amps cutting off

[BIG ROB 007]

I just upgraded to two sa-12v.2 d4. im running an orion xtr 1500.1. (i plan on picking up a 2k soon.) i've also got a rockford r2-500x4 running some infinity 5x7's. car is a 2008 focus with stock alternator and a four year old yellow top battery. big 3 is done with sky high 1/0. i set my gains with an oscilloscope. problem is, when im getting up around maxing out my mono amp, it feels like im running out of power or almost like it's backing up. i hear distortion come from the door speakers and then both amps cut out. i don't really have a great way to check voltage in real time. but i've got a cheap little cigarette lighter port thing that displays voltage and it never drops below 13v. i'v also got a rockford 2 farad can cap (i know it's not enough.) the only way to get the amps back on is to cycle my head unit. it's a jvc double din multimedia unit. what types of things could cause amps to kick out like that? i'm probably going over clipping on the mono because i'm running two 1k subs on a 1500. would a bad ground do this? i've got the ground on the bulkhead for the rear seats bolted through a random hole. i've also got an xs power super cap on the way.

[liteblue]

Replace the battery. Batteries do not last forever. I see you live in an area with extreme weather. That combined with a aftermarket electronics and under powered alternator means shorter life expectancy of the battery.

 

Amplifiers turn off for lots of reasons, two are low voltage, and high current, basically the same issue but show different symptoms. After a certain voltage, amp will not turn on. At to low voltage, amp will pull excessive current and turn off or go into protect.

 

Use the volt meter in the oscope to read voltage at the 12v terminal with music playing and record results, when amps turn off or whatever the results are. check for voltage drop across your grounds. check your speaker resistance while playing a sweep and look for inconsistencies or weirdness.