Also if it is fused at 40 amps and it blows then putting a 50amp fuse in there will likely damage what ever it is hooked to. The fuse is there to protect the equipment now if you are putting bigger fuses in there then you are going to burn something up If you haven't already.
/quote]

which reminds me... when i was doing my wiring, i accidentally let my active powerwire touch one of the bolts holding my amp wall up, and it "arc welded" the threads together with explosion of sparks.

... its fused at 60A (the one it came with) and it didn't blow that fuse.

... just as an FYI of the amount of power here....

cliffordwoeller · 06-02-2008, 07:25 PM

so it sounds like uninstalling everything and inspecting the wiring is a good idea when i get ready to install everything maybe someone can draw up a wiring diagram for me, if i provide all the componets and everything thats gonna be in the car. And if your not a member i will buy you your membership for taking the time to help me

Ryan from Ohio · 06-02-2008, 07:58 PM

Ok.. you need to get a bit more specific and a bit more accurate.

What 3 way?

Why just the fuse on one amp and jsut the remote on the other?

Pull both fuses from both amps. Replace fuse thats blowing up front.

If it blows right off the bat as soo as you put it in (Dont have to start the car or anything, just put it in BOOM). Then your power wire is shorted out.

If it doesnt blow.

Put the fuse in the 900watt amp. if it blows, that amp is junk. If it doesnt blow leave the fuse in. Put the fuse in the other amp. if it blows, that amp is junk.

If it doesnt blow... Then you have a real strange issue, take it to the shop.

cliffordwoeller · 06-02-2008, 08:13 PM

I am almost 95% sure my amps arent junk because I just bought them and the only way they are is if i wired them wrong and messed them up that way give me til tomorrow night and I will have pics up of all the wiring and the rest of the set up

Ryan from Ohio · 06-03-2008, 06:57 AM

Trust me brand new stuff blows also... lol. Ive seen people blow subs in minutes, amps in days... It happens and it happens all the time.

Just follow my simple easy directions and you will have your answer. No need for pics.

cliffordwoeller · 06-03-2008, 10:01 AM

ok thanks Ryan I appreciate it

cherrington17 · 06-03-2008, 10:02 AM

electronics are like goldfish. they may seem perfectly good at first, but then will be dead the next morning for no rhyme or reason.

cliffordwoeller · 06-03-2008, 10:28 AM

well i hope nothing is dead that would suck cause yeah it woud take while to replace everything

cherrington17 · 06-03-2008, 10:29 AM

if you just got it, it should be covered under warrenty.. unless your buying from friends, and whatnot...

cliffordwoeller · 06-03-2008, 10:30 AM

hmmm no i buy from retailers

cherrington17 · 06-03-2008, 10:40 AM

then if its dead, its covered, if you got it recently. no big deal there.