16 replies to this topic

[Morgan]

Mentioned this in the GT but may as well start a thread and get some more tech talk happening.

From what I can tell, all connections are correct.

Power from battery = Yes
Ground = yes
Remote from HU = yes
RCAs from HU = yes
Wired from amp to sub = yes
Sub 'on' from HU = yes
Fuses are in tact = yes

Here's the visuals

SIDE A



Wires from amp to sub (unbridged at the moment)



Power/ground/remote



Grounded at seat bolt



SIDE B - Blue light indicates power, ground and remote are all correct. Blue indicator light switches off when key is out of ignition



RCAs plugged into rear terminals.
Note: Red padlock indicator light is now off. This was on before but for some reason has switched off...



And of course, the sub is plugged in



Anyone have an idea of what the issue could be.

Cheers

[XXB4XX]

Check your earth again.

Just because it's lighting up, it doesn't mean it's earthed properly. It could be getting an earth from the actual RCA's.

Un-plug the RCA's and check that the light is still on, if not, find another earth.

2 -

You haven't bridged your sub properly if that's what you were after.. follow the instructions listed on it, and move the - wire to the FAR RIGHT.

3rd! I can see the actual issue you have after typing this.

You have the RCA's in the REAR input, but the sub connected to the FRONT outputs.. move the RCA's over to the FRONT input.

[Morgan]

Just saw the same thing Brenda!

Went out and did this.
I'm guessing that should match up with the RCAs which are in the rear outputs?



Red light is back on again though

[Morgan]

Ok, illiminating possibilities

Un-plug the RCA's and check that the light is still on, if not, find another earth.

Unplugged the RCAs and the blue light is still on. Looks like the earth is fine. Good thing too because there is nowhere else to put it!

You haven't bridged your sub properly if that's what you were after.. follow the instructions listed on it, and move the - wire to the FAR RIGHT.
move the RCA's over to the FRONT input.

I tried a few different combinations -

RCAs - front
Speaker wire - front (bridged)
No go

RCAs - rear
Speaker wire - rear (bridged)
No go

Pretty sure it's got something to do with that damned red padlock light.

Will read through the instructions again and see if there's anything I missed...

[XXB4XX]

bridge the sub again, and chose the Low Pass Filter on the amp "LPF"

also, what is the remote wire connected to? the remote on the deck? or Cigarette Lighter / Accessories

Don't read into the "lock symbol" too much, the red-light means you have an error or something is shorting..

The Lock is there to tell you it has an error and will lock out the amp from performing.

I know this cause I have a Clarion Amp... and before that an Alpine V12, which I refuse to sell or throw out

pps, 30 amp fuses are HUGE, they surely didn't come with the amp?

ppppps.. plug another speaker in, it might be your sub that's faulty and shorting out the connection.

[Morgan]

Remote is connected to the HU.

[XXB4XX]

I re-edited my post with more info.

[Sam]

I re-edited my post with more info.

Could the connections on the inside of the sub box not be connected properly? Just a suggestion..

[alexGT]

sub could be short circuited. test another speaker across the amp.

short circuit = 0 ohms = very high current = internal protection activating.


failing that check the clarion manual also for fault spec.

[Scott]

what are the rca's plugged into on the headunit??
everything else seems ok when the rca is match to the speakers

[Morgan]

RCAs are plugged into the right ports on the HU. I read the manual to make sure they were the right ones!

Figured out when the red light comes on -

When the speaker wires are plugged into the rear ports the red light is off. As soon as one of the RCAs touches the rear port, it comes on but stays off when plugged into the front ports.

So obviously, when the speakers are plugged into the front ports, the red light comes on when the RCAs touch the front ports.

That's all well and good but does it mean the speaker or the RCAs are at fault?


I did look in the sub box this morning and it's all how I left it when I sold the lib. Might have to re-solder everything and try again with fresh wiring.

Unfortunately I threw out all my old speakers in the garage cleanup a few months ago

Also, tried the whole system with my old amp. It got very hot very quickly but still no avail.

[FR34KO]

lil info, is the sub and amp old and such? u buy from new, wats their history?

Otherwise, with the earth, is it touching bare metal ie did u scrape off the paint on the metal?? -it sometimes isnt enough for the contact to be only on the bolt. gl

[Morgan]

lil info, is the sub and amp old and such? u buy from new, wats their history?

Otherwise, with the earth, is it touching bare metal ie did u scrape off the paint on the metal?? -it sometimes isnt enough for the contact to be only on the bolt. gl

Fair call mate. I did buy this amp off ebay. The guy said it was working perfectly when he took it out though. I think it is the sub short circuiting something...

I have checked the earth with the multimeter. With one prong on the power port and one on the ground port, I'm getting 12.6v which seems normal.

[CodeBurn3r]

Morgs, Firstly check polarity, of sub.

as mentioned before, lock symbol is amp going into overload protection.

also, don't adjust wires while its turned on.. this will too cause issues.


check on H/U that you are using sub pre-out / LFE

also check H/U settings to ensure LFE/Low range is set to Sub not Rear Speakers
also go through and make sure Sub is enabled on H/U, also might have to get into these options by turning H/U off and entering Setup mode (done various ways) but check user manual to be sure...

but still regardless, Amp is protecting itself from some kinda short. is sub same Ohm rating?

Try this also...
Connect RCA's to front Input and connect Sub to front output (bridged) so + to Far Left Top and - to Far Right Top, turn all gain down and see if you are getting overload light when you power it up.

just so you know, specs for the Amp are only 100W per Bridged channel so 100W front bridged and 100W rear bridged, what is your Sub Rating?

i would forget about power issues, your getting power, its turning on correctly.
if it cuts out when the bass kicks in then it would be power issues, or if the connections (ground point) gets hot when running then its shorting/not connected properly, but thats not your problem right now.

also.. here, this might help.

http://www.clarion.c...4240_1300,0.pdf

[alexGT]

Fair call mate. I did buy this amp off ebay. The guy said it was working perfectly when he took it out though. I think it is the sub short circuiting something...

I have checked the earth with the multimeter. With one prong on the power port and one on the ground port, I'm getting 12.6v which seems normal.

whats the continuity (ohms) from your earth wire to another point on the chassis? this needs to be extremely low (<0.5 ohms). put the leads together to minus out their resistance also.

[Morgan]

Could the connections on the inside of the sub box not be connected properly? Just a suggestion..

SPOT ON!!!!!

It's working!!!!!!! Yeeeeeew!

I checked inside the sub box earlier today and whilst it was a horrific mess (I did it with minimal gear) it was still connected so I assumed it was something else.

Cut out my old bodgy wiring job, cut up some new wire and soldered it on.

She's now doof doofing away!!

Has a bit of a vibration still but I think it's some of the new wires touching the back of the cone. Will check that out tomorrow..



Thanks all for your help. Much appreciated
Was determined to fix this today and there's nothing better than actually accomplishing it!

[Sam]

SPOT ON!!!!!

It's working!!!!!!! Yeeeeeew!

I checked inside the sub box earlier today and whilst it was a horrific mess (I did it with minimal gear) it was still connected so I assumed it was something else.

Cut out my old bodgy wiring job, cut up some new wire and soldered it on.

She's now doof doofing away!!

Has a bit of a vibration still but I think it's some of the new wires touching the back of the cone. Will check that out tomorrow..



Thanks all for your help. Much appreciated
Was determined to fix this today and there's nothing better than actually accomplishing it!

Haha I'm more handy than I look!