Amp Problems

[purplesupra]

I had one of my friends hook up my subs and amp a coulpe days ago (this friend has installed many amps and subs and went to school for this) and the amp isn't getting power. We double checked every connection and checked the fuses. The amp is brand new....what else should we do before taking it to a professional shop since I am short on funds....

[Munky]

You checked the connections, but did you check to make sure they were hooked up the right way?

If you're getting power (use a continuity tester to make sure) then I would make sure you have the remote wire run correctly. Sounds like it's not getting the signal to turn on.

[rckozma]

I agree. I would check to make sure you are getting power. Check fuses, including the amp fuse. Where are you getting the remote turn on from? If from the deck make sure you are using the right connection and not the power antennae connection, those usually only work when the radio is on. Also check the fuse for the remote on the deck itself.

[bdiggy]

Solid ground?? Make sure it's connected to a clean, paint-free metal surface. Deff. get the tester on it. It will pinpoint your problem w/ a quickness.

[|2oo]

power cable, ground, remote wire

check them, check you got it hooked up to the headunit correctly

[kylemorg]

Do you have a multimeter / volt meter? You can get one pretty cheap at Radio Shack.

Check the power + line at the amp to ground - (any exposed metal part of the chassis). Make sure you've got continuity from the - connection on the amp to the chassis.

If you get ~11.5 (engine not running) to 14.4 volts (engine running) there and a good ground measurement, then try temporarily hooking a wire from the power + input to the amp to the remote + turn on for the amp. The amp should then turn on. If not, then the amp is bad.

[atlwteboy240]

well he said his buddy has went to school for this so im pretty sure he knows everything you just told him....

if he went to school for it and still no power the amp could be no good. what kind of amp is it? i would take it back where you bought it and have them test it to see if it is good or not.

[kylemorg]

well he said his buddy has went to school for this so im pretty sure he knows everything you just told him.....

That's quite an assumption. No offense to the buddy, but just 'cause he went to school for electronics doesn't necessarily mean that he knows anything about electrical work. By comparison I know plenty of people who went to school for "computer network management" that don't know even how to manually set an IP address in Windows!

He may be a genius, don't get me wrong. But if so, then I don't see how this problem continued to this point...

And your suggestion was such a big help, wasn't it?

[atlwteboy240]

I had one of my friends hook up my subs and amp a coulpe days ago (this friend has installed many amps and subs and went to school for this) and the amp isn't getting power. We double checked every connection and checked the fuses. The amp is brand new....what else should we do before taking it to a professional shop since I am short on funds....

well if you look he said he went to school for this!!!!! so pay attention buddy... and second of all if his friend knows and still having this proublem thats why i told him to take the amp to the place he bough it from...

your trying to get him to test with a multimeter and all the other stuff. he already said he checked and double checked everything. so after all that the easyest way is to simply take it to the store where he bought it and have them test or exchange it....

[Munky]

That's quite an assumption. No offense to the buddy, but just 'cause he went to school for electronics doesn't necessarily mean that he knows anything about electrical work. By comparison I know plenty of people who went to school for "computer network management" that don't know even how to manually set an IP address in Windows!

110% correct. Just because he went to school for it, doesn't mean jack ****.

Is the setup working? No? Then he obviously isn't as good as he says.

your trying to get him to test with a multimeter and all the other stuff. he already said he checked and double checked everything. so after all that the easyest way is to simply take it to the store where he bought it and have them test or exchange it....

He never once said he tested it with a voltmeter/continuity tester, this was his exact wording:

We double checked every connection and checked the fuses. The amp is brand new....

Checking connections and fuses are visual, nothing more. The correct..and professional...way to check everything (as his "all knowing" stereo buddy should have known) would be to check the continuity of every single connection, including the fuse block.

[atlwteboy240]

ok but if he checked all the connections more that once that what does that tell you ??????? BAD AMP!!!!!!! theres no need for a volt meter...

and as for saying just because he went to school for it dosent meak jack ****. thats like saying some one went to automotive school and cant change oil. that just made you look like a jack ***.

