Why does my amp go into "protect" mode?
I have a 10" kicker and a 250 watt kicker amp. I don't really know anything about electronics, but I got the whole system for free so I figured why not try and hook it up. It sounds great (when it works) but sometimes the amp turns off. I have to pull the inline fuse out and pop it back in to make it work again. What can I do to fix this?
Comments
There are a few things that can cause an amp to go into protect mode.
1.) The impedance of the speaker(s) at the amplifier is too low. This will cause the amplifier to run hot. Make sure the load at the amp is not lower than it's rated to handle. Also, a speaker with a damaged coil can cause the same type of problem. Have your woofer checked.
2.) The supply voltage is too low. An amplifier can't make power without receiving power (from the battery). This can also cause it to get hot.
3.) The ground connection to the chassis of the car isn't adequate. In order to get the electricity in, it has to have a way out, too. If it doesn't, it can cause the amplifier to get hot.
4.) Insufficient ventilation can cause the amplifier to get too hot.
See a pattern? Heat is the enemy.
It could be a number of things including a faulty amplifier, overheating due to poor air circulation, poor amplifier grounding, overheating due to pushing the amp too hard for too long at high volume, overheating due to the speaker being a lower impedance than the amplifier, overheating due to power and ground wires that are too small, connecting high level output from head unit to low-level input on amp and at high head unit volume it overdrives the amplifier. Since we don't know the exact model numbers of your amp and sub, how you've wired the system or other details, any answer is only a guess.
In other words FAIL due to insufficient information.
Try to cool the amp. Give it more air circulation. Look up the stability of the amp and see that the speaker has an equal or greater impedance than that.