Hi, My name is Patrick. I am having some VERY frustrating things going on with my system. i have two 4 ohm 12" Alpine Type-R subs in a ported box with an Alpine MRP M1000 amplifier. the subs push out 1000 watts RMS and so does the amp. I also have a Rockford Fosgate 1 Farad capasitor(spelling?). they are all hooked up with Rockford Fosgate 4 gauge wires which support 1000 watt systems. so my problem is, my lights are dimming and my amp is cutting out. it comes back on after i turn my car off and let it cool down. ive taken my car to my installer a couple times about my lights dimming. at first he said that my capacitor wasnt charged so he charged it... still dimming. i went in again and said it was probably a bad capasitor so he put a new 1 in... still dimming. i went in again today and he said it was my alternator. he said it drops 2 volts (from 14 down to 12) whenever my subs hit and that it is that which is causing my lights to dim. also my amp is cutting out. i have found out that my amp gets UNBEARABLY HOT!! u cant put your hand on it for more than a second. so i asked about that. first time i went in he said get a cooling fan. i asked someone else and they said that wouldn't do anything n i should get a bigger gauge wire, preferrably ought gauge. people then told me my wires should b fine and a fan wouldnt work so i didn't get a fan. i went in again today to swap out my amp for a new one (my old one was a display amp that supposedly got really beat up over the time it was on display). so i got a brand new amp and it cut out on the way home. the subs don't completely go off but they probably go at about 10% of what they should. i went back to my installer and he said again it is the alternator that is causing this. now i go straight to checker auto parts (now officially known as O'Reilly auto parts lol) and they test my battery, my alternator with stereo, lights, and air off with the engine revved, and they check my alternator with stereo on what i normally listen to it, my lights on, and my air on. they say everything looks fine and when i turn my stereo up even louder, my alternator drops to 13 volts instead of 14 which i guess is fine? so all in all, i am completely lost. installer says its my alternator not giving enuff wattage to my amp and my amp is pushing out more than its getting so it cuts out... checker (o'reillys) says that everything looks fine with everything on. so now im completely lost as to what to do. if you know anything please let me know. thank you and if you read this whole thing. i appreciate it!!
what is the gain set on? is your amp sitting where it has enough air flow over the heat sinks? i run a 1200 watt sub amp and 2 2ch amps wired to put out 245 watts into a 4 ohm mono load.1690 rms. all run on 4 gauge wire and a stock 105 amp alt, and an extra battery. no light dimming. look into doing a big 3 upgrade. also instead of a capacitor go for another batt in the rear near your amp. if your amp is in a place that doesnt let it breath then add a fan.
my gain is at .5 volts. n it doesnt have much room to breath. also i wont be able to afford to replace the alternator. those are way too expensive. do u think a cooling fan is all i need to fix the problem of the cutting out? that is what im most worried about right now
.5v as in all the way up? too high, back it off. the gain is NOT a volume knob. its a level matching device. do you know the preamp voltage out of your head unit? yes adding a fan will help.hell add two. you can find them cheap. i bought a few for 5.99 each.sometimes they are cheaper. 4in 12v. do you have any northern tool stores near you? i even found some at my local flea market, at a computer vending guy. 3 for 5 bucks. just so you know computer cooling fans are 12v. or bite the bullet and go to radio shack, or...... ebay.
it looks like its only up half at .5 so i dont think its all the way up. n this is what the other settings are at Gain: 0.5 volts Bass EQ: +6 db LP Filter: 50 and also should i get a actual fan or one of those electrical tube looking fans?
i found your problem. turn off your bass EQ. its working your amp to death. if you can not fit a reg fan then yes the tube ones will work too.
OK, Well, Idk who your installer is, be he should be slapped really hard like a pansy. It sounds like he has no earthly idea what the hell he is doing, and should be fired. Your alternator has nothing to do with your amp cutting out. The amp cut-out could be a number of different things.... I had this problem a few times... *MY* problem, EVERY TIME was wiring of the subs... if your subs are wired at an ohm load that is more than your amp can handle, it will cutt-off. you say you have 2 of the 4 ohms, well, are they single, or dual? that amp (if i am not mistaken) should handle a 1 ohm load. the dual 4's should be wired parallel.
