RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Now for the fuse blocks Mounted the crossovers Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Went to mount the fuse blocks on the second panel, and found that Kicker had changed their FHS fuse block a little within the last year. They made it a little skinner, made the top fit tighter, and added more support screws. Luckily, I only have two of them, so they went on a side panel, and their difference in size will likely be unnoticed. The right is the new (smaller) one And the new (smaller) case on the older one, to show how much skinner it is. Since I had my spray adhesives out for wrapping panels, I came up with an idea to fix the notorious Crescendo Mezzo CrossoversThey are usually found like this, falling apart Protecting the case from getting sticky, hopefully haha Worked great! Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Had to take a break to get a new windshield No glass New Going in They did a great jobIt had obviously been replaced before, and you could see where the previous installer skipped over a lot of things, like proper priming, to prevent rusting and such. I watched them do the whole install, and I have zero complaints, other than I had to wait to do bass testing for 2 days haha Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 After several ideas and attempts, I finally came up with a good mounting solution.I ditched the crossovers on the panels because I would have to mount it too far back, and would have no room for the power output wires coming out of the fuse blocks to flex.I was also never a fan of making a component impossible to easily get to later.In case you couldn't tell, I like to make everything easily accessible and maintainable, even if I never have to do anything with it. Peace of mind I guess. I will find somewhere for the crossovers, probably somewhere in the rear door, or in the panel I make. Final mounting design was an angle bracket on the bottom to rest against the side of the battery, and one on each side screwed into the battery box All wired up Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Cut some strips to make risers for the side ampsI don’t like screwing into the sides of MDF, as it splits so easily, so I ended up stacking ¾” and ½” stock I had laying around. Luckily, I had a friend stop by at this point, as clamping them alone would have been a pain.He was excited, and wanted to tell you all hello I let him play with the staple gun to say thanks Time to wrap it And test fit Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 I got really excited because I had color matched screw laying around, but they ended up not being anywhere close to long enough. You can’t see any screws anyway If you ever want to test your wrapping ability, wrap a 1x2x1.25 cube. Again, I went for the easy scissor seams, as they are mostly unseen Prepped for mounting Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 I reached a sad and frustrating hold-up at this pointI opened the last two 1500s and they both had a screw rolling around inside. One had two. I wanted to get the build together this weekend, as I wouldn’t have that free time again for almost two months. I didn’t really want to send them back as that would put a stop on the whole build. I would also hate if it was something simple. I have built over 2,000 computers in my life, so I have little fear in pulling things like this apart, but I really did not want to kill a warranty and essentially throw money away. I started by pulling the one apart. I found that the ground #2 screw was out and just rolling around in the case This amp had two different screws grounding and holding the board down (although it is also glued and held by other things) The one is obviously smaller (it is a #4). This is the one that was rolling around. The other one that was this size was in place, but if you tried to tighten it, it spun forever. At this point, I found it strange that two of the four screws, all of which serve the same function, were different.I decided to pull the other one apart as well. Sadly, I found that all of the screws in this case were the smaller type. Two had already fallen out. One was able to be pulled by hand straight up. The last was held tight in the hole, but didn’t spin tighter, or out without help (another screwdriver prying). At this point, since my amps are sequential in serial number, I have a good feeling of what happened. The build house must have run out of the right screws (The bigger ones pictured above – a #6) and just grabbed a similar screw, which I found later was the screw used to mount/ground the board on the 550/2s. I guess they grab a tighter channel in the aluminum housing, or whatever. I decided to “repair” them all myself. I have a crazy arsenal of computer screws in my shop, but sadly I had none this length. Proper screws for aluminum chassis mounting are wide course thread screws. Usually they are pointed to self tap the aluminum, so I was surprised that none of the factory screws were like that. Makes sense to why the final threads on some of the holes throughout the amp were garbage and loose. I found similar screws at Home Depot, but I was not happy with any of my options. The stock Crescendo screws are the right style, painted steel screws. This means that once they are screwed in, the paint wears off on the screw and the housing, and the contact made is metal on metal, but everything else is still coated. This is never a concern for Home Depot customers, as most are not repairing computers or amplifiers. I went with stainless steel screws, and replaced all of the screws in the 1500s (only 1 screw in all of the 550s) Yes, I acknowledge stainless isn’t the best conductor. However, it does conduct enough to ground for this application. I want it to have a solid (as in tight) connection, and want a coated screw that will not corrode in the intense humidity it is exposed to in my area. Regardless, anything I used beats a screw rattling around inside of the case. Disclaimer: I am not knocking Crescendo at all. I am very happy with them as a whole. They make great power, have a small footprint, and look great. I assume this issue was a small batch issue, not a brand issue, or amp issue. They were stamped from December, and I have heard of no amp explosions since then, so don’t be concerned if you were considering buying these amps. I would buy them again. Taking them apart also gave me the opportunity to turn the face plates upside down on the passenger side amps, so it worked out well. Anyway, here is the inside with new screws. And here they are properly seated in the mounting channels Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Here is honestly what pissed me off the most about having to take down the amps that were already mounted. There was a wire I had to heat shrink on the middle amp. Due to it being mounted, I had to shrink it when mounted on the amp. I tried to be careful, but the heat did cause some of the carpet strands to be singed. It is pretty unnoticeable, unless you are me haha. Here you can see it with the light on it; it does not look that bad normall, and most is hidden. And you can see the Crescendo beauty plates now in the right orientation The two 550s all mounted and wired I cut the sub wires for the first 1500 to be mounted….a tad short Easy enough to remake. All done[/url] Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Got the side 1500 top mounting block mounted I wanted to make sure that the speaker terminal nuts would never shake loose and short the back of the other amp, so I put a protective pad on the 1500 I ran all of the remote wires before I had no room to work. I love my little grabber tool for jobs like that Mounted the two lower mounting blocks and tied up the remote wire for the middle 1500. One of these blocks is just for support, as the actual mounting tab sits right above the sub terminals. It is plenty solid How is this for clearance? Seat is in locked position Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossGo Posted October 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2014 Passenger side is done. I tested each amp individually. No explosions! On to the driver side. I kind of had to finish this side in a hurry, so there aren’t as many pictures. It is essentially the same as the passenger side, with a few exceptions. This side did go together a lot quicker, since I worked out most kinks on the other side. Grounds Mounted and wired the fuse block and wired the middle two amps And heat shrunk the inputs Yes I have a lot of stereo weight. I build for Smiles Per Gallon not Miles Per Gallon LOLZ My build - 1996 4Runner with 2 18s - 149+ in a sealed box (with radiators) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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