Amp Over Heating

DTBalla07

I have a Polk Momo C300.2 amp that is running 2 Polk DBs "12. Basicly my amp keeps cutting out. I turned the amp down numeros times and the amp keeps cutting out. Can anyone tell me what is wrong? Do I need another amp?

PolkThug

What position is the gain at on the 300.2? Do you have a properly sized ground wire? Do you have bass output turned up on the HU at all?

honestaquarian

Sounds like a short.

Custom Jim

It could be an impedance (ohms) problem. You state you have 2 DBs “12. Are they model number DB124 or DB124DVC or ?.

Ideally you need 2 of the DB124DVC speakers and have each individual speaker wired in series and then parallel them together and then wire it up mono to the amplifier. Doing so would give you two 8 ohm speakers which when wired in parallel to each other would give you 4 ohms of resistance which the amplifier should handle in mono.
If you have 2 of the DB124’s then if those are parallel wired to each other then this gives you 2 ohms of resistance and if then wired in mono to the amplifier the amplifier would be seeing too low of a load (2 ohm mono or 1 ohm stereo) which could make it cut out.
If the DB124’s are wired in series to get 8 ohms and then in mono to the amplifier then the amplifier is seeing a higher load and should not shut down due to impedance.
If you have 2 of the DB124’s then to keep the amplifier from cutting out due to impedance then you have to either wire the speakers in series and then to the mono wires on the amplifier OR run each sub to each channel of the amplifier.
If you want to keep the DB124’s (if that is what you have) you can wire them to a C400.4 to get more output OR keep the C300.2 and get two of the DB124DVC’s. You just have to match and wire things correctly.
Jim

Greg Peters

How have you got the amp mounted?

Upside down = not good.

Vertical = not much better (but some).


The heat sink should be facing up for coolest operation. If you have it otherwise, heat rises into/across the amp's printed circuit board and will shut it down with little provocation. Keep some space around the heat sink in your install for extra insurance.

bknauss

That amp is pretty sensitive to distorted signals. Like someone else mentioned, it might be an issue with your gains.

DTBalla07

I have the db124 12". I had circuit city install the whole system w/ 4 gauge wiring. The guy told me he turned the amp all the way down, which I can tell because it doesn't hit as hard. They also mounted the amp to the back of the box.. (Could this be the reason for the amp overheating?)

DTBalla07

PolkThug wrote:

What position is the gain at on the 300.2? Do you have a properly sized ground wire? Do you have bass output turned up on the HU at all?

Circuit City mounted the amp to the back of the box. I have an Eclipse CD8445

1996blackmax

So is the amp between the box and the backseat of the car? If it is then that thing is getting no air circulation, and the reason why it's cutting out.

Nice HU you have there.

Custom Jim

DTBalla07 wrote:

I have the db124 12". I had circuit city install the whole system w/ 4 gauge wiring. The guy told me he turned the amp all the way down, which I can tell because it doesn't hit as hard. They also mounted the amp to the back of the box.. (Could this be the reason for the amp overheating?)

OK, in your first post you said you had 2 of these 12". The DB124's are a 4 ohm sub and they could be wired to the amplifier a couple of different ways. Some ways will allow the amplifier to run fine all day while other ways will make it overheat. Some ways will make it hit hard but will also make it overheat. Some ways will also not allow the amplifier to put out it's maximum power.

The C300.2 amplifier is meant to have either a 2 ohm stereo load or a 4 ohm mono load.

2 of the DB124's can be wired to present either an 8 ohm mono load (which the amplifier can handle and not overheat but it will not put out it's maximum power), a 4 ohm stereo load (which also the amplifier can handle without overheating and agin not put out it's maximum power), or you can wire the speakers to where it does present a problem to make the amplifier overheat and this would be if the speakers are wired to present a 2 ohm mono load to the amplifier.

Look at the wiring of the amplifier. Are the wires going to the subs connected into the mono outputs of the amplifier with two terminals on the amplifier with nothing in them ?.
Is there just a wire coming out of each of those mono terminals on the amplifier going to the first sub and then a pair of wires jumpering over to the second sub ?. If so the amplifier is seeing too low of a load. A 4 ohm speaker in parallel with another 4 ohm speaker makes the impedance 2 ohms. The C300.2 is not meant to drive a 2 ohm mono load.

If you can draw a diagram as to exactly how the amplifier's speaker outputs are connected to both speakers and post it or a link to it.

If the gains are too high then it's like having a hair trigger gas pedal in a car and then the car is either going to fast or too slow and there is no easy way to maintain any speeds between. If a gain is too low then it's like having a carb that does not open all the way. A properly adjusted gain will be like a properly designed gas pedal in a car in that you have a way to have a way to go fast or slow and be able to maintain any speed in between easily.

Just thinking out loud but what does curcumsision have to say about this ?. You paid good money for a good product and they should have it working correctly for you.

Jim

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