Amp overheating

[alero168]

i have a rockford fosgate amp model 401s i think, and a fosgate sub, the amp is currently attached to the back of the sub box and usually on short trips it's fine but if i go on a usually a 2 hour or longer trip and i'm thumping the amp will overheat like crazy, too hot to touch and it will cut off and cool before it comes back on. i asked silent and oldsman about this before just wanted to konw what others think to do... also i went to best buy and asked a rep and the guy told me to get a cap.. not sure if hes mistaken or being truthful.


and oldsman i put some rubbers between the box and amp :thumbsup:

[vulgar]

the cap idea is bullpoop...they really dont do much of anything

they sell cooling fans that power off the amp and you could do that, such as what bazooka offers for their amps since they are poopish. And a cap would somewhat keep the amp from overheating but it still would in the long run. I would say to set up an amprack in your trunk so that it's off the carpet, that would keep the bottom from getting hot, and get it off the box, not a good idea.

[smokinAMD]

Fold down the rear seat and use your AC?

[BLK03GXS]

First... what ohm load are you running your amp at.. this is prolly the 1st problem... the second is what gauge of wire are you using for power & ground...
most likely some one sold you a poopty wireing kit and the amp cannot pass enuff current.. thus the overheating.. that or you have it wired with too low of an ohm load on the amp....

IF its on a long trip its prolly the wireing... maybe the ohm load but at full power amps usually dont live for an hour or so at full volume if they are loaded too low...

If you are using an appropreate size power and ground... you can move the amp offa the box.. this is good for 2 reasons, first the ammount of vibration on the amp will be less... and will stop the amp from becoming a paperweight as fast...
second, you can mount it in the darkest coolest part of your trunk... allso you can get 12volt computer type cooling fans... i had to make an amprack+cooling fans for my buddys Soundstream rubicon 502 (500watts rms at 2 ohms...) it gets hawwt.... i beleave we recorded over 60degrees celcius on some places on the heatsink (not even inside the case...)

what everyone is saying is correct, your load plays a big part, your wiring, position of amplified, and yes a capacitor could help solve it but its the not the problem, it will help the amplifier in getting power instead of it starving for some........but yea i doubt its anything to do with the amp, if you are running a 2 ohm load, in a tight spot, for a long period of time with too small of wiring.......that would definately do it.....let us all know what you are running so we can help you better

[niral622]

I agree with vulgar,
some of the people at best buy don't know what they're talking about...the other day I went and the guy was trying to tell me that I couldn't buy amplifier wire bulk b/c it would fry my car lol

but I have to say, I have a bazooka amp, the EL1500 and it's not bad, never had a problem with it overheating even in my unairconditioned car....and yes I know I could have gotten better, but I get my fair share of power from it (it claims 350rms @ 4 ohms but I think its probably 250rms, which is still plenty for me)...and the best part, I got it for $80 new

as for solving the overheating problem, fans are the way to go, if you're a showy type of person, they sell a lot of LED fans and stuff which look kind of cool...make sure that if you get more than one fan that they dont contradict each others' air flow (i.e. they push air in the same direction)

goodluck :thumbsup:

[alero168]

this is what i got:





and i do usually keep the seat down in the back on longer trips

i say save ur money and buy a digital amp..... wont over heat that.

i dunno charlie looks like ya might have the power wire to small
just a guess
do you have a good ground??

[alero168]

yeah, i think it's under the back seat

[b-spot]

The amp tilting slightly back doesn't help either.. Most amp cases are designed to let the heat travel up and out, and don't take kindly to being mounted upside down.

[alero168]

oh no it's not tilted at all it's just the angle of the shot :P

i don`t think the way the amp is installed the prob at all
iam guessin that it could be a ground prob or power wire to small
ask marc or joel they no more about audio than i would know

[BLK03GXS]

looks like you have 10 or 8 guage power and ground...
Get some 4awg, and make your ground as short as possible...
I allso agree with b'spot.... maybe mount the thing the right way, it could help

Ps its better to mount the amp n a place that ISINT the box... and if you need too run longer led's from the amp output to the subs... thats ok but keep the thing offa the box and with a short ground...

[BLK03GXS]

Ohhh allso... it says there from what i can see that the amp IS NOT 2 ohm stable in bridged mode... so if your sub is DVC 4ohm.... or if you have 2 SVC 4Ohm subs.. then your prolly runing it at 2 ohms....

4awg is overkill for 400watts.

The big thing is how the amp is wired.. liek BLK03GXS said.. if its not 2ohm stable.. which it isnt.. and ur truying to run it on 2ohms.. that would definately overheat things.

[BLK03GXS]

Not if its 400rms...

hell yeah thats overkill..

not even teh ppl that make the wire tell you to buy that big.

first of all you never are using all 400 watts, unless you have the gain on max all the time, and then you'll get clipping.

second, it depends on how long the wire is also. Unless your running into a 73 caddy, 8awg would be good for 400watts (more like 300watts) RMS.

I have a 4awg, being split down to to 8awg for a 424rms and 530rms amps (according to birth certificates)

thats about 1kw RMS and 2kw MAX. 4awg is no problem. As long as it isnt crappy wire i dont think 8awg would be an issue for anything under 500watts RMS.

[alero168]

i have no clue what you guys are talking about, can you guys explain more what's awg sorry for being such an audio n00b