Over-heating amplifier

EDclass · 16-01-2006, 07:41 PM

Got myself a new Head unit and amplifier on saturday, Pioneer DEH-P5750MP player and a BOSS audio-2900 4ch 1000w amp. all was sounding good until the amp turned itself off twice this afternoon. Since it was so hot i could barely touch it, i am assumnig it must have overheated and done this automatically. It does comes back on after a few minutes though. Its running two 350w 6x9s and a 600w sub, which i would think would be pretty much what it was designed for. Ive checked and the cooling fan is running, and all my wiring is fine. Has anybody else had this happen, surely its not normal? Any help would be appreciated, thanks guys.

EDXR6T · 16-01-2006, 07:59 PM

were's the amp mounted mate

AshMan · 16-01-2006, 08:22 PM

Shouldn't be getting so hot that you can't touch it.

I'd say something is wrong with your wiring or the amp itself.

Check that it has a good ground to bare metal and also check the ground strap on your battery. On my car it uses one of the engine mount bolts.

Cheers

Ashley

EDclass · 16-01-2006, 08:41 PM

The amp is screwed to the back of the rear seats. The earth should be ok, its on pretty good but ill see if i can tighten it up anyway.

thanks

mcflux · 16-01-2006, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDclass

The amp is screwed to the back of the rear seats. The earth should be ok, its on pretty good but ill see if i can tighten it up anyway.

thanks

So it's almost vertical, but leaning towards upside down? Not good. Maybe add some spacers to move it 10mm or so from the back seats? It might be a start.

They need a good mounting position to help dissipate the heat.

eb91xr6 · 16-01-2006, 10:41 PM

1. its a Boss amp
2. put it in the car not the boot if your having cooling problems
3. not big enugh power cable, did u use a amp kit.

i have my lightningaudio 600WRMS amp upside down under the parcel shelf and never had a problem, take it to an audio place and get them to give you a free quate of how much to fix and take there advice and never go back. do it yourself

clontarf_x · 17-01-2006, 12:38 AM

all boss amps get very hot *crappy circuitry mixed with no cooling fan maxes for fried rice*

I should know, ive owned 3x 1200w Boss amps )albeit different models) but they all got ИИИ hot, especially after a good cranking

stiddy · 17-01-2006, 12:54 AM

i had a boss amp way back when, was happy when it got stolen out of my car.

what a piece that thing was, they catch on fire as a feature dont they? lol
mine had crazy heating problems too, had thick power and earth cables, correctly mounted and still shut itself off time and time again. i replaced it with a Kenwood amp, exactly the same wiring, mounting points, never had a problem.. was actually sad when that one got pinched.

BOOSTDEF · 17-01-2006, 01:39 AM

i had the same probs with my boss... mount it flat but add a spacer on the ends so that the underneath has airflow through the vents....

cheap/ИИИИty amp but they do the job for the price i reckon...

stiddy · 17-01-2006, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GFDINTEDIT

cheap/ИИИИty amp but they do the job for the price i reckon...

this is a fair call, I was actually suprised how well my 2 12's ran off it, when it ran without cutting out... for the money they were suprisingly good..

but these days, if you want something cheap and really very good, you cant go past the responce jay car amps..

but after the boss i swore to never have 'cheap' amps again..

AshMan · 17-01-2006, 07:50 AM

I have a Z audio amp I think it is, runs 4 channels of 6X9s and has never overheated.

It was purchased from AutoBarn at Lawnton at a very decent price, never had any heating or quality problems, and has as much power as your ears can tolerate.

If you're on a budget, go one of these.

And no, don't be tempted to go sony.

QUIKXR6 · 17-01-2006, 11:12 AM

Mayb you need a capacitor... because you dont have enough power coming through your +ve cable...or else you assist by wiring a few aftermarket fans that you can get from dick smith or something... should help get rid a bit of the heat..

old_mate · 17-01-2006, 11:31 AM

Boss amps.....

First thing, run the biggest damn AWG cable you can to it (8awg min, i'd go 4...power and earth)

try mount it with cooling fins facing up, maybe think about some PC fans to cool it

Make sure sub has 4ohm coil

make sure your ground is good. sand the paint off.

buy a better amp

are you front speakers amp'd? I'd hate to have 6x9's with a sub

gozza · 17-01-2006, 12:08 PM

ive got a cheap 1000w boss amp 4 chn
had 2 doubled over bridged 1000w subs and pioneer 6*9's on 250w each
so the amp was trying to put out 2100w when it was really only 1000 lol
worked well for a while...used to heat up with a thrashing...good amp for cheap i say...still working after 3 or more years..only cost 200 bucks

sr180 · 17-01-2006, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QUIKXR6

Mayb you need a capacitor... because you dont have enough power coming through your +ve cable...or else you assist by wiring a few aftermarket fans that you can get from dick smith or something... should help get rid a bit of the heat..

Negatory Housten. A capacitor will not help the temperature of the amp. Nor will it help a lack of power coming through a +ve cable. (however, it will help overcome the internal restistances of your battery and cables.)

EDclass · 17-01-2006, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old_mate

Boss amps.....

