13bturbofc

so i installed a system into my 8 a few weeks ago, and im having problems i cant figure out so im hoping to hear from some car audio wizs to help me figure this out. im running stock headunit and speakers i just added a Alpine digital V12 600x1 @2 ohms RMS and a beastly 10 inch JL audio W-6. the system pounds pretty good but the problem im having is when i turn the gain or bass EQ up above anything but zero the amp will cut out and read CURR which i looked up and that code means (over current) or excessive current....WTF does this mean? i have 4 guage cable for power and ground no power cap yet. i know this sub and amp combo can be deadly loud if i could actually turn the damn amp up...this sux. please let me know what you think. if you want to see more info on the amp here is a link

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500MRDM...ures_and_specs

Socket7

Check your crossovers. I could trip my old sub setup into protect mode when I had my sub crossover set too high. Should be set to low pass, I recommend somewhere between 70 to 150Hz.

It also looks like you can set the crossover slope between 12 and 24 dB. I'd go with 24dB to get a steeper drop off and a tighter sound.

13bturbofc

ok ill try that... but tell me something is there any reason why i shouldnt be able to crank the bass boost up the whole way if i wanted to? i mean what causes over current?

Socket7

Because bass boost is a horrible invention and you should never be using it to begin with. If you have bass boost cranked up, it is absolutely, positively, 100% of your problem with tripping the amp into protect mode. Bass boost uses tremendous amounts of power, and usually leads to your sub distorting and sounding like ***.

13bturbofc

well thats the thing, i dont have it even turned on but when i do turn it on it cuts out

Socket7

Verify your crossover is set to low pass, 24db slope, and set to 70Hz. Then try bringing the gain up. Leave bass boost alone. Also, Make sure you are tapping a speaker level signal, rather then the lines that go into the bose amp. You should only be tapping the pre-bose amp lines if you're going for a full system replacement. The bose amp applies an EQ curve to the signal, without that modified signal being fed to the amp, the sub will sound out of place compared to the rest of the system.

13bturbofc

im sorry i ment the gain not the bass eq. in order for the amp not to shut off the bass eq and gain have to be at zero or (lowest setting). ill have to check tomorrow but i think the gain goes by volts or something like that. as soon as i turn the gain up and a hard note hits it kills the amp. i currently have the line output converter wired after the bose amp right near the factory rear deck speakers.

Socket7

Gain is a measurement of sensitivity to an incoming signal. The higher your gain is, the more sensitive your amp will be to the signal coming into it. Low Gains are not necessarily a bad thing. If you have a good clean and strong signal coming into the amp, you shouldn't need to bring the gains up, and leaving them low will prevent hiss or other noise from creeping into your system.

If your loc has a gain adjustment on it, it could be that it's pushing a clipped signal to the amp. If it's clipping badly enough, it could be pushing a square wave to your amp, which would cause the amp to draw a whole lot of current, not sound very good, and slowly cook your sub from lack of proper cooling (the sub wont move enough air for the current being given to it and the voice coil overheats). If your LOC has a gain ****, turn it down.

You might just want to take it to a shop and pony up a few bucks to have them troubleshoot it. Theres a lot of possible things going on and without being able to see and touch the system, it's hard to isolate your issue.

forbidden

Want your system to perform PROPERLY???? get rid of the LOC and get a proper interface adaptor like the Audio Control LC6i + bass remote for it. Your sub system will come to life.

Socket7

I think in this case it's unrealistic to expect someone to spend a hundred bucks for an interface to power a sub. Even a LOC tapped from the speaker level output of the bose amp should function better then described.

A proper converter and line driver can make level matching a lot easier though, no doubt about that. I'd have to go with a JL cleansweep instead of the LC6 though. Thats just a personal preference thing. Audiocontrol insists there was nothing wrong with my LC7 when I RMAed it, but i had all kinds of problems with noise. JL cleansweep, wired exactly the same way, no issues at all. I just wish I had more control over the cleansweeps output stage. A gain control would be nice.

13bturbofc

my LOC has no ***** or adjustments

firebirdude

iTrader: (3)

Just a note because it appears as though you're still having problems....

The W6 has an actual Re measurement that's a touch lower than most. When the dual voice coils are wired in parallel, (which I'm sure you did) JL specs them at a DC resistance of 1.575ohms. Although actual resistance varies greatly with frequency, I'm willing to bet the "whole spectrum" of readings would be shifted down the scale a little more than with other subwoofers.

Keep the volume low. Then try bumping up bass boost. Does the amp still kicking into protection despite the low amount of output? Turn the gain down. Then try bumping up bass boost. Does the amp still kicking into protection despite the low amount of output?

13bturbofc

i am able turn the gain up to about a 1/4 way if the bass eq is at +0 db. but if i try to even turn it up to half it will cut out and its the same way if the gain is at zero and i turn the bass eq up

13bturbofc

im thinking about just taking this thing to an audio shop so they can trouble shoot it. but another problem with this set up is the subwoofer is horribly out of sync with the rest of the system for example it seems the bass stays at the same level weather i have the volume on the head unit at 15 or 35 so when its at low volume all you hear is bass but when its high its not enough bass. could this be because the LOC is after the amp intead of before the bose amp like mentioned before?

forbidden

Simple test. Find a cd player with sub out. Wire it up in the trunk beside the cd player and test the thing. If it comes alive, get yourself the proper interface adaptor. If it does not find another dvc sub to test the amp with. If still nothing start to check the amp much further, as in take it to a shop. If you can do the simple things at home like test with a cd player, it will minimize any shop charges and give them a better picture of what to start looking for. Do you have a proper ground?

seifer51582

Check your ground! If you are pushing the **** out of your amplifier and have a shitty ground then you are juicing all of this current into the amp and have no way to get it out.

What kind of LOC are you using because it sounds like that might be your problem...i was running the same setup: i tapped the rear speaker leads for my signal after the bose amplifier and ran the rca's right into an mtx thunder elite 801D and ran an xtant X2 12" subwoofer. This setup ran perfect! So this tells me that you more than likely just have some bad equipment (LOC), so long as all your wiring checks out.

As for the bass staying the same...you may need a bass restoration device like a reQ that is not going to cost you a lot of money and it's sole purpose is to restore lost bass from factory systems.

Just for ***** and giggles, what color were the wires that you tapped for your LOC in the back?

13bturbofc

i dont know what color the wires were but the LOC is wired like 3 inches from where it plugs into the rear deck speakers so im sure its the correct wires. it may be a shitty ground though, its either grounded to the rear seatbelt bolt or to where the rear seat bolts to the floor i cant remember which one of those i went with. and what kind of cd player am i suposed to hook up to the amp to test the amp and subs? like another head unit?

forbidden

Yes, borrow a friends cd player if you have to. Make sure it has a dedicated sub out on it. Connect it in the trunk and test away. This takes the LOC and the factory system out of the equation as being a culprit of the cause. If the problem is gone, you know where to start looking next....

firebirdude

iTrader: (3)

An iPod with mini plug to RCA cable would work and be much easier.

13bturbofc

ok i actually have a few cd players laying around that have a subwoffer out rca connector, but i then i have to wire a power and ground to make it work. guess i could just wire it to the amps power and ground