Amp trouble..

chevy84sdime · 08-26-2008, 07:04 PM

Hey guys. My truck sat in the shop this whole past winter. It was already wired and had an amp and sub in it already. It worked perfect before we stored it. The amp got stolen so I bought a new one. Hooked it up to the ground, power, rca's, and remote wires that I ran, and it didn't work. It is a cheap 1600 watt ssl amp or some shit. Just to see what was what, I took it and hooked some wires up on it and touched it to the battery, and it came on. I used a friends amp and hooked it up to my wires that I ran just to see if maybe the amp was bad or something. My friend's amp powered on inside my truck with no problems. Problem was that I hooked the sub up and nothing came out of it. I even tried a different sub and the same thing happened.

My question is, does anyone know what is wrong? I checked the remote behind the radio and even tried different rca's. I checked the fuses in my radio, amp, and under the hood where the power wire is hooked up. All of them are good. The ground is good. Is it the remote from the radio maybe? If it is why did the other amp that I tried work? I plan on buying new shit soon but I would like to have some sort of kick for right now.

Thanks in advance, sorry for all the damn typing.

juddspaintballs · 08-26-2008, 07:28 PM

Interesting symptoms. Do you own a digital multimeter? If you do, you should do some diagnosing.

Check DC voltage on your power and ground wire and on your remote wire. Each should read 11.7-14.5v depending on if your truck is on or just in ACC. Check your RCA voltage with music playing using a DMM on AC voltage (inside pin is positive, outside ring is negative).

I suspect that if two different sets of RCAs, two different amps, and two different subs didn't get the music playing, the source of the 'no audio' problem is at the head unit. Perhaps you have those RCAs turned off at the head unit or have some setting setup so that they either don't send a signal through them or they are turned way down.

As far as your new amp powering on, it could be as simple as you not having one of the wires connected properly when you tried it the first time. Did you try rehooking it up inside of your truck after your friend's amp worked? It could also be as simple as your remote wire is degrading (i.e. some of the strands inside of the wire may have broken) and it works sometimes if you move it one way, but doesn't work if it gets moved in another position. Try bypassing the remote with another wire too just like you tried a second pair of RCAs.

chevy84sdime · 08-26-2008, 08:34 PM

Well I was bored as hell so I decided to go out and mess with it. First, I checked the fuse under the hood first. Then, I took the power wire that I ran behind the seat and touched it to the ground. No spark. I took the Power and touched it to that circle thing that sticks out that the door latches onto and got one hell of a spark. So the problem was the ground. It was all corroded so I cleaned it and now it works fine. Took me a week and a half and a whole lot of being bored to do that. Thanks for the help Judds I appreciate it.

juddspaintballs · 08-26-2008, 08:43 PM

Amazing how important clean ground contacts are, huh? Clean it up and put some dielectric grease on it so it doesn't corrode again.

08-26-2008, 07:04 PM	#1
chevy84sdime Registered User Age: 20 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 398 Location: User is: OffLine	Amp trouble.. Hey guys. My truck sat in the shop this whole past winter. It was already wired and had an amp and sub in it already. It worked perfect before we stored it. The amp got stolen so I bought a new one. Hooked it up to the ground, power, rca's, and remote wires that I ran, and it didn't work. It is a cheap 1600 watt ssl amp or some shit. Just to see what was what, I took it and hooked some wires up on it and touched it to the battery, and it came on. I used a friends amp and hooked it up to my wires that I ran just to see if maybe the amp was bad or something. My friend's amp powered on inside my truck with no problems. Problem was that I hooked the sub up and nothing came out of it. I even tried a different sub and the same thing happened. My question is, does anyone know what is wrong? I checked the remote behind the radio and even tried different rca's. I checked the fuses in my radio, amp, and under the hood where the power wire is hooked up. All of them are good. The ground is good. Is it the remote from the radio maybe? If it is why did the other amp that I tried work? I plan on buying new shit soon but I would like to have some sort of kick for right now. Thanks in advance, sorry for all the damn typing.
	[Reply w/Quote]

08-26-2008, 07:28 PM	#2
juddspaintballs JED Age: 23 Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,837 Location: Reisterstown, MD User is: OffLine	Re: Amp trouble.. Interesting symptoms. Do you own a digital multimeter? If you do, you should do some diagnosing. Check DC voltage on your power and ground wire and on your remote wire. Each should read 11.7-14.5v depending on if your truck is on or just in ACC. Check your RCA voltage with music playing using a DMM on AC voltage (inside pin is positive, outside ring is negative). I suspect that if two different sets of RCAs, two different amps, and two different subs didn't get the music playing, the source of the 'no audio' problem is at the head unit. Perhaps you have those RCAs turned off at the head unit or have some setting setup so that they either don't send a signal through them or they are turned way down. As far as your new amp powering on, it could be as simple as you not having one of the wires connected properly when you tried it the first time. Did you try rehooking it up inside of your truck after your friend's amp worked? It could also be as simple as your remote wire is degrading (i.e. some of the strands inside of the wire may have broken) and it works sometimes if you move it one way, but doesn't work if it gets moved in another position. Try bypassing the remote with another wire too just like you tried a second pair of RCAs.
	[Reply w/Quote]

08-26-2008, 08:34 PM	#3
chevy84sdime Registered User Age: 20 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 398 Location: User is: OffLine	Re: Amp trouble.. Well I was bored as hell so I decided to go out and mess with it. First, I checked the fuse under the hood first. Then, I took the power wire that I ran behind the seat and touched it to the ground. No spark. I took the Power and touched it to that circle thing that sticks out that the door latches onto and got one hell of a spark. So the problem was the ground. It was all corroded so I cleaned it and now it works fine. Took me a week and a half and a whole lot of being bored to do that. Thanks for the help Judds I appreciate it.
	[Reply w/Quote]

08-26-2008, 08:43 PM	#4
juddspaintballs JED Age: 23 Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 5,837 Location: Reisterstown, MD User is: OffLine	Re: Amp trouble.. Amazing how important clean ground contacts are, huh? Clean it up and put some dielectric grease on it so it doesn't corrode again.
	[Reply w/Quote]


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