First thing, run the biggest damn AWG cable you can to it (8awg min, i'd go 4...power and earth)

try mount it with cooling fins facing up, maybe think about some PC fans to cool it

Make sure sub has 4ohm coil

make sure your ground is good. sand the paint off.

firstly, thanks to everyone for the ideas,

yes the sub does have 4 ohm coil. Im running 8 awg cables now, i had these already but i dont think they are gonna big enough, might get some fatter cables tomorrow. i think this might be most of the problem. I'd rather not have to put in extra fans but if it comes to that...
The ground should be ok i did a good job of that at the start.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

So it's almost vertical, but leaning towards upside down? Not good. Maybe add some spacers to move it 10mm or so from the back seats? It might be a start.

They need a good mounting position to help dissipate the heat.

As for where its mounted, i think spacers would be a good idea GHIA5L. I was thinking that it might get hot up against the carpet before i put it in.

I still have a week to return it if i want to. What amp would everyone recommend to run a 600w 12" and two 350w 6x9s?

thanks

dell · 20-01-2006, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eb91xr6

1. its a Boss amp
2. put it in the car not the boot if your having cooling problems
3. not big enugh power cable, did u use a amp kit.

i have my lightningaudio 600WRMS amp upside down under the parcel shelf and never had a problem, take it to an audio place and get them to give you a free quate of how much to fix and take there advice and never go back. do it yourself

1. yes its boss crap (not that lighting audio is far behind that crap)
2. dont put it in the car, it wont make a differance
3. power cable shouldnt make da amp overheat, use at least 8 gauge or even better 4 gauge
4. NEVER NEVER mount an amp upsidedown, heat rises and if the amp is upsidedown heat goes back into the circiut board and not the heat sinks!!!!
5.go buy a real amp like an alpine or a soundstream and get it fitted professionaly!!!!!

dell · 20-01-2006, 11:35 PM

buy an apline MRVF345 killer amp

bad_mk1_escort · 21-01-2006, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AshMan

I have a Z audio amp I think it is, runs 4 channels of 6X9s and has never overheated.

It was purchased from AutoBarn at Lawnton at a very decent price, never had any heating or quality problems, and has as much power as your ears can tolerate.

If you're on a budget, go one of these.

And no, don't be tempted to go sony.

what wrong with sony mate

AshMan · 23-01-2006, 03:22 PM

Bad experience, don't like them at all.

sphell · 23-01-2006, 04:30 PM

Boss audio really is at the cheap end of the audio brands I'm sorry to say. They manage to sell amps by grossly overstating the power output. You'd find that if you changed to a quality brand and mounted it in the same position you wouldn't have half the trouble.

Changing from 8GA wire to thicker 4GA isn't worth the time or money...it won't make any difference for a Boss amp. Nor will adding a capacitor. The best thing you could do is mount it flat on the floor so all the heat dissapates evenly. If it still cuts out, chuck it on ebay and buy something better.

AshMan · 23-01-2006, 06:31 PM

It's not nessesarily that they grossly overstate the output power, but they state a different type of power figure compared to other amplifiers.

RMS (Root Mean Squared) is the power figure most amps and headunits use.
Peak Power is most likely what the Boss amps are peddling.

In your house, you have 240volts (hopefully) coming out of your wall socket, this being the RMS in a sine wave, but the peak power can get upto 380volts *I think* correct me if I'm wrong.

I won't go into a detailed explanation of RMS and Peak power values, but you can see the difference it would make to quoted power figures.

jamef · 23-01-2006, 08:15 PM

Tend to agree with most on the Boss amps cheap but can be effective. I used to run an Alpine V12 4ch amp rated at 55w RMS. Had the exact same issue with the Amp clipping and cutting out. Would restart after a few secs when you reduced the volume. Had numerous pro audio people look into it. One solution is to make sure that the Guage of the Earth is the same as what is feeding the amp. This reduced the frequency of the cut outs but did not fix the problem.
The cheaper amps are overstated with their power production.
The base result is that the amp is being driven beyond its capacity.
Suggest reduce the volume or buy a better quality amp.
Replaced mine with 2 Rockford Punch 600s have never had the cutting out issue again.

InitialD · 23-01-2006, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sphell

Boss audio really is at the cheap end of the audio brands I'm sorry to say. They manage to sell amps by grossly overstating the power output. You'd find that if you changed to a quality brand and mounted it in the same position you wouldn't have half the trouble.

Changing from 8GA wire to thicker 4GA isn't worth the time or money...it won't make any difference for a Boss amp. Nor will adding a capacitor. The best thing you could do is mount it flat on the floor so all the heat dissapates evenly. If it still cuts out, chuck it on ebay and buy something better.

Right on doug, BOSS audio is cheap cheap CHEAP. Ranks along with Audioline and US Audio. All cheap *** amps that grossly overstate their power output to try and sell them off.

I mount at least 1 amp a week in the back of Eseries where you have mounted yours and never had head issues. Get a Quality Brand amplifier and you shouldnt have problems.

My 2c worth, if you cant afford something of a quality brand name in amplifiers, just wait till you can get something good. Ive learnt in the past you will just want to replace it soon enough when it plays up or isnt what you expected