Ok i was working on my brothers amp. (Punch 360 a2) The amp is under the bench seat of his truck so it was hard to get to. I disconnected the power wire on accident moving the amp. It wasn't in very good. Afterward i shock myself about a half a dozen time touching metal on the seat frantically trying to put it back in. Well it accidentaly touches the ground post on the amp and sparks fly. Didn't touch very long. After that i decide just to unhook the amp from the battery. So i got get the sockets. I take the negative off first then the positive rings off in my hand. The terminal came complete off the battery. What else can happen tonight. The battery was worped, but it is also three years old. So I am getting a new battery in the morning. Worst case scenerio what have i screwed up. The amp, fuses in the truck, or computer. Please post help....

 

You probly havent done any damage. Rockford amps in my opinion are fairly hardy beasts and can take abuse. At least all the various ones ive owned over the last 10 or so years.

 

You should be fine...just check all the fuses to make sure they didn't blow.

 

I've done similar things before, you should be alright. The things that do damage is hooking something up backwards. Another good idea is to have an appropriate size inline fuse right at the battery in the amp's power wire. My old roomate learned that the hard way when the power wire grounded out and burnt up inside his truck.

 

How in the he!! did you get a shock from 12volts D.C. ????? I can touch my battery terminals all day without a shock???? I really don't think it's possible?....Your amp should be o.k.

 

I dunno how i was getting shocked. My grandaddy swore up and down it wasn't possible. My arm was hitting a bolt under the seat when i was turning the fastener on the terminal with the allan wrench. It really hurt everytime i would hit the bolt with my arm and i wasn't even touching the exposed wire. Anyway today i got the truck back running. Got a new battery and terminal that is much nicer than my other one. It has a special place to stick the amp wire and tighten it down. No fuses were blown thank god. Guess this weekend we will rehookup the amp. This time with the power wire disconnected. I guess my little mistake wasn't as big as i first thought. By the way how do you guys get that big 8 gauge wire onto that little post on the amp. I gotta pull a little more slack out of my amp wire to get it back under the seat now. The power wire that is. Any advice on how to do this. Is there a special connector or tool i need to make that wire hold together tighter? Thanks for all the replies.

 

Invalid_access -

If you are a little bit sweaty, it is definitely possible to get shocked by 12 volts. I've done it more than once myself.

There are connectors made to put large gauge wire under screw terminals. You will probably have to buy a crimping tool that is large enough to have the necessary leverage to make a good connection. Once you get above 10 gauge wire the connectors get a lot harder to crimp.

I know it's a pain, but you should ALWAYS pull the in-line fuse from ANY wire the size you are discussing if you are going to work on it. Just the cost of the fuse alone would be enough reason to do it (I'm assuming you have a large in-line fuse within a few inches of the battery).

Be careful and good luck...

 

Just hooked the amp back up and it works still. Thanks for all the comments.

 

did ya get shocked?!?!? he he he....

 

Didn't get shocked this time. I learned my lesson the hard way. Always unplug the power wire when disconnecting it from the amp.

 

go on and stick your fingers on both terminals at the solenoid or coil, it'll get rid of you fancy new perm in a hurry.

Rule 1. Disconnect the Negative battery terminal each (see:every) time you work on anything electrical on the truck.
There are no fuses for reversed current either so, nothing might have happened to your truck, everything could have happened to your truck, it is hard to tell from here but then again I wouldn't have the time, goin surfin bruddah.
lates, and I hope it turns out good for ya
PS did the burnt fingers smell like chicken?

 

Very good advice....
I did a little more work on the 3 JL 10 w0s. Believe it or not they were not blown. On each sub the negative wire that goes inside the sub was broke. I soldiered the little thin wire back together and put the speakers back in the box. It works great now. Just wondering if this is a common problem. I don't see how that wire broke. Does the sub put tension on those wires or something. I cannot believe that the wires on two different subs were broke the exact same way. I thought JL's were better than that. Anyway the subs are pounding again. I can't believe how loud my old system really was. I guess i haven't heard them in so long. Anyway if you guys ever need a wire soldiered on you subs. Just give me a holla.

 

Hi There,
JL and a lot of other manufacturer's have that input wire set to act like a MOV fuse. If it gets a considerable amount of excess voltage it will basically burn up before damaging your speakers (subs). In the really high end stuff or extremely high wattage capable subs you won't see that because they are just focused on having room to pass whatever is sent. It's kind of smart of them and I am sure keeps them clear of a lot of warranty claims if their subs were getting fried all the time.
Rock On,
Mozzer Rocks