I just finished putting tint and shackles on my ride... washed and wax on the way out to the truck show.Threw in a cd and no bass??? I'm pissed I have a kicker Zr240 amp. That illuminates a power light and a protection light when things are running properly. As of now only the power light is on and the amp is not working. I have rechecked all wires every where..i.e. in the amp deck, at the battery and everything is connected fine. I have also check my in line fuse and both amp fuses ...which are fine.. Somebody please give me a little help as I really don't feel like spending any money on a new amp. thanx

 

Why is the protection light on when running properly?

 

I never really checked just assumed it was on when thing were well and off when there was a problem...what else could have casuethe amps malfunction it was not pushed to the point of overheating?

 

Well if the protection light was on thats not a good thing. Either the subs were wired incorrectly and cased the amp to heat up or the protection light was bad (unless it was some other problem). My guess is that the subs were wired incorrectly to an impedence that the amp couldnt handle and just rean really hot and eventually fried.

But maybe it is the subs. Perhaps there is something wrong with them. Have you checked the speaker wires? maybe they fell off of the subs or something. Or maybe the subs are blown either take another sub and put it on the amp to see if it works or get a DMM and check the subs/amp to see if they are blown.

 

I've Checked I doubt it the sub it a fairly new kicker L5 and i'm pretty sure it not blown. i'l go recheck the connection fom the sub to te amp and vice versa

 

The only way to find out if the sub is blows is to put a DMM up to it and see what the impedence of the sub is. Just beacuse its new doesnt mean its not blown. But the protection light on the amp shouldn't come on unless there is something wrong with it.

 

I don't get it it was workin extremly well right up untill this happened. And if i fried the amp wldn'y I know o would i be exibiting these symtoms?

 

Sickboy -

Unless your amp went through some kind of catastrophic failure, it probably did not melt down or anything like that.

The first thing you need to do is to isolate the problem.

Disconnect everything from the amp except +12 and ground.

Turn the amp on (via the radio) and see if the protection light is on. If it is, you have a problem with the amp itself.

If not, connect an input cable (I'm assuming they are RCA's). Light still not on? Connect the other RCA (if you have 2) and check the protection light. If not on, continue. If it turns on with either of the above, you probably have a grounding problem and the amp is "seeing" the ground potential on the "high" side of the input. Look at your RCA's for pinching, damage, etc.

If the protection light is still off, turn the radio off (so the amp shuts down) and turn your attention to the sub. Check the leads to the sub with a DMM. The resistance should not be the same as what the meter reads if you short the leads together. It should be a bit higher than that, but it will probably be a low value. You can also touch the sub's leads to a flashlight battery and watch to see if the sub moves in and out. If it does, it is probably not shorted. If it doesn't move, the sub is at fault (could have an open voice coil or a shorted voice coil). If it is shorted, the amp's protection circuitry will definitely come on. If it's open, I doubt the amp would care.

Be sure to check the leads to the sub for a ground fault as well.

Good luck and let us know how it goes...

B-Man

 

I stand corrected the protection light was never on I'm not all that good withtthe stereo stuff if you can't tell. I'll do like you said b man and check all the rca wires and what not i will also check the wire from the sub in the box to the back of the terminal perhaps it came dissconnected...to be continued

 

Depends assuming everythign else is wired right and the subs arent blown, if the protection light has been on for a while it just eventually fry the amp (if the reason the light was on because of impedence).

Since you have said everything else was connected properly I would assume you problem would either be in your amp or subs. The only way to know for sure is to take a DMM and see what it reads.

A minor problem such as wiring the at to an impedence can cause the amp to blow especially if the protection light was on for a lenght of time.

 

Well with that being said then just double check all your wiring again. That will msot likely be where youll find your problem. Also if its not there then perhaps it could be at the head unit, but I wouldnt worry about that yet.

 

Thanx alot B man and Hazard you guys were more than helpful. I really need to learn more about stereo's I'm better at making the L go faster... It turned out to be a cracked spade connecter inside the box where the subs wire goes into the terminal. Some how it cracked and caused a break in the connection. one 10 cent spade connecter and were back in the game. Once again thank both of you for your quick response and trouble shooting that lead to the correction

 

Well thats good to hear you got it all worked out.

-Chris

 

Originally posted by Hazard269

With all of the amps that I've worked with (Carver, McIntosh, Kenwood, Rockford Fosgate, Alpine, JVC, Orion, Hifonics, etc.) they COMPLETELY protect themselves from direct shorts, overheating, DC on the output, grounds, etc. That's the idea of the protection circuit. It disconnects the bias voltage from the output drivers until the electrical dysfunction is resolved. I'm sure there are brands that don't do that. I'm simply referring to what I've personally installed / serviced...


Originally posted by SICKBOY

SICKBOY -

Do yourself (and your system) a favor and buy a soldering iron. Soldered connections will not fail, won't vibrate loose, won't corrode or oxidize and are 100% maintenance free. A few extra minutes on the install will provide a lifetime of reliability...

 

Yes I agree I know that most amps have the protection cicuits BUT I have seen them several times fail. Also I have seen amps that will still function with the protection light on and just over time it puts a lot of wear and tear on them and they evntually fry.