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Amp popped and started smoking......

19K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  chaos GT 
#1 ·
so i realize i am getting no bass at all except for the stock speakers...and i check my setup, im running an MTX thunder 8302 amp, and a 10" sony xplod P5...so i stop, open the trunk thinkin maybe i knocked a wire loose or something throwin **** into my trunk and all are connected, so i check the fuses...both are popped, so i wait till i get home, replace the fuses and double check my ground wire...there was a little paint there, so i sanded it back to bare metal, replaced the fuses, and turn on my car, only to hear the sub pop cause of a dramatic vlume change (from kinda loud to nothing)and i see my amp start glowing fromthe inside and smoking...so i pull all the wires as fast as i can, bring the amp to the house (its fuggin cold) and dissect it...but nothing is showing up as burnt on the board...is the amp toast? or should i put a stronger than 30 amp fuse in it even tho thats what is calls for...and where do you guys have your ground wires? thanks in advance!!
 
#2 ·
Don't put in a larger fuse. If the fuse popping is in the amp itself (opposed to the fuse on you 12v+ line) putting more power to the amp is not going to fix anything, but making a fire faster. Sounds like it's fryed to me.

A good ground (sedan) is the bolt for the backseats that is located in the center of the back of the trunk. It can be seen when you fold the seats down.
 
#4 · (Edited)
they don't call them xplod for nothin, haha.

i think your xplod xploded. seriously. i think you probably melted the voice coil, which will essentially short circuit your amp. that's why the fuses blew. and as hyunelan said, never replace fuses with higher rated ones. they blew for a reason, and that was to protect the amp from a complete meltdown. as it is, it may have already done so.

take an ohm-meter and test the resistance across the pos and neg terminals of the sub (with it diconnected from the amp). you should normally read anywhere from 2-4 ohms, depending on the ohm rating of the sub. if you read close to zero, it means the voice coil has definitely melted. if that's the case, it's toast... trash it.

just remember that ANYTIME an amp fuse blows, it may mean that the speaker has melted and shortcircuited.

now, the reason this happened? that is a topic for a different discussion.
 
#7 ·
yeah...so an update on the amp situation, i tried to replace the fuses and they try to arc when i connect them, i had the amp apart but could not see any damages to the capacitors, resistors, or circuitry itself, and i pulled the sub out of the boox and it looked good as well...right now i got a bid in for the same amp that i have now cuz i love it...but if anyone close wants to help out, lemme know...
 
#11 ·
You made sure it was the amp and not the sub right? I was puzzled when I saw this thread today. I sold that sub to you practically new. Anyways, I hope it goes well for you. I looked up the specs on that amp and it is a perfect union/marriage for that sub. How did it sound when it was all working? Because you were feeding it about 100 more watts of power than I was.
 
#12 ·
it sounded great...better than the 2 12's hooked up to it proir...the sub looks good, i pulled it out of the box and made sure the wires were right and even put new wires on it, so im thinkin its something goin on with the amp...i got one im watching on ebay and when it gets to about 2 minutes im gonna pounce on it and put the other up as parts or somethin...
 
#13 ·
try this, this is a way to see if the sub is fried. get a 9volt battery..the small rectangle ones that you used to touch your tounge to and get a buzzing sensation. lol
anyway, hook up the + from the sub to the + of the battery, then the - of the sub to the - of the battery, it should humm. if not its blown also. and just because the amp does not smell, doesnt mean its not blown. i fried my deck, sub amp, component amp, and all 6 channels of rca wires (dont ask). i fried the rca imputs on both amps cause of a voltage spike.

and listen to southpaw, and hyun. do not put a larger fuse in, or your asking for a fire.
 
#14 ·
i wasnt gonna try a larger fuse...i found that out the hard way with the mustang i had and the foglight wiring caught fire...:( ill try thr battery when i get home as i am still at work and dont have a battery here...i appreciate all the help guys, and im hoping to fix this soon
 
#17 ·
2loud2k2xd said:
ps.. dont forget to touch your tounge to the battery posts. bring back some memories when you were a kid...... or was it just me who did it? lol
Nope, did it all the time as well. Never learned my lesson.

I was changing one at work the other day from a smoke detector, and I was still very tempted, even knowing exactly what would happen.
 
#18 ·
so i did the 9volt test...the sub made a crinkly sound...not a hum...:( and i replaced the fuses in the amp and it still smokes and the LED for the power doesnt come on anymore (im not sure if it has to have subs hooked to it or not for it to come on) so i think that both took a **** on me...but when i had power to the amp the fuses didnt blow...so i dont know if it smoking means its fried...and the sub went with it...or if it was the other way around, but im not too happy now cause it sounded so good, and the last time it was hittin was when i was at bogies house...and on the way home from there at white castles...other than that the head unit was turned down to like 2 cause i was on the phone with scott most of the way home...what could have caused this to just happen like it did...this is the first time ive had any subs or amps so this is a first time thing for me
 
#19 ·
so just out of a hunch, i hook my sub up to my little radio in my shed, it still plays, but the louder i'd turn the radio up, the more and more it sounds like the seaker is popped...and with the 9volt batt...im not even sure how that would really work, because the sub picks up audio waves, not voltage...
 
#20 ·
audio waves really are just ac voltages though. the 9v battery is dc and so what happens when hooked up to a speaker is that the cone should push all the way out (or suck in if you hook it up backwards) and stay there until you remove the battery. i've done this on a few different subs and it's very clear whether or not its working. the cone moves from it's resting position and there's usually a clicking noise or something similar.
 
#23 · (Edited)
i guess no one here likes to use proper test tools like an ohm meter, which would tell ou conclusively whether you fried your voice coil.

i wonder why i bother to contribute here if no one takes my advice.

if you don't have an ohm meter, you can just take your sub to any nearby installation shop and ask them to test it; it should take them 10 seconds and they shouldn't charge you. seems like a lot less effort than to keep coming back onto the boards with all this time consuming trial and error.
 
#24 ·
southpaw, im not discarding your advice, i just havent had time to go somewhere an test it, since im off tomorrow, im going to go to the audio shop down the street from me and see if they can test it..sorry if it seemed like i was blowing your advice off...i was trying out too many "home remedies"
 
#26 ·
it does suck, but these problems can be prevented by properly matching your sub and amp setup and adjusting levels such that neither are being over-worked. if either an amp or a speaker is overworked, it will cause problems. and one can destroy the other; i.e., a bad speaker can fry an amp, and vice versa.

make sure the sub is rated to handle the output of the amp, and also make sure not to cause the amp to overpower itself. as the volume goes up, as soon as the sound is not 100% crystal clear, you know something somewhere is being pushed too hard.
 
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