[TDO]

ok but if he checked all the connections more that once that what does that tell you ??????? BAD AMP!!!!!!! theres no need for a volt meter...

and as for saying just because he went to school for it dosent meak jack ****. thats like saying some one went to automotive school and cant change oil. that just made you look like a jack ***.

Lol, I think you should give it up already. Checking with a voltmeter will take a couple minutes tops. Not to mention I guarantee if he takes it to a shop one of the first things they will do is check it with a voltmeter.

[Munky]

ok but if he checked all the connections more that once that what does that tell you ??????? BAD AMP!!!!!!! theres no need for a volt meter...

Again, he said he checked the connections, but did not use a volt meter.

So, what does that tell you? He either VISUALLY inspected them, or tugged on them to make sure they were secure. That's about all you can do without the proper equipment.

A voltmeter/continuity tester will guarantee connections, not only with 100% accuracy, but like TDO said, it's a lot faster AND easier.

and as for saying just because he went to school for it dosent meak jack ****. thats like saying some one went to automotive school and cant change oil. that just made you look like a jack ***.

You continue to go on and on about something you obviously don't know enough about to understand what we're trying to say.

Who is the one looking like a jackass?;)

[kylemorg]

... (the buddy) may be a genius, don't get me wrong. But if so, then I don't see how this problem continued to this point...
Did you miss this part, atlwteboy?

I'm not trying to start a fight with you. All I was saying is that I figured they'd already thought of taking the amp back. We were asked to provide help in ways they might not have tried yet. That's what I was doing.

[bdiggy]

Here's a gnarly idea. Wait till the solution is posted and then fight about this stuff. Man, you 're getting all heated over a post on a computer site. It's almost.............pathetic!!

[TDO]

car site

There we go! ;) just givin you some crap since there isnt enough crap givin in this thread already :P

[rckozma]

I will add that I have had a fuse fail, where it 'looked' good but the connection on the end cap was broken. After checking it with a voltmeter I found the problem. So again, the first step should be check it with a voltmeter.

Another thing you can do is take the amp out of the car get some wires about 2 foot long, take the amp to the battery and connect the positive and remote to the positive of the battery and the ground to a ground, this will at least tell you if the amp turns on and should take all of about 2 minutes.

[Munky]

Another thing you can do is take the amp out of the car get some wires about 2 foot long, take the amp to the battery and connect the positive and remote to the positive of the battery and the ground to a ground, this will at least tell you if the amp turns on and should take all of about 2 minutes.

Didn't even think of that, good call.

[rckozma]

Didn't even think of that, good call.

I do have my moments, they are few and far in between, but sometimes....

[bdiggy]

I do have my moments, they are few and far in between, but sometimes....
Sometimes they are the moments that make others want to kick themselves in the a**! Nice call indeed.

[Ugzz]

I love the fact there was an argument about this topic and purplesupra wasnt even involved..

lets keep it on topic, thanks rckozma for getting us back on track :D

[|2oo]

ok but if he checked all the connections more that once that what does that tell you ??????? BAD AMP!!!!!!! theres no need for a volt meter...

thats is one of the funniest things i have heard, what if the remote wire is just grounded on the way to the boot you can check to see that the connect on the headunit it fine and on the amp but it still wont work. he said its not getting power so this means there is no power getting to the amp. a blown amp will still power up but will go straight into protect. if your buddy was a pro then he should know the most have tool when hooking up a stero is a dmm.

if your poor jsut use a test light see if the amp is geting power by putting one lead on the + of the amp and the other lead on the - if your using a multimeter it should show 12.5 volts car off and around 13.8 car on, if your using test light it will just light up so it you get light or a volt reading your power and ground is sweet

so then you check remote wire leave one lead on the - then put the other on the + , then turn on headunit if it lights up or shows a reading then you remote wire is good then i would start thinking the amp is gones ( then go to shop and say this amp has had too much sexy time and needs to be fixed/replaced)

[Ugzz]

its been a while.. guess you either got it figured out or just dont care anymore..

[bdiggy]

its been a while.. guess you either got it figured out or just dont care anymore..
Maybe just started it and hoped people would keep the argument going for sheer entertainment purposes.:tongue: