Weak Battery? ... 1000w on Soundqubed

[kalevala]

Hello,

So I just bought a Soundqubed HDS312 D4, and a while ago my friend gave me a Kicker 11DX1000.1 (a 1000 watts at 2 ohm). I've been running the amp with a small little 90$ for about a year, and all was well.

Now, the day the Soundqubed arrived, I built my enclosure (2.1ft^2 @ 32Hz) and I hooked it up. And damn, it was like 3x more powerful, all the windows were flexing and whatnot. But then I looked at my amp, and it was on the constant red protect mode at high volume - also when I listened more carefully, I heard some intense whomping.

So I thought my gain was set too high (which is was, and I turned it down), but then I lost so much sound power, almost setting it right back to the max of the old subwoofer.

Then I went and read the manual of the amp, and the protect light only comes on when the voltage drops low. So I hooked up my DMM and it read 13.5 at idle, but then i turned it past the point when the red protect mode comes on, and I was reading some really retarded voltages 11-12.3V ...

Can y'all help me? I might be stepping in over my head. I respond to anything quite quickly, lol.

[BoomZoom808]

Firstly you should set gains properly find someone in your area with a DD-1 if you can

also

What kind of power wire are you using?

Where is the amp grounded?

Do you have the Big 3 done?

[reedal]

You need to use the proper tools to set your gain. Oscilloscope or DD-1. If you can't afford to purchase either, then use the SMD tools map on this forum to locate someone local to you who has the proper tools to help you find where your head unit starts to distort, and therefore where you amp distorts, so you're not clipping and aren't sending clipped/distorted signals to your subwoofer/speakers

[kalevala]

Firstly you should set gains properly find someone in your area with a DD-1 if you can

also

What kind of power wire are you using?

Where is the amp grounded?

Do you have the Big 3 done?

I think I have 2 gauge power wire, the amp is grounded to a sanded down bolt beneath the passenger seat. And no, I do not have the big 3 done.

[kalevala]

You need to use the proper tools to set your gain. Oscilloscope or DD-1. If you can't afford to purchase either, then use the SMD tools map on this forum to locate someone local to you who has the proper tools to help you find where your head unit starts to distort, and therefore where you amp distorts, so you're not clipping and aren't sending clipped/distorted signals to your subwoofer/speakers

I shall look into that. I did set it with my DMM though, if that counts for anything. Do you think that could be causing my voltage flucuations?

[reedal]

possible. DMM isn't as reliable as oscilloscope or DD-1 as you don't know when your signal is no longer clean. Also, you should do the big 3, and try to find a better ground to the chassis. What vehicle do you have?

[kalevala]

possible. DMM isn't as reliable as oscilloscope or DD-1 as you don't know when your signal is no longer clean. Also, you should do the big 3, and try to find a better ground to the chassis. What vehicle do you have?

I have a Toyota t100, and what is considered a good ground? This same problem occurred in the other car I had - and in that car I had to create my own ground on a strut in the trunk.

[reedal]

Grounds should be connected to the frame/chassis. You may have to lift the carpet a little in order to find a hole with a grommet to run the wire through, and if there isn't any, then you can either drill a hole and put a grommet large enough for your wire, or run a ground from your front battery. But big 3 should be done either way. Without that, you're restricting the current you're trying to pull to just the stock wiring which isn't designed for that much draw.

[kalevala]

Grounds should be connected to the frame/chassis. You may have to lift the carpet a little in order to find a hole with a grommet to run the wire through, and if there isn't any, then you can either drill a hole and put a grommet large enough for your wire, or run a ground from your front battery. But big 3 should be done either way. Without that, you're restricting the current you're trying to pull to just the stock wiring which isn't designed for that much draw.

Here is my issue. I have old cars, and the last place same I had this in was an old car. In that car, I drilled a hole in my chassis to support the ground specifically. It had the same issue, if not amplified. So yeah, I don't think that is my issue.

[reedal]

Ok. Don't listen. It's your equipment not working, mine and damn near everyone else on this forum and others work fine, using chassis grounds and not seat bolts connected to thin body panels. Don't want to address your ground issue, then address your clipping issue. Use the right tools to set up your equipment instead of guessing with a DMM and ear.

But in case you decide to listen to advice when you ask for it,

Big three with 1/0 gauge wiring or larger:

-alt positive to battery positive

-Battery negative to chassis

-Alt case to battery negative or chassis

(And to add another ground if you'd like, engine block to chassis)

Only add wire, do not remove stock grounds and positives.

Second, chassis ground your amplifier.

Use the advice or don't, grounds need to be strong and audio electronics need to be distortion/clipped free.