I finished installing a system in my 99 mustang this weekend(the GN is staying stock! Radio atleast). I went for a drive to test it out….and was disappointed. My sub amp kept overheating really quick and going into thermal protection. It can probably only play one song with heavy bass at high volume before it shuts down. Then in a few minutes it comes back on….then will keep shutting down sooner(because of the heat already built up). My sub amp is an Orion HCCA 250R. Its pushing a 1ohm load. I thought these oldschool, high current amps were designed for this???? Or, is this normal? The amp is from 1998, US made(not like the junk they make today), mint condition, and rated for 800W RMSx1 at 1ohm. This is the first “cheater” amp that I ever owned, so I don’t really know what to expect. I’m used to 4ohm stable amps that can run all day. Before I re-wire my subs into a 4ohm load(I have two, with dual 4ohm voice coils) and install a different amp(at 4 ohm mono), I thought I’d ask your opinions. I have a 200A alternator, 2 gauge from the battery to a cap, 2 guage ground at the cap, extra 2 gauge groung from the battery to the chassis(under the hood), 4 gauge power and ground to my sub amp(800W) and 8 gauge power and ground to my mids and highs amp(300W). I have only these two amplifiers. I’m thinking that: #1: High current competition amps get hot really fast, and arent really the best amps for non-competition use? Maybe I should stick to a 4 ohm load and a 4 ohm stable amp? 0r #2: Maybe I don’t have a good ground? I grounded the capacitor/amps to the rear seat belt stud. I read somewhere not to do this, but I didn’t want to drill holes in my car. It seems like a very solid attachment point. It’s a stud welded to a plate that welded to the floor. Should I ground somewhere else?? Or #3: I bought the car used 2 years ago and I don’t know how old the battery is. It starts the car ok, but maybe its too weak for an 1100W system? Or: #4: Maybe something is wrong with the amp, even though it looks new(circuit board too).? It does sound really good for that one song though. I’d appreciate any insight/advice. It’s really frustrating to spend a lot of money and time on something and to be disappointed with its performance! Let me know if you need any more info.
im running 2 high current old school alphasoniks 1 ohm load but it's to mids & highs a little less demanding than bass. you have 2 choices I ended up in a simaler situation. the amp will run 1 ohm but I wouldnt run it under 2 ohm your 4ohm wired should be sending a 2ohm load if your running one sub if your running 2 reduce it to one sub. run the amp at a 2ohm load to see if your still having the same problem. I went from 2 4ohm dvc subs to using just 1 sub in my last install. when I switched I wired it to 2ohm load & had issues with the amp running hot. I purchesed a dual 2ohm sub wired it to 4ohm no more problems. now my sub was actually not 2ohm mono stabe but is 4ohm mono stable. your amp is 1ohm mono stable but I would not recomend dropping below 2ohm in mono in stereo drop to the 1ohm load the amp doesnt have to work as hard to drive your mids & highs.
