blown amp

screamatamonkey · Post by **screamatamonkey** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:25 pm

I just recently (tried to) install an amp in my car. I bought the amp a few years ago from some guy, and I just recently got around to installing it. I have installed several amps for friends before, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing.

I ran all of the cables correctly, and I tried to power on my amp before I hooked up any speakers. I turned on my head unit with the volume all the way down, and turned around to listen to the amp. It then make a weird noise, popped, and started smoking from the inside. I frantically turned off my head, unhooked it from the battery, and went back to check connections. Everything looked stellar. I unhooked and re-connected everything, and reluctantly turned my deck back on. The amp seemed to power on correctly for about 5 seconds...then it sparked on the inside of the amp (it has a clear window, so I could see what was going on) and went out, never to come on again.

After doing some searching, the only weak point that I was was my ground. Though it was bolted to the frame of the car, the frame had been painted (something that I didn't think about until it was too late).

I never turned the volume up (the deck stayed muted) and I turned all of the gain and bass boost settings on the amp all of the way down before I started. Is it possible that my faulty ground blew the amp?

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:47 pm

its very possible i think... if it didnt have a good connection then it wasnt stable... are you sure no wires were touching each other or anything? what kind of amp is it?

screamatamonkey · Post by **screamatamonkey** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:03 am

It was a pyramid amp. Nothing special or anything. Just figured I would use it if I had it. I did doublecheck the wiring though, and as far as I could tell, the wiring was good. Everything was neatly in the terminals with no strands or anything touching anything else.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:07 am

Welcome to Pyramid quality.

If all the wires were correct it should of been fine. I wouldnt say the ground caused it. I would say the ground isnt suitable for use with the paint there, but it should be suitable to power the amp on to just see if it works...

Post by **GlassWolf** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:54 am

you blew out one of two things:
the power supply or the finals/FET rails of the am.
either would cost more than the value of the entire amplifier to repair.
pyramid amps sell new for about $40

best bet is just to replace it with something else.. if you want suggestions, just name an RMS power range, number of amp channels or the speakers and their coil setut, and a price range..

screamatamonkey · Post by **screamatamonkey** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:55 am

Yeah, that's actually around what I bought the amp for. I know pyramid is cheap as hell, but for $40, I figured I would just push some components with it. I've had it for 3 years before even trying to hook it up. I'm looking into either Alpine or Pioneer, something to push around 50W-100W over 2 or 4 channels. Head units distort when they get loud, and I'm looking for something to clean up that sound.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:25 pm

you'll want a 4 channel amp with a high pass filter/crossover built in.
the Kicker KX600.4 would give you ample power at a reasonable price. Good amplifier.
set the HPF to around 80-120Hz, and that'll prevent the components from bottoming out from low frequencies.
Then just use a sub to cover the low end and you'll have a nicely rounded system
Alpine has some good 4 channel amps as well, I just don't recall the models off hand and gotta go eat.. no time to go look.
http://www.alpine1.com has them listed though