JL amp and Liquified Groud Wire

[Darkshadow188]

I've got a JL 1000/1 amp for my sub. My problem is acutally a very odd one. For some reason, the GROUND wire is getting liquified. Ran a test on the amp. Suppoesd to be 88 amps(might be wrong) at 1000w. The amp is pulling 210A at 3/4 power! I would expect the power wire to get hot first... it doesn't. The ground wire is getting so hot it's melting the insulaiton off the wires. I have two of these amps. One I bought used off of ebay(convieniantly enough it's the one pullin insane ammounts of power) and the one I paid full retail for works fine. So we got JL on the phone to make sure the sub was going to be ok. The sub is designed to handle anything I can throw at it, IE it will take more abuse than a stroker on a saturday night. No wires touching, no significant loss of voltage from alt to bat and from bat back. I've checked every inch of the wiring and got nothing. I don't want to admit it, but I think the amp needs some work. Either that or I've got some magnetic interference going on. Any Ideas??

[nda0602v6]

If it were me, I'd stop using that amp asap and have it checked out. Just how thick of a ground wire are you using? I can see something realllly thin melting like if you used telephone wire [img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] but if you're using 4 or 8awg and its melting, theres something wrong.

[Darkshadow188]

4awg JL audio wire

[Darkshadow188]

I'd love to take it out and shoot it, but I don't have that kind of money to waste. No more audio equip from ebay for me.

[FireFighter]

How big is your main fuse?

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

upgrade to a 0 gauge kit and run both amps off the 0 gauge.

[96firebird311]

Originally posted by CAMAROWIDBASS:
upgrade to a 0 gauge kit and run both amps off the 0 gauge.

How will that fix the overdraw by the amp? Assuming there really is one.... [img]redface.gif[/img]

The amp is pulling 210A at 3/4 power!

3/4 power? You mean that the gain is set to about the 3/4 setting? As FireFighter tried to explain to you earlier, this is NOT how a gain knob works. If you need help with this topic, say so, and we'll be happy to help. [img]smile.gif[/img]

And where did you get the 210 amp number? Something tells me you must be mistaken. I would think 210amps through a 1000/1 would leave you with a heatsink covering a puddle. lol But at the same time.... you say it's melting the ground wire....why the ground wire? You using the same gauge ground as power wire?

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

well thicker wire can pull more current, thusfar it wont heat up.

Honestly 4 gauge power wire isnt enough for a 1000 watt amp. It will pull about 120 or so amps, and at 18 feet 4 gauge is barely thick enough.

[96firebird311]

Originally posted by CAMAROWIDBASS:
well thicker wire can pull more current, thusfar it wont heat up.

What!? No. What I'm sure you meant is that a heavier gauge wire will be able to carry higher current loads. But that's completely irrelevant and CERTAINLY not an answer to his problems.

Originally posted by CAMAROWIDBASS:
Honestly 4 gauge power wire isnt enough for a 1000 watt amp. It will pull about 120 or so amps, and at 18 feet 4 gauge is barely thick enough.

Again. No. The 1000/1 certainly will not pull anything close to that. Infact, nearly NO Class D 1kWRMS amps will. 14.4V x 85amps @82%eff =1,004WRMS. (with rated THD) But with a switching regulated power supply such as the one the 1000/1 uses, the amp WILL draw more current when/if voltage drops. So giving you the benefit of the doubt, we'll say it MIGHT touch the 100 amp mark for literally a split second. A 15ft run of 4g is good for 131 amps before dropping 1/2V between end to end. Not sure what other amp(s) he is running, but 4g is plenty for the 1000/1.

[CAMAROWIDBASS]

Lets be real, we never get 14.4...

more like 13.8

when you bump it hard your looking 10-12 volts...

[96firebird311]

Sure. :rolleyes:

[Darkshadow188]

Gain was set with voltmeter and 50hz test track. It's about 3/4(maybe less hard to tell)I'd say happy medium between half and 3/4 . The 210 amp number was with a tool that connects to a voltmeter and a bare meter itself. It varies each test between 180 amps to 210 amps. Main fuse at the block is 250 but that's to cover the entire system. The second fuse block(just after the cap) is 100amp( I don't know why the fuse never poped). Same gauge in same gauge out. The cap is fed by 0 gauge wiring. A max of ft 4awg wiring(from cap to amps) is used for both power and ground. There is no spot from the origination of power to the amp that has any delivery issues. I've had this working for a year, six months of which I spent tuning. The cap does not appear to have problems either, if it fails there's no power at all. When it was working I couldn't get the headlights to flicker if I tried. Im not an expert in audio systems, but I've been doing this for some time and I have never seen a ground wire get hot enough to melt the insulation. I took out the old amp and put in my new one on the same settings(yes I used a meter to tune it) and had no issues at all. Turned it up and had the same great sound and no major power draws. Im sending the amp in to JL for some recovery. JL said they'll keep the amp and send me a new one of $150.00. Just out of curiosity though, why didn't the 100 amp fuse die? Defect?

[nda0602v6]

I'm not electronics expert by anymeans but did you check to see if the ground wire is connected "tight" to the amp? Maybe something is loose inside the amp, like a loose solder joint thats constantly arcing at the ground terminal which is causing the ground wire to get hot. Other than the wire getting hot, does the amp work ok? Ever think about taking it to a local electronics repair shop and have it looked at? maybe its something minor (though it never seems to work out that way ha ha) Let us know what you find out.

[Darkshadow188]

The wiring is snuq, wouldn't move with a real hard tug. I think it's something inside the amp that could be doing it. Amp works great, but I can't get enough juice back to it because it's pulling way too much. The groud wire got so hot it melted through the insulation and the protective wrapping(can't remember it's technical name)I'll keep you guys posted on what it was.(I think it's unlikely that anyone elce should have this problem. I think it's just because it's me, and the odball s*** always seems to happen to me.)

[mwh27]

Well, the 1000/1 is made only to accept 4AWG wire, so the 0ga debate is really out.

Did you ever upgrade the "Big 3" if not, that is probably your problem. Your system is only as strong as it's weakest link, which in this case is your ground loop. Which is stock like 8ga under the hood!

http://www.mikewillhiggs.com/gallery...F4328.jpg.html

http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/u...=5;t=007801;p=