Apathy

The other day I got drunk and left my windows down and my sunroof open... when I woke up, it was wet outside so I assumed it rained... By looking inside, only the front driver seat was wet to the touch... (maybe everything else dried up?) Well to get to the point, whenever I turn on the radio, I hear a constant bass-- whoooomwhhoooom-- coming from my sub; seems like it has the potential to kill my sub so I unhooked and check all fuses... found nothing... I am wondering if my amp is just fried... Any help appreciated... thanks

tawd

Apathy, Try this...

Unhook the RCA cables from your amp. Test and make sure you have 12v at the constant power wire, 12v at the remote wire (with ignition/stereo turned on), and a good ground on the ground wire. If all your voltages are OK, hook your speaker back up to the amp with the RCA's still unhooked from the amp. Does it still make that WHOOOM noise? If it does, WITHOUT your RCA's hooked up and proper voltage to everything you probably have fried your amp.

If you arent getting the WHOOM noise anymore, its either your head unit, or your RCA cables to blame.

Apathy

I already did most of that... I dont get the WHOOM noise when the rca cables are removed... so should I try changing the cables???

tawd

No, If your still getting noise when the RCA cables are removed from the amp your RCA's, and head unit have nothing to do with the problem.

If you have a volt meter this is what i would do...
Unhook everything from the amp except for the 12v constant, 12v remote, and ground wire.
Turn your key/stereo *whichever triggers your remote) and check for voltage across the - and + speaker terminals. on both channels if it is a 2 channel amp. If your left channel is showing voltage at all, the Mosfets (output chips) are probably fried. If the right channel is showing any voltage at all, the right channel mosfets are probably fried.

If it is a 2 channel amp and you are running it in a "mono" mode *usually left+ rignt-* try hooking your speaker up to just either the left, or right channel. If one side makes the speakers go WHOOM and the other side doesnt, hook the speaker up the the channel that makes no WHOOM noise. Hook your rca's back up and turn your stereo on.... It should have good sound now. Usually when Mosfets go out, its usually contained to one channel of the amp.

Give this stuff a try and post the results

Apathy

OK, I dont hear the noise when I remove RCA cables so I will try new cables... Thanks

tawd

oh, if you DONT have the noise when the RCA's are unhooked from the amp it would be your rca's or your head unit. Try RCA's first (cheaper) and if that doesnt cure it, then I would try a different head unit. Sorry, I misunderstood your previous post.

tawd

an easy way to check and see if your RCA's are the problem... Hook your RCAs back up to your amp, and UNhook them from your head unit (dont let the bare ends of the RCAs touch any metal of your car while doing this). turn your key/stereo on and see if it makes the WHOOM noise. If it does, its the rca's. If it doesnt, its your head unit.

Apathy

ok, will try... thanx for the help

Apathy

didnt get a chance to change rca cables yet; but, upon some investigation I saw something weird... The radio keeps running even when the ground wire is unplugged... What is could be the cause of this? Is it possible for it to be leaching ground from the amp?