Thermal Protection on amp

[Agman]

My tower amp kept going into protection mode off and on yesterday. I played for maybe 5 hrs, pulling riders and slow moving. When I felt the amp it was red hot and in thermal protection mode. It would come back on after a while then shut off again. All other amps working fine. Anything I can check?? or do?

Fosgate Punch 1000.2 powering 4 Arc Audio component spks.

Thanks!

[Earmark Marine]

My tower amp kept going into protection mode off and on yesterday. I played for maybe 5 hrs, pulling riders and slow moving. When I felt the amp it was red hot and in thermal protection mode. It would come back on after a while then shut off again. All other amps working fine. Anything I can check?? or do?

Fosgate Punch 1000.2 powering 4 Arc Audio component spks.complicates

Thanks!

There are a number of possibilities.

You may be running the tower zone the hardest. You may be pushing the tower amplifier into clipping/compression which is begging for thermal issues.

There should be no form of boost or equalization on the tower zone if you expect maximum output and projection. The tower speakers should be filtered and run highpass.

An amplifier that has been thermal damaged over time and is failing internally will usually go into protection pretty quickly. If it takes an hour then I suspect something external to the amplifier.

Low voltage, whether by poor gauge supply wire, poor supply connections, or depleted battery voltage, compounds thermal issues. So check the voltage around the time the amplifier is going into protection. Check it at the battery and also at the amplifier primary terminals as the amplifier is under load. You should be holding at an average of 12.0 volts under full load. There are going to be momentary voltage dips when a big and prolonged bass note hits.

If just one of the speakers is starting to fail then that will create thermal issues for your amplifier. Check the voice coil DCR of each speaker individually to make sure they are consistent. A 4-ohm speaker will typically have a DC resistance of between 3.5 and 4-ohms. They should all measure between +/- 5%.

An amplifier that is positioned very close to other amplifiers and directly above another amplifier is more prone to thermal issues.

You can add a fan but this is just a bandaid if you thermal so easily. You have got to fix the core issue, or even with a fan, you can damage the amplifier over time.

If in the end if you need a replacement then go with a Class D amplifier. In order to deliver 1000 watts a Class AB will draw 2000 watts of supply and generate 1000 watts as heat. A Class D will draw 1250 watts to deliver 1000 watts and generate 250 watts of heat. The Class AB will create 4 X the heat to deliver the identical power to your speakers.

David

[Agman]

David,

I have a Clarion eq that I do turn down the interior speakers- seperate amp- and turn up the volume to the tower. So when I am playing, most if not all power is going to tower and subs. The tower amp does not have a hp switch on it. The connections to the amp itself look sound and are in good condition. I had a stereo shop install it last month. This was the first time I really "pushed" it. I also have 2 new AGM batteries with a 130 amp alternator running thru a perko switch set to "ALL".

I will check my speaker connections on tower, maybe I have a short there. I just hope I was pushing it to hard and it simply just got over worked.

Note- My volume control on head unit is at 32, max is 40?. When I am playing I only turn up the volume to about half on the eq and fade out the interior. This is plenty loud on tower and subs are hitting hard.

Thanks!

[robtr8]

Is this the amp? http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.aspx?itemid=338192

If so, there is a plate across the face that hides the crossover switches. See third photo.

[Agman]

That is my amp. It is in hp setting. Speaker connections look fine also..... Can I turn the power down a little so it's not working so hard?