Hello everyone,

I had an Alpine 4 channel amp, with component speakers and a 10inch sub hooked up to it. Sometimes the audio shuts off completely for a few seconds then comes back on. When this happened, I looked at the amp and it was still on.

Does anyone know what the cause might be?

 

What head unit are you using? Is it just randomly cutting out? Does it happen on bumps? How long does it stay off?

Check all your connections. Sand your ground down again. Etc....

 

I'm using a Kenwood Double Din. It randomly cuts off, maybe twice when listening to music for a few hours. It doesn't happen on bumps, it happens completely randomly (low or loud volume). It stays off for about 3-5 seconds.

 

Hmmmmmm.

Intermittent problems are a pain. I've only had one once with my audio. Turned out to be a cracked solder joint on the board in my mids/highs amp. Luckily I'm in pretty good with the owner of the company and I traded it in for warranty/upgrade to a bigger amp.

I'd start with checking every connection making sure they are all good and clean, then whittle it down.

Do you have a friend with an amp you can borrow?

 

the AMP is protecting itself. most amps have a thermo/protection circuit that shuts the amp down for a few to cool off or for high voltage draws that it cant handle. next time this happens check the amp with your hand if you cant even touch it add a fan blowing on it. if its not hot. than get a multimeter and check the voltage while running. if it drops below 12v the amp may shut off until the charging system can catch up. if this is happening it may be time to upgrade your battery (i have an XS D1200) or do the big three upgrade. (running 0/1 or 4 gage wire from your battery to the alternator and the same size wire for grounds to the frame, body, and engine.)

 

I've never seen an amp only go into protect for 3-5 seconds though. But I've never had one go into protect from voltage, just temp.

And I've had volt drops down into the 10v range (in a chevy truck with a bigger system).

In my Z I have a napa battery under the hood (buddy owns a napa and I have lifetime warranty on it), and a Batcap 800 in the back to use as a distro block. My volts rarely drop below 14.4

 

Is your amp mounted in your glovebox? My 4 channel is... Does the same thing and when it does, the whole glovebox is easily 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the car. As the amp builds heat, the box just gets hotter because its basically sealed and insulated..... I'm fixing to either cut a hole and mount a fan in it, or move my amp. Funny because my 400 watt door amp overheats, but the 2300 watts worth of amp for my subs in the factory sub location (with no insulation and stock sub grille over them) has never overheated even once

 

I tried the amp in the glovebox thing first. Had overheating problems. lol

I traded it for a different amp, put 2 separate amps on a rack between the wall and the rear strut bar, then put my EQ, Epicenter, Relay and volt meter on a plate in the area behind the stock sub area without the sub plate there. Only the pretty panel.

No more problems.

 

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I'm stumped as well. I checked all the connections leading to the amp and everything looks good! It sounds perfect when it's playing. When the amp cuts off, the amp is warm not hot. The only reason I know it's not the head unit is because the rear speakers are still plugged in through the bose amp and they continue to play, while the front speakers and the sub (which is running off of the same amp) go silent for a few seconds.

Battery is brand new on the Z.

Could the problem be that the old factory amp is still connected? I'm thinking about unplugging the factory amp.

 

What amp are you running and what ohm loads?

 

I'm running an Alpine MRV-F300 4-channel. It's powering Polk DB6501 components and a Kicker component sub. The speakers run at 4ohms as well as the sub.

 

Everything should be fine....

Without swapping the amp out for a known good one I wouldn't know what the problem is.

 

Problem solved. The fuse in the fuse holder was loose.

Thank you guys for your help!

 

Loose connection!!!

Called it from the first post. lol

 

Haha. I was stubborn to check for loose wires because I figured I did everything correctly. Lo and behold, it was loose wires causing the problem, lol.

Thanks for your help, man!

 

Been there done that. I always hook a volt gauge to the amps + terminal so I can monitor the voltage going to my amp. Saved me once when my fuse holder under the hood melted and got mud and whatnot in it and rusted up. I was getting about 9v to the amp even though the dash said 14v.