firebug21

I have 2 250w Infinity Reference subs @ 2ohms, powered by a Profile amp which is 500w @ 2ohms. You can see how I have everything mounted in the picture below:



The Amp is secured to 4 brackets to hold it up. I had to place a piece of cardboard with some foam insulation to keep the back from rattling alot.

Now the problem is when I am driving, mostly on longer trips with the subs running longer, the amp tends to heat up and just shuts off. So I turn the gain down and it comes back on within a minute or so. Do you think that by adding some fans to it, it would cool it down enough to keep it from shutting off? I was thinking about using like 2 computer fans and either have one blowing on it and the other blowing air away from it. Or just having both of them either blowing on it or away from it.

Or could it be that it is being over powered??? I tried to match the amp to the subs the best I could.

tb1198

I think the cardboard/foam has something to do with it. If you remove that or add some fans, I think that would fix it. The other thing you could do is move the amp to inside the car somewhere fo better air circulation/less rattle. i.e., under the pass. seat.

firebug21

I put the cardboard underneath because it was causing a lot of rattling on the amp. I wasn't sure if that would harm it. I wish I could get a pic, but underneath the amp its all open. I just have the wires stored there.

BlueShark

Pictures of the area of the amp would be nice.... I notice that your two boxes are blocking air circulation and they generate heat themselves. You have a air vent on the driver side near the taillight as i remember, make the air circulate outside....

If the amp don't have a fan, it is maybe it don't need it, you maybe need only better air circulation, to see, simply drive with the trunk cover off or tilted open.

RevivedTiburon

Ive had similar problems like this as well.Try taking out that package tray and drive like that.With that out thats one less thing to restrict air from getting back there.With the package tray down and the seats up youre enclosing the whole thing and cutting it off from air circulation.You need to open it up.Either take out the package tray,fold your seats down,drive with your trunk open lol or just do all three.If its just you and a friend in the front then fold both seats down and toss the package tray.If its you and 2 friends (one in back) then just fold the one side down and if uve got a full car I HIGHLY doubt you and all ure friends will be totally silent and actually wanna listen to the music cranked the whole time lol ppl tend to talk a lot.So just keep it relatively turned down.Ive got to keep mine turned down only because when its cranked it vibrates my nose and makes it itchy.I dont know about you but I HATE having an itch let alone a CONSTANT ITCH WHEN URE DRIVING.lol...kinda like the other drivers and pedestrians.

faithofadragon

what size ground are you running?

you want to run the same size power and ground

RevivedTiburon

oops ...I think I mighta overlooked that.

tibbytib

Faith is right. Make sure you have a good ground. Meaning:

1. Ground is AT LEAST as large a gauge as your power

2. Your ground cable should be less than 18" long.

3. Ground to a large, solid bolt to the chassis, not just a metal screw on your trim. I even went as far as sanding the paint down to bare metal, grounding the cable there, then sealing it with a clearcoat paint to prevent rust.

Heat problems can be caused by many other factors as well. Build quality of the Amp is probably the biggest. RF are made to handle 1 ohm but run EXTREMELY hot! Not sure of the build quality on your amp. ALSO... do you use a cap?? If an amp is prone to heating up, then it will be even more prone to overheating if you are not supplying it with the necessary juice to run smoothly. You should be running at least 4 ga. to the amps and I would also suggest investing in a capacitor.

OR. cool.gif ... save your money and get a NINe.1 from elemental designs. Everyone here would laugh if they saw where my amp was mounted. laugh.gif It never overheats (even in Arizona) and is running a little under 1 ohm, 1200 watts (tested w/ multimeter)

Hope this helps!

firebug21

I am using both 4 gauge wire for the ground and power so that might not be the problem. I could try driving without that package tray on, but I would like to find a way to fix the problem with that still on there. I even thought about taking the cardboard and foam insulation off so that the back is exposed. Im just worried that the vibration of the back of the amp would damage it. I could even put a fan towards the top of the amp to help circulate the air underneath and above???

BlueShark

I think that you can make your amp rack more air efficient like having a thin mdf board. Fix your amp on it at the four corners and cut the center of the board off leaving only the frame for the amp to lean on, you will have good air circulation under the amp, you can leave some foam on the frame to absorb the vibration.

Did you test out by simply remove your amp from the rack and putting it on the trunk floor to see if it help. If so, then you will know that the original location is not efficient.