Why is my amp overheating?

Question

I have a JVC Head unit connected with 8 gage wire to a Rockford Fosgate Punch A2 500 watt amplifer powering two 10" Audiobahn D. Jones Edition subwoofers. The problem I am having is after 30-40 minutes of use or less the amplifer is getting very hot, overheating & shutting off. What could be the problem? Circuit City installed everything. The gain & bass are turned very low.. bass is all the way down and gain is almost as low as it goes.

Answer 1

yeah, take it back and make them deal with it. the location of the amp might not be ideal, you might have to run a fan on it.

Answer 2

A lot of really great answers on this one (I'm impressed as I have seen some really stupid responses on some of these questions here). The things recommened, for the most part, will help. The first and easiest thing to look at is "where is the amp mounted". It is not necessary to lift the amp an inch, a half inch or any amount off the floor. I have installed too many thousands of amps in my life and never had to do that for the sake of cooling the amp off. The amp needs to be in a place that gets good air flow and that's about it for 90% of the cases out there. Unless you are in the Mojave Desert right now where the heat is intense, it's like that there could be other problems going on that may be more significant than amp location.

A couple of things to check, as identified, is the ohm load of the speaker compared to the amp. The Punch A2 amps havent been out in a long time. If its from the same line that I remember back in the late 90's, then, if I remember correctly, that amp is 4ohm mono stable, not 2ohm. It's quite like you have your subs wired into 2ohms and causing the amp to overheat, probably from overdriving (attempting to get as much as you can out). There could be a problem with the circuitry of the amp as well, especially more likely if its the older amps but also possible with a newer line.

If a subwoofer has a blown coil, it can cause the amp to go into protection. That's something else to consider. Audiobahn is not the greatest name in subs so it's easily conceivable for the sub to be blown.

Your very first thing would be to take it back to circuit city if it's still under warranty. They should make it right or replace the amp or subs, provided that you bought them there. If you didnt and just went there for the install, they still may can help. If all else fails, bring it by the house this weekend and I'll diagnose it for you!! lol

Good luck man!

~G~

Answer 3

Is the amp mounted to a flat surface? It may not be cooling enough. Most amp designs do not take real world practices into consideration. If you take it back, it won't fix the problem most likely. Just get a better amp (class D, etc.), or mount the amp an inch or two above the surface so there's air circulation.

Answer 4

try to step up to 4awg wires. the amplifier could be strain and not gettin enough from the battery, check see if your amp is handling the correct ohm for the subs. another thing could be that u might have slightly burned one of your subs up due to distortion from the amp. 2 check, take each sub out a meter the voice coil and make sure it doesn't read less than 2 ohms. hope this was helpful.

Answer 5

Mount the amp 1 inch above a flat surface for air circulation.

if your good at wiring you can run an auxillery fan off of your remote wire.

Answer 6

If its still under warranty take it back and have them deal with it, if its not, take it back and have them deal with it. Electrical can be very dangerious, not only to yourself, but to componants in the car. Have a professional do the job

Answer 7

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