TheMonolith2001 Posted February 22, 2015 Report Posted February 22, 2015 Something is wrong with my beloved ppi21400. When I power it up it makes this constant sort of crackling noise coming from inside the amp. It will play for a few seconds and the volume will gradually decrease until it's off. This doesn't take long to happen. When I removed it I noticed thermal paste leaking from the cracks underneath. Wasn't there before. Maybe something exploded in there? Probably gonna take it somewhere to get worked on soon. Any recommendations? Warranty seal is still intact and now I have to break it So I put the zr1000 back in. It works fine but when I start playing at high volumes the ppi pc2300 shuts off. When I had the zr1000 in with the pioneer this never happened. I guess it's sucking all its power away? If you turn it back down it powers right back up in a second or two. Tomorrow I'll put the pioneer back in and see what happens. The 2300 is a 75x2 using all of it while the pioneer is like 150x2 I think so I had it turned way town. Maybe the extra efficiency was making it okay with the lower voltage? It's also class a/b vs "fd" this is all really weird though because I checked voltage at the back for drop many times and it was never going below like 13.5 but maybe it is now because...... On top of all this my voltage was the lowest it's ever been. Like I don't even want to play it loud for more than a second. It's low even with the system off. Floating around 13.1 to 13.5 nothing but head lights on engine running. With the system on it just stays there not really going higher or lower. It's usually 13.5 to 14.6 depending on weather. The computer regulates it based on temp. I'm thinking failing alternator and both the ppi amps are actually just going into protect. It's a bitch that they don't have dedicated protect lights they would just shut off. Now that I think about it I think they are supposed to turn red? Didn't see the 2300 do this and didn't look on the 21400. That crackling noise and the paste worries me though. It's entirely possible it's the toroid though it has always had a noisy as fuck toroid and it's not exactly a crackling it's just hard to find a word for.
TheMonolith2001 Posted February 22, 2015 Author Report Posted February 22, 2015 So driving around this morning voltage is back to normal. Much warmer out maybe that's why? Mids amp still cutting out though.
TheMonolith2001 Posted February 23, 2015 Author Report Posted February 23, 2015 Don't really have any but it's basically 0 gauge that gets stepped down to 4 gauge with blocks right before the amps. Super short 4 gauge runs. It's all bolt down connections with Allen wrenches. It's functioned fine for about 3 years and all the sudden this! Frustrating man.
snafu Posted February 23, 2015 Report Posted February 23, 2015 Check every single connection that uses a set screw. I use a Snap-On 80 tooth headed 3/8" ratchet with a 17" long handle to tighten these down. I don't play. Also, you may check your ground connections - anything under the vehicle or in the engine compartment requires periodic maintenance. Oh, and the ZR1000 was a current hog BITD. Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!
SIDE SHOW Posted February 23, 2015 Report Posted February 23, 2015 have you tried to run each amp by itself? hopfully it's only one of your amps on the way out, and use a dmm and check the load
TheMonolith2001 Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Posted February 24, 2015 That is a good idea. After 3 years it is definitely possible there is some corrosion or something has come loose. I will check all that, try amps separate, and recheck with dmm next time I get a chance. Probably tomorrow afternoon if it isn't too cold. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. It has been around 10 degrees here lately. I try to stay low on the volume until the car warms up. I definitely want to get it done because I drive a LOT and having no tunes is truly awful. I know the Kicker is good because I just installed it. Everything else though I will check for sure. I'm gonna start at the mids amp that's cutting out because if it was just a vibration causing it to disconnect, man that would be just the best super easy fix. No luck opening the 21400 yet because the allen key I need to do it is missing! I can't believe it! The PPI and the Kicker I would think would be about the same load. In fact the Kicker wants you to use a 150 amp fuse while the PPI wants you to use a 160. I haven't been able to find a 160 anywhere so I kept using the 150 with the PPI and never popped it.
SIDE SHOW Posted February 24, 2015 Report Posted February 24, 2015 check speaker terminals and impedance at the amp
TheMonolith2001 Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Posted February 25, 2015 Damn it's cold out! So here is what I discovered. The PPI 2300 and the Pioneer work fine by themselves. (didn't try the sub amps by themselves yet) When operating with the ZR1000 they will both shut down. Speaker impedance was fine for both. (forgot to check sub!!!!!) This didn't happen with the Pioneer before. I check voltages. 14.3 up front annnnnd 13.7 in the back. 0.6v drop with 0 gauge? I don't remember having any drop at all before! (maybe like .1?) So I check connections and every single connection is good except one...The bolt holding my ground to the wheel well has taken in too much salt water I guess and corroded pretty badly. The terminal contact with the body still seems good though. I didn't think the bolt did much but hold it there? It was still very tight and I could even loosen it and tighten it without too much effort. Nothing in between the actual terminal and body. So check sub impedance and redo/move ground are the next steps. The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is unibody (no separate frame), wouldn't that make most grounding locations more or less the same?
SIDE SHOW Posted February 25, 2015 Report Posted February 25, 2015 clean up the grounds and check the sub impedance.... also check fuse connections ect.
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