OVER CURRENT PROBLEM...help please

[89AcCOrDmike]

okay i have an 800 watt sony amp running two rockford 12's, and my subs were hitting beautifully the first two days i had them in, then today my over current light kept coming on....what did i do? and what does that light mean? and how can i fix what i've dicked up?:wave: thanks!

[PogiLXI]

Over current, I think means. Its Over heating. Where is it sitting???? how many ohms are each speeker? to Low of an ohm load will get ur Amp REALLY hot, if it doesnt run that low. Does it Shut off when you Bang it in the morning? or does it take a little while???

[89AcCOrDmike]

well it was only running off of half of my amp, so i switched it to the full amp and bridged it, my amp is on the back of my box and most of the time is wedged between the seat and my box, ( i should probably move it or drive with the seat back down) but it has never done this in the last two days, just at around lunch time today it cut out, but its been pretty hot before

[89AcCOrDmike]

ok i just turned it up and right when it is about to hit a hard bass part it just shuts off.......its really startin to irritate me, it worked fine yesterday, and now this....the amp is not hot at all, and all the wiring is secure...i don't get it

[89AcCOrDmike]

could the problem be one of my subs is not hooked up because it came disconnected so i'm trying to push too much power into the subs to make up for the difference?

[Nate2310]

it could be your ground

[PogiLXI]

nah, pushing to much power to a Sub will blow the Sub, not the AMP. yah, Check ur ground. ur Ground wire should be Attached to a Thick peace of the Chassie. Seat Belt Bolt Works good. Also the Ground Wire should be AT LEAST the same Gauge as the power wire, or bigger. Ground is VERY important. How many Ohms are ur speekers?

[89AcCOrDmike]

well my ground has been working fine for the last few days, so it shouldn't be that, but i'll double check to make sure its firm, and i'll check the ohm on the speakers

[PogiLXI]

where is it attached??? is it a brand new amp???

[89AcCOrDmike]

no its not a brand new amp, and its drilled into a sanded down part of my trunk

[PogiLXI]

how is it Attached? what part of the Trunk? Just currious. The amp might be blown, not to scare you.

[89AcCOrDmike]

i have a steel screw holding it down to the chassie of the trunk..and if the amp is blown, oh well, its about time to get a new system anyway...

[PogiLXI]

yah, What size is ur power Wire, and Ground wire?

[89AcCOrDmike]

well from battery to my splitter is 4gauge and then 8gauge to the amp, then its 8 gauge to ground

[PogiLXI]

oooooo, I dont know about that. You might wana try putting 4 Guage for the ground. Why didnt you Run 4 all the way around?? yah a blown amp is a good reason for a new amp. hehehehe.

[89AcCOrDmike]

do you think i should go with 4ga ground? will that really help? i'm just not seein how gournd effects over current when it was workin fine for two days....

[PogiLXI]

yah, ground is very important. for those 2 days did you pound it???? did you play it for long periods of time????

[89AcCOrDmike]

yeah i pounded it, and i'd play it for probably about 30 minutes 3-4 times a day

[PogiLXI]

hm..... ur amp is probly blown, ahhh well, All I know is where WHOREIN up this thread.

[89AcCOrDmike]

my amp is blown even though it plays at lower volumes still?...if it was blown wouldn't it not play at all?

[PogiLXI]

Not Nessarialy, It may play at low Volume cause its not using alot of power, but Crank it, Its Damaged parts are causing it to Fail.

[MrBen]

Stop basing everything off the past couple of days. You could pound your music hard and then after a couple of days, your sub would blow. Two days ain't shit.

It could be a bad ground. Or you could have blown something inside your amp being as you said you pounded it so damn hard.

[89AcCOrDmike]

woah no need to get hostle....anyways i looked at what the overcurrent light means on a sight and it gave me this for my amp.......(you are driving too low of an impedance load or the speaker leads are shorted directly), can someone translate that lamens terms for me?

[MrBen]

Well your amp might not be stable at whatever ohms you're running.

[TJ89Accord]

Yah you got your subs wired up wrong for the amp probably. How do you have the speakers wired to the amp? And whats the ohms of them? Thats your problem...

tim

[89AcCOrDmike]

i went to a stereo place today and the guy said that i might have just damaged one of my subs so my amp is protecting it by not sending it current, or my other thought might be that one of my sub wires came loose and is shorting it out, oh well i'll find out tomorrow!

[Vinny]

Originally posted by TJ89Accord
Yah you got your subs wired up wrong for the amp probably. How do you have the speakers wired to the amp? And whats the ohms of them? Thats your problem...

tim


Originally posted by GhettoAccord
Well your amp might not be stable at whatever ohms you're running.
You 2 hit it right on the head.....Its an impedence problem
Here's what I got for info off the lights, which should be in your sony manual............Another component of this amplifier making it unique is it's fairly extensive set of diagnostic LED's (see Figure 1b, left) for it's built in protection circuitry. It will not only shut down the amplifier in case of an emergency, it will tell you why it shut down as well. There are 5 LED's on top of the unit which 2 are used to indicate which mode you are running in (High Current / High Voltage, only one will light), and 3 tell you the status of the amplifier. These bicolor LED's will go from green to amber to indicate a problem with your setup. They are labeled "Over Current" (you are driving too low of an impedance load or the speaker leads are shorted directly), "Offset" (the amp is generating DC current - you probably have a ground loop somewhere, check the amp mounting screws for grounding, and your power / ground connections), and "Thermal" (overheating). If all the lights are green, you are ready to ROC!

[N-Man]

one of my friend had the same problem with a sony amp and we were able to fix it. He had the fuse for the power wire too close to the amp (he had it in the trunk) and it caused the overcurrent light to come on. he then moved it under the hood (closer to the battery) and everything was fine after that. hope this helps some.