yesterday when i was driving home from work my speaker amp decided to turn off... before i could pull over to check it, it turned back on. it was only off for like 10 min.
since its been like 500 degrees outside lately i was wondering if its because its too hot outside and the amp overheated.
Hard to say but likely, that is what they do. I once stopped and opened my trunk with the radio on just to see if it came back on faster...it did, heat was causing it. It was really hot out for a week or so and it happened a few times. If I parked the car in the sun and drove away it would do it after a couple minutes or running. Now if I mount an amp in a hot spot or high in a trunk I put a PC fan on it. That car I remounted the amp to the floor of the trunk and it was ok.
They used to say heat was hard on them, but older amps ran a lot hotter than new ones seem to....due to better electronics. I just read a thing that said a newer amp will shut down way before temps can damage anything according to temps the electronics are good for. Just the same I don't like them hot. So, what I read says no harm but it shuts off for a reason I figure. I guess if it rarely happens I would not worry about it, its up to you. I think my fan is cool but thats just me...and I have an old hot amp running at 2 ohms in there too. I can hardly touch it if it has no cooling, on a nice not hot day, and I really don't know if it even has a heat shutdown.
In this car I just pulled it out because I am doing a sub install, but I had the amps at top of back seat in trunk. I just mounted a PC case fan near the trunk hinge hanging off the rear deck and aimed it at the first amp, then it blew over onto the second anyway. The first one was my high amp that runs hot the other one never got that warm from playing...but both would on hot days. I just hooked it to my trigger, though some don't recommend you do that without a relay. My HU is an older alpine. The normal rpm PC case fans take very little power, this clear one I got for $1 when I ordered some stuff. I just want to move the air a little, a slow and quiet fan is enough to get the job done. It must have been around 8-10" away from the first amp and blew at the top of it, the heatsinks. Could also use the blower style, radioshack used to have a nice little one about the size of a case fan. These amps have never shut off on me in two summers. The next setup I have not figured out how to mount it yet. I would like to have it at the bottom of the trunk blowing up but may not have room. I'd like it hidden too.