I have an Autotek AT-1500 amp to power two 8-Ohm 12" Kicker comp subwoofers, and my amp will not stay on. I had it professionally installed and tuned at a local car audio shop, and I went in telling them how everytime or every other time I drive, my amp will just shut off and they told me that it's due to the amp overheating, so instead of having the amp gain on 3/4's of the way, it was put to halfway so it wouldn't happen anymore. Now the amp shuts off just as much, and takes about 3 hours or so to cool down to turn back on. Any advice on what I should do?
How & where is the amp mounted? Some amps that have the external heat sink fins on the top must be mounted flat as heat rises & overheats some components. If you have it mounted upright & it does not have heat sink fins on the ends of the amp, that can cause problems. Also look at whether it is getting adequate ventilation. What is the final impedance of the subwoofers? Could you be putting too much load on the amp? Are they single or duel voice coils? Are you running all the coils on the subs, either in parallel or series. They must be all wired. Do you have adequate gauge power cable from your battery? Not getting enough current to your amps can damage them & cause them to shut down. With that amp, you're gonna need a dedicated 4g power cable. If you're running multiple amps, you may not be getting enough current to the amps. A battery upgrade could help as well. The big 3 upgrade is essential in car audio set ups with 1000w or more. Consists of the following: All 0g cable - 1. From alternator to battery, 2. Neg from engine to chassis 3. Neg from battery to chassis. The lower the impedance load, the more current drawn from your alternator. You can test this by doing the following: Run a test tone from the source, about 40hz or where you get the most spl; or get the bassisest track you listen to like some RnB. Get a multimeter & test the voltage on the power input going into the sub amp. If it is dropping below 11 volts, you got a problem. The amp will shut down. Also, check where the amp is grounded & make sure the ground cable is 4g and on the chassis somewhere, short as possible, no longer than 1 foot. Make sure it's on bare metal. If not, scape away the paint & put some petroleum jelly to prevent surface rust. Bad grounds cause amps to shut down too. It could also be as simple as having the gains & xover settings incorrect, having a clipped signal to the subs and or having the subs clip too. That can cause amps to overheat too. If you're not sure about any of this, go & get a second opinion on your install from another shop & raise these issues with them. Hope this all helps.
I couldnt find any sites that gave this amps specs. Everything gives wattage in terms of "Maxx" power rating instead of RMS. (sign of a bad company fyi). The wiring is probably ok tho assuming the amp actually IS stable to 2 ohms per channel as it states it is.
Kicker Comps are what... 150watts RMS? big 3 isn't necessary. If I were you I would junk that amp and get somthing that is 300watts RMS @ 4ohms.
Well if he has 2 8 ohm speakers then it doesn't matter if the amp can go down to 2 ohm. Two 8 ohm speakers can only go down to a 4 ohm load so, the impedance shouldn't be what is causing the problem. The gauge of your wire could play into this problem, I'd recommend at least 6-4 gauge wire throughout. As for the big 3 upgrade, alonzoub is correct. I wouldn't think that you would need to do this upgrade since this amp is 750 rms (if it's lucky) @ 4 ohms bridged but, it is still a good idea to use a DMM and check your voltage drops. The amp will not shut down under 11 volts but, anything under 12 volts is a very possible cause of malfunction and heat. Poor ventilation is a big issue as well. Make sure the amp has plenty of room for air to flow around it. Also, make sure that your ground wire is at least the same gauge as your power wire, this can cause a lot of heat problems as well. If none of these issues apply to you then I would honestly get a second opinion at a different shop.
Yeah but single 8 ohm woofers= 8 ohm per channel or 4 ohm bridged if you wire the subs parallel so, your 2 ohm statement is irrelevant. With those 8 ohm woofers he will never get a 2 ohm load on that amp!
... if you put 2 8 ohm woofers in parallel you get 4 ohms... if you bridge the amp @ 4 ohms its the same thing as placing a 2 ohm load on each channel.... the statement is not irrelevant, you just dont understand me.
Okay I'll give you that but it's still not the same because when the amp is bridged it's sending out a mono signal when using both channels it is a stereo signal. I understand what you were trying to say now but, it's still not the same thing. Sorry, if I sounded like an a55, that wasn't my intention.