I am running a Sony Xplode 800 watt amp to run my 2 clarion 10 inch subs and am having trouble with my amp cutting out randomly . It is good for a few minutes then cuts out with the overload protection light showing . When it does this , I turn off my deck then turn it back on then the amp comes back on but a few minutes later will cut out again . I thought maybe bad wiring so I went from 8 gauge wire to 4 gauge for both power and ground and that helped but again it started cutting out again . So today I added a 1 gauge ground wire directly from my batt post to the body and cleaned all body ground contacts and shortened the ground from the body to the amp and sanded and cleaned the contact area down to bare metal . It didnt change a thing , still cuts out and I have to turn off the deck then turn it back on to get power back . I recently put in a new alternator and am thinking of changing my battery now , is it possible I might need a cap or could my problem be the amp itself ?
From what I have heard, sony amps was made to xplode..(lol)...If I were you I would change that amp....but dont take my word for it I am a newB, am sure you will get a second opinion...
Is the amp a mono block? Is the amp a 2 channel bridgeable @ 4 ohm? What is the impedance of each speaker: single 4, dual 4, dual 2?
It sounds like you might be driving the amp at an ohm load that is to low. This would cause your amp to go into protect mode very easily. We will be able to diagnose the problem further when you answer the above questions. Until then we will just be taking stabs in the dark at what the problem is.
Yep, sounds like you're running the ohm load to low for the amp and/or your gain is set too high. Thats good that you upgraded your wiring though and made the grounds better.
That is not necessarily true. Sure Sony products aren't great at all but his problem might just be as simple as having the subs wired wrong. If his subs are dual 4 ohm then he could run the amp bridged @ 4 ohm with the subs wired in series. I'm not saying that you shouldn't change amps because I would definitely recommend it. I'm just saying that, no need to just junk the amp if the problem isn't with the amp at all. Try all the possible solutions to fix the problem and if the problem still persist then by all means look into a new amp.