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Speakers popped and amp smoked/ What caused this??


dirtyduramax97

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Ok, looking for some insight on what could of caused this issue. Before I jump into the problem Ill give a quick insight to my vehicle, system and background with car audio. Im by no means a professional but I have installed more systems then I can count and never had any issues blowing an amp. I have a silverado with a duramax and just dropped a couple thousand dollars on a dope system. Truck has dual batts, dual alternators. I have done big 3. 0 gauge throughout, Im running 2 8" sundown audio SA-rev 3 in a custom box tuned to 36 hz off a prs-d5000spl 1600 rms at 2 ohms. Speaker side Ive got the sundown audio sd-6.5 components, and awaiting my sundown audio neo pro 6.5" in the mail. So I bought the wolfram audio 250.4 Got a kick ass deal the amp is overkill for my mids and highs but for 60$ more then the 125.4 I would be stupid not to. So I had everything installed, I did everything the same way Ive always done all my installs/friends installs except I made sure to cut no corners whatsoever very clean and to the best of my knowledge "by the book". So I tuned the amps probaly had the components running for half an hour, Gains turned waaay down and was super happy with the sound. Blew my skar system in my car out of the water. The following day was driving around with the kids and wife had the volume very low like barely on. Pulled into a mall and as I was parking heard a pop from the speakers. Quickly turned the vehicle off and instantly smelt that dreaded smoke... Popped the hood my fuse did not blow. Check the amps both are green neither in protect. Can smell the burning from the wolfram. I unplug the 0 gauge from the battery and once home unplug everything and pull the amp out. Once flipping the amp around, notice 2 burnt spots on the board. Wolfram has a plexiglass rear with built in fans. Cant make any sense why there is no built in fuses like every other amp I have ever owned. Anyways So amp is pooched! I have sent it back to the site i bought it from with literally 1 hour of playing time. Voltage in the vehicle has never dropped below 14v. Wolfram and pioneer amp share ground locations but each have their own 0 gauge wire its a bolt right through the body all paint removed. Ground cannot be the issue, voltage cannot be the issue, What else can cause an amp to do this? Hoping someone with more knowledge on amps can give me some insight. The owner of the shop has told me the amp will be inspected and if it is determined product failure (which is extremely unlikely) his words exactly. It would be fixed at no cost. I know this post is long so for those that read the whole thing and have some insight I appreciate it! Ive never blew an amp before and from my 10 years experience installing systems they usually blow from poor ground, Clipping, or voltage drop. Ill attatch a few pics of the amp and what is noticably burnt up. Hoping someone can point me in the right direction on what the hell went wrong. 

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I don't know exactly what might have caused that, and I'm no expert either, I just read a lot on the internet and watch a lot of videos, talk to people on the web....

I have never owned one, but I've heard the power output of the wolfram amps are good, but for some reason, it seems almost impossible to keep them from overheating. Even in open space. 

Don't know if that helps, that's just what I've kind of come to believe. 

2011 Chevy Silverado under construction

My build log here. Check it out! 

 

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From the information you have listed there is only 2 possible culprits I can think of. You either didn’t fuse the positive battery wiring  before going to that amp and there was a surge. Or, it’s a defective amp and that was gonna happen no matter what. And amps aren’t suppose to share the same ground either. That creates a ground loop.

:stupid:“How can we help you?”
:guido:
“And don’t forget to tell them that 
the customer isn’t always right.”

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  • 2 weeks later...

smoked the power supply and the driver ICs. Without inspecting the amp to see if the ouput section took down the power supply or not it is a shot in the dark, however voltage or ground would be suspect given your story. There is no sure fire way really to tell how a amp went down, except vibration damage and knowing it was ran hard when it has blown or buldged output caps.